him according to his declared Will We continually depend upon him every moment In him we live and move and have our being Acts 17. 28. and surely Dependance should beget Observance and therefore Men should be loth to break with God or carefull to reconcile themselves to him on whom they depend every Moment Acts 12. 20. Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon but they came with one accord to him and having made Blastus the Kings Chamberlain their Friend desired peace because their Country was nourished by the Kings Country Therefore it is extreame Unthankfulness Stupidity and Brutishness for them to carry themselves so unthankfully towards God who giveth them Life and Being and all things The Bruites themselves who have no capacity to know God as the first Cause of all Being yet take notice of the next hand from whence they receive their Supplies Isa. 1. 3. The Ox knows his Owner and the Ass his Masters Crib and in their kind express their Gratitude to such as feed them and make much of them but Wicked men take no notice of the God who hath made them and kept them at the expence and care of his Providence and hath been beneficial to them all their days but as they slight their Law-giver so they requite their great Benefactour with unkindness and Provocation 4. It is a disowning of his Propriety in them as if they were not his own and God had not power to doe with his own as he pleaseth The Creature is absolutely at God's dispose not onely as he hath a Jurisdiction over us as our Law-giver and King over his Subjects but as a Proprietary and Owner over his Goods A Prince hath a more absolute Power over his Lands and Goods then over his Subjects God is not onely a Ruler but an owner as he made us out of nothing and bought us when worse then nothing and still keepeth us from returning into our original nothing and shall those who are absolutely his own withdraw themselves from him and live according to their own Will and speak and doe what they list what is this but a plain denyal of God's Propriety and Lordship over us as those Psalm 12. 4. Who have said With our Tongues will we prevaile our Lips are our own who is Lord over us surely it should strike us with horrour to think that any Creatures should thus take upon them Sin robbeth God of his Propriety in the Creatures If we consider his natural Right Sin is such an Injury and Wrong to God as Theft and Robbery if we consider our own Covenant as we voluntarily acknowledge God's Propriety in us so it is Adultery breach of Marriage Vow and with respect to the devoting and consecrating our selves to him so it is Sacriledge 3. It is a contempt of God's glorious Majesty What else shall we make of a plain contest with him or a flat contradiction of his holy Will for whilst we make our depraved Will the Rule and Guide of our Actions against his holy Will we plainly contend with him whose Will shall stand his or ours and so justle him out of the Throne and pluck the Crown off his Head and the Scepter out of his Hands and usurpe his Authority and so slight the Eternal Power of this glorious King as if he were not able to avenge the wrong done to his Majesty and we could make good our party against him 1 Cor. 10. 22. Do we provoke the Lord to Iealousie are we stronger then he Isa. 45. 9. Woe to him that striveth with his maker let the Potsherd strive with the Potsherds of the Earth surely they that strive with their Maker will find God too hard for them Now all these and many more Considerations should make a Serious Christian sensible when he considereth how God is dishonoured in the World 2. Their Punishment This relateth to the Sanction by Penalties and Rewards They that forsake the Law have quite devested themselves of all Hope and cast off all dread of Him The Law offereth Death or Life to the Transgressors and Observers of it Deut. 30. 15. Behold I have set before you Good and Life Death and Evil. Now this is as little believed as the Precept is obeyed and thence cometh all their Boldness in sinning and Coldness in Duty 1. God allureth us to Obedience by Promises of this World and the next which if they were believed Men would be more forward and ready to comply with his Will As to the Promises of the next World he hath told us of Eternal Life Surely God meaneth as he speaketh in his Word he will make good his Word to the Obedient but the Sinner thinketh not so and therefore is loth to undergoe the Difficulties of Obedience because he hath so little Sense and Certainty of fulfilling the Promise The Apostle telleth us Heb. 11. 6. That without Faith it is impossible to please God for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently serve him implying that if the Fundamental Truths of God's Being and Bounty were believed we could not be so careless as we are not so barren and unfruitfull as we are but Unbelief lyeth at the botton of all our Carelesness 1 Cor. 15. 58. Be ye stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord forasmuch as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. They that know what a Reward is prepared for the Righteous cannot but be serious and diligent themselves and pity others and be troubled at their neglect Oh what a good God they deprive themselves off and throw away their Souls for a Trifle But because the Lord knoweth how apt we are to be led by things present to Sense that work strongly upon our Apprehensions and that things absent and future lie in another World and wanting the help of Sense to convey them to our Minds make little impression upon our Hearts therefore God draws us to our Duty by present Benefits Even Carnal Nature is apt to be pleased with these kind of Mercies Protection Provision and worldly Comforts Psal. 119. This I had because I kept thy Precepts Matth. 6. 33. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof and all these things shall be added to you 1 Tim. 4. 8. Godliness is profitable to all things having the promise of the Life that now is and of that which is to come But alas the naughty Heart cannot depend on God for the Effects of his common Goodness Men distrust Providence and therefore take their own Course which is a grief and trouble to a gracious Heart to see they cannot depend on God for things of a present Accomplishment 2. The other part of the Sanction are his Threatnings and Punishments Now in what a direfull Condition are all the deserters of God's Law besides the loss of Heaven there is Eternal fire which is the portion of the Wicked
sharpness of apprehension in carnal Things but dull slow and blind in spiritual and heavenly Things Thoughts are spent freely and unweariedly about the one but there is a tediousness and barrenness about the other a Will backward to what is good but a strange bent and urging to what is evil in that which is good we need a Spur in evil a Bridle these things persevere with us but how fickle and changable in any holy Resolution the Memory slippery in what is good but firm and strong in what is evil the Affections quick easily stirred like Tinder catch fire at every spark but as to that which is good they are like fire in green Wood hardly kept in with much blowing Again our delight is soon moved by things pleasing to Sense a carnal gust and savour is very natural to us and rise with us Rom. 8. 5. but averse from the chiefest good and every thing that leadeth to it Surely then we have need to goe to God and complain of Corruption sometimes under the notion of a blind and dark Mind begging the illumination of the Spirit sometimes under the notion of a dead hard Heart or an unperswadable Will begging his inclining as well as inlightning Grace Surely they are strangely hardened that do not see a need of a spiritual Understanding Nay God's Children after Grace received though sanctified betimes yet halt of the old Maim dull in Spirituals alive and active in carnal Matters Carnal and worldly Men act more uniformly and suitably to their Principles than the Children of God to theirs Luke 16. 8. The Children of this world are wiser in their generation than the Children of light that is more dexterous in the course of their Affairs Grace for the present worketh but a partial Cure we have the advantage in matter of Motive we have better and higher things to mind but they have the advantage in matter of Principle their Principles are unbroken but the Principles of the best are mixed we cannot doe what we would in heavenly things there is the back-bias of Corruption that turns us away and therefore they need to be instant with God to heal their Souls sometimes a blind Mind and sometimes a distempered Heart 5. We must be new made and born again before we can be apt or able to know or doe the Will of God as Christ inferreth the necessity of Regeneration from the corruption of Nature he had been discoursing with Nicodemus You cannot enter into the Kingdome of God For that which is born of the flesh is flesh John 3. 5 6. Our Souls naturally accommodate themselves to the Flesh and seek the good of the Flesh and all our Thoughts and Care and Life and Love runs that way now what was lost in Adam can onely be recovered in Christ 't is not enough that God's hands have once made us and fashioned us but there is a necessity of being made and fashioned anew of becoming his workmanship in Christ Iesus Eph. 2. 10. and so the words of the Text may be interpreted in this sense Thou hast made me once Lord new make me thy hands made me O Lord give me a new Heart that I may obey thee In the first Birth God gave us a natural Understanding in the second a spiritual Understanding that we may learn his Commandments First that we may be good and then doe good The first Birth gave us the natural Faculty the second the Grace or those divine Qualities which were lost by Adam's Sin better never been born unless born again better be a Beast than a Man if the Lord give us not the knowledge of himself in Christ. The Beasts when they die their Misery and Happiness dieth with them Death puts an end to their Pain and Pleasure but we that have Reason and Conscience to foresee the end and know the way enter into perfect Happiness or Misery at death unless the Lord sanctify this Reason and give us an heart to know him in Christ and choose that which is good Man is but a higher kind of Beast a wiser sort of Beast Psalm 49. 12. for his Soul is onely employed to cater for the Body and his Reason is prostituted to Sense the Beast rides the Man We are not distinguished from the Bruits by our Senses but our Understanding and our Reason but in a carnal Man the Soul is a kind of Sense 't is wholly imployed about the animal Life There is not a more brutish Creature in the World than a worldly wicked Man Well then David had need to pray Lord thou hast given me Reason give me the knowledge of thy self and thy blessed Will 6. When we seek this Grace or any degree of it 't is a proper Argument to urge that we are God's Creatures so doth David here I am now come to my very Business and therefore I shall a little shew how far Creation is pleadable and may any way incourage us to ask spiritual Understanding and renewing Grace 1. In the general I shall lay down this 'T is a good way of reasoning with God to ask another Gift because we have received one already 'T is not a good way of reasoning with Man because he wastes by giving but a good way with God and that upon a double account Partly because in some cases Deus donando debet God by giving doth in effect bind himself to give more as by giving Life to give Food by giving a Body to give Rayment Matth. 6. 25. God by sending such a Creature into the World chargeth his Providence to maintain him as long as he will use him for his glory God loveth to crown his own Gifts Zech. 3. 2. Is not this a brand plucked out of the burnings The thing pleaded there is was not this a Brand plucked out of the fire one Mercy is pleaded to obtain another Mercy So God bindeth himself to give perseverance 2 Cor. 1. 10. but this is not the case here for by giving common Benefits he doth not bind himself to give saving Graces And partly too because he doth not waste by giving his mercy endureth for ever The same reason is given for all those Mercies Psalm 136. Why the Lord chose a Church maintaineth his Church giveth daily bread his mercy endureth for ever God is where he was at first he giveth liberally and upbraideth not James 1. 5. he doth not say I have given already Now a former common Mercy sheweth God's readiness and freeness to give the Inclination to doe good still abideth with him he is as ready and as free to give still daily Bread his mercy endureth for ever spiritual Wisdome his mercy endureth for ever indeed the giving of daily Bread doth not necessarily bind God to give spiritual Wisdome but that which is not a sure ground to expect may be a probable incouragement to ask and learn this that though nothing can satisfy Unbelief yet Faith can pick Arguments out of any thing and make use of
God values his happiness by Gods friendship not by his worldly prosperity and is miserable by Gods absence and by the causes thereof his sin and offence done to God Nay his loving kindness is not only life but better than life A man may be weary of life it self but never of the love of God Many have complained of life as a burthen and wished for the day of death but none have complained of the love of God as a burthen All the world without this cannot make a man happy What will it profit us if the whole world smile upon us and God frown and be angry with us All the Candles in the World cannot make it Day nay all the Stars shining together cannot dispel the darkness of the Night nor make it Day unless the Sun shines so whatever comforts we have of a higher or lower nature they cannot make it day with a gracious heart unless Gods face shine upon us for he can blast all in an instant A Prisoner is never the more secure though his Fellows and Companions applaud him and tell him his Cause is good and that he shall escape when he that is Judge condemns him Though we have the good word of all the world yet if the Lord speak not peace to our Souls and shine not upon our Consciences what will the good word of the world do 2 Cor. 10. 18. He is approved whom the Lord commendeth A sense of Gods love in Christ is the sweetest thing that ever we felt and is able to sweeten the bitterest Cup that ever Believer drank of Rom. 5. 3. We glory in tribulation It will be a blessed thing when we cannot only bear tribulations but rejoyce in them but how come we to rejoyce in them Why because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us so he goes on If we would know the value of things the best way is to know what is our greatest comfort and our greatest trouble in distress For when we are drunk with worldly prosperity and happiness we are incompetent Judges of the worth of things but when God rebukes a man for sin what 's our greatest trouble then That we may take heed of providing sorrow to our selves another time then we find sin and transgression the greatest burthen when any notable affliction is upon us Iob 36. 9. and what will be your greatest comfort then for then your comforts are put to the proof One evidence of an interest in Christ a little sense of the love of God how precious is it Psal. 94. 19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. His thoughts were intangled and interwoven one with another as Branches of a crooked Tree for so the word signifies there when his thoughts were thus intricate and perplext then thy comforts delight my soul. O then what should we labour for but to be most clear in this that God loves us This will be our greatest comfort and rejoycing in all conditions 'T is good for us in prosperity then our comforts are sweet and in adversity and deep affliction to see God is not angry with us Though we feel some smart of his afflicting hand yet his heart is with us 2. They deal with God as worldly men do with sensible things for as others live by sense so they by faith Now worldly men are cheered with the good will of men and troubled with the displeasure of men upon whom they depend The down-look of Ahasuerus confounded Haman and put him to great trouble He was afraid Esth. 7. 8. Absolom professes 'twere better for him to be banished than to live in Ierusalem and not see the Kings face 2 Sam. 14. 32. Surely it is death to Gods Children to want his face and favour upon whom they depend Their business lies mainly with God and their dependance and hope and comfort is in God they live by faith Poor Worldings walk by sense therefore their souls run out upon other comforts in the smiling face of some great Potentate or some friend of the World this is their life peace and joy But they that live by faith see him that is invisible and value their happiness by his favour and misery by his displeasure 3. The Children of God have tasted the sweetness of it therefore they know it by experience The best demonstration of any thing is from sense Description cannot give me such a demonstration as when I taste and feel it my self 1 Pet. 2. 3. If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious They have an experimental feeling of that which others know only by guess and hear-say Carnal men know no other good but that of the Creature The Spouse did so languish after her Beloved being sick of love when her desires were disappointed it made her faint Cant. 5. 6. They that have not seen and known him know not what to make of those spiritual and lively affections that carry us out after the favour of God with such earnestness and importunity but they that have tasted and know what their Beloved is their hearts are more excited and stirred up towards him Iohn 4. 10. If thou knewest the gift of God c. You would more admire the favour of God if you knew it especially by experience you would find it is a better good than ever you have yet tasted Use. Is this our temper and frame of our hearts Can we live contentedly and satisfiedly with the light of his Countenance A Child of God may be without the light of his Countenance but cannot live contentedly without it Are we troubled about it ever seeking after it Surely this is the disposition of the Children of God they are ever seeking after the favour of God I shall press to this by this Argument 1. God bespeaks it from you Psal. 27. 8. Thou saidest Seek ye my face There 's a Dialogue between God and a gracious heart The Lord saith Seek he saith it in his Word and speaks by the injection of holy thoughts by the inspiration of his Grace and the renewed heart like a quick Echo takes hold of this Lord thy face will I seek Psal. 106. 4. You should ever be seeking after God in his Ordinances seek his favour and face 2. The new Nature enclines and carries the soul to God it came from God and carries the soul to God again The Spirit of the World doth wholly encline us to the World They that are after the Flesh do mind the things of the Flesh and the Spirit of God doth encline us to God and therefore the people of God will value his favour above all things else David speaks in his own name and in the name of all that were like-minded with himself he speaks of all the Children of God in opposition to the many the brutish ones that were for sensual satisfaction Psal. 4. 6. Many say Who will shew us any good But
thing observable from hence is the necessity of directing grace Oh that my ways were directed I shall first premise some Distinctions 1. There is a general direction and a particular direction 1 The general direction is in the word there God hath declared his mind in his statutes He hath shewed thee O man what is good Micah 6. 8. 2 A particular direction by his Spirit who doth order and direct us how to apply the rule to all our ways Isa. 58. 11. The Lord shall guide thee continually Now this particular direction is either to our general choice Psal. 16. 7. I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel It is the work of God only to teach us how to apply the rule so as to chuse him for our portion Or secondly as to acts and orderly exercise of any particular grace so 2 Thes. 3. 5. The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patient waiting for Christ. Or thirdly as to the management of our Civil actions as the pillar of the Cloud went before the Israelites in their Journeys so doth God still guide his people in all their affairs both as to duty and success As to Duty Prov. 3. 6. In all thy ways acknowledg him and he shall direct thy paths Ask his counsel leave and blessing in doubtful things ask his counsel in clear cases ask his leave Shall I go up or not and then ask his blessing As to Success Prov. 16. 9. A mans heart deviseth his way but the Lord directeth his steps Events cross expectation we cannot foresee the event of things in the course of a mans life what is expedient and what not Prov. 20. 24. Mans goings are of the Lord how can a man then understand his own way We purpose and determine many things rightly and according to rule but God disposeth of all events Rom. 1. 10. Making request if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you God brought Paul to Rome by a way he little thought of Therefore we need to call God to counsel and to enquire of the Oracle in all matters that concern Family Commonwealth or Church We need a guide Ier. 10. 23. O Lord I know that the way of man is not in himself neither is it in man that walketh to direct his steps Affairs do not depend on our policy or integrity but on the Divine Providence who ordereth every step to give such success as he pleaseth II. Distinction There is a Literal direction and an effectual direction 1. The Literal direction is by that speculative knowledg that we get by the Word Psal. 119. 105. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path Sufficient not only for general courses but particular actions 2. The effectual direction is by the Holy Ghost applying the Word and bending the hearts to the obedience of it Isa. 61. 8. I will direct their work in truth and I will make an everlasting Covenant with them That is I will so shew them their way as to work their hearts to the sincere obedience of it Now to give you the Reason for the necessity of this Direction Three things prove it 1. The blindness of our minds We are wise in generals but know not how to apply the rule to particular cases The Heathens were vain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in their imaginations Rom. 1. 21. And the same is true of us Christians though we have a clearer knowledg of God and the way how he will be served and glorified yet to suit it to particular cases how dark are we A Dial may be well set yet if the Sun shine not upon it we cannot tell the time of the day The Scriptures are sufficient to make us wise but without the light of the Spirit how do we grope at noon-day 2. The forgetfulness of our Memories We need a Monitor to stir up in us diligence watchfulness and earnest endeavours Isa. 30. 21. And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying This is the way walk ye in it When ye turn to the right hand and when ye turn to the left The cares and businesses of the world do often drive the sense of our duty out of our minds One great end of Gods Spirit is to put us in remembrance to revive truths upon us in their season A Ship though never so well rigged needs a Pilot we need a good guide to put us in mind of our duty 3. The obstinacy of our hearts so that we need every moment to enforce the Authority of God upon us and to perswade us to what is right and good The Spirits light is so directive that it is also perswasive there needs not only counsel but efficacy and power We have boisterous lusts and wandring hearts we need not only to be conducted but governed We have hearts that love to wander Jer. 14. 10. We are sheep that need a shepherd for no creature is more apt to stray Psal. 95. 10. It is a people that do err in their hearts not only ignorant but perverse not in mind only apt to err but love to err Thus you see the necessity of this direction Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes The USES Well then give the Lord this honour of being your continual guide Psal. 48. 14. For this God is our God for ever and ever he will be our guide even unto death You do not own him as a God unless you make him your guide Psal. 73. 24. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterwards receive me to glory In vain do you hope for eternal life else Therefore 1. Commit your selves to the tuition of his Grace a man is to chuse God for a guide as well as to take him for a Lord to ask his counsel as well as submit to his Commandments Ier. 3. 4. Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me My father thou art the guide of my youth 2. Depend upon him in every action The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord all his particular actions Rom. 8. 26. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered 3. Seek his Counsel out of a desire to follow it Ioh. 7. 17. If any man will do his will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self Still walk according to light received and it will increase upon you Such as make conscience of known truth shall know more He that cometh with a subjected mind and fixed resolution to receive and obey shall have a discerning spirit God answereth men according to the fidelity of their own hearts SERMON VII PSAL. CXIX 6. Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy Commandments THE Psalmist had prayed for direction to keep Gods Commandments here
lusts and worldly interests The next reason is because they must be spiritually discerned that is to know them inwardly throughly and with some relish and savour there must be an higher light there must be a cognation and proportion between the object and the faculty Divine things must be seen by a divine light and spiritual things by a spiritual light Sense which is the light of beasts cannot trace the workings or flights of Reason in her contemplations We cannot see a Soul or an Angel by the light of a Candle so fleshly wisdom cannot judg of divine things The object must be not only revealed but we must have an answerable light so that when you have done all you must say How can I understand without an Interpreter Acts 8. 31. And this Interpreter must be the Spirit of God Ejus est interpretari cujus est condere To discern so as to make a right judgment and estimate of things dependeth upon Gods help 4. When this blindness is in part cured yet still we need that God should open our eyes to the very last We know nothing as we ought to know David a regenerate man and well instructed prayeth to have his eyes opened for we need more light every day Luk. 24. 45. Then opened he their understandings that they might understand the Scriptures Christ first opened the Scriptures then he opened their understandings USE 1. To shew us the reason why the word prevaileth so little when it is preached with power and evidence their eyes are not opened Isa. 53. 1. Who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed No teaching will prevail till we are taught of God USE 2. What need we have to consult with God whenever we make use of the word in Reading Hearing Study In Reading when thou openest the Bible to read say Lord open mine eyes When thou Hearest beg a sight of the Truth and how to apply it for thy comfort Haec audiunt quasi somniantes Luther saith of the most In seeing they see not in hearing they hear not There was a Fountain by Hagar but she could not see it Gen. 21. 19. God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water and she went and filled the bottle with water and gave the Lad to drink So for Study it is dangerous to set upon the study of divine things in the strength of wit and human helps Men go forth in the strength of their own parts or lean upon the judgment of Writers and so are left in darkness and confusion We would sooner come to the decision of a truth if we would go to God and desire him to rend the vail of Prejudices and Interests USE 3. Is to press us to seek after this blessing the opening of the eyes Magnifie the creating-power of God 2 Cor. 4. 6. God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledg of God in the face of Iesus Christ. Make use of Christ Col. 2. 5. In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledg Beg it earnestly of him the Apostle prayeth Eph. 1. 17 18. That the God of our Lord Iesus Christ the Father of glory may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledg of him The eyes of your understanding being enlightned that ye may know what is the hope of his calling c. Yea mourn for it in cases of dubious anxiety Iohn wept when the book of the seven seals was not opened Rev. 5. 4. Mourn over your ignorance refer all to practice Joh. 7. 17. If any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self Wait for light in the use of means with a simple docile sincere humble mind Psal. 25. 9. The meek will he guide in judgment and the meek will he teach his way Doct. 2. Those whose eyes are opened by God they see wondrous things in his word more than ever they thought Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy Law Law is not taken strictly for the Covenant of works nor for the Decalogue as a Rule of life but more generally for the whole word of God which is full of wonders or high and heavenly mysteries In the Decalogue or Moral Law there is wonderful purity when we get a spiritual sense of it Psal. 119. 96. I have seen an end of all perfection but thy commandments are exceeding broad and Psal. 19. 7 8. The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple the statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart the commandment of the Lord is pure enlightning the eyes A wonderful Equity Rom. 7. 12. The law is holy and the commandment is holy just and good A marvellous wisdom Deut. 4. 6. Keep therefore and do them for this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the Nations which shall hear all these statutes and say Surely this great Nation is a wise and understanding people In the whole word of God the harmony and correspondence between all the parts how the mystery grew from a dark revelation to clearer is admirable In the Gospel every Article of faith is a mystery to be wondered at the Person of Christ 1 Tim. 3. 16. Great is the mystery of godliness God manifested in the flesh justified in the spirit c. A Virgin conceiveth the Word is made flesh the redemption and reconciliation of mankind is the wonderful work of the Lords Grace It is the hidden wisdom of God in a mystery 1 Cor. 2. 7. We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world to our glory And 't is called the mystery hidden from ages Eph. 3. 9. The glory of heaven is admirable Eph. 1. 18. The riches of the glory of the Inheritance of the Saints in light That a clod of earth should be made an heir of heaven deserves the highest wonder All these are mysteries So the wonderful effects of the word in convincing sinners 1 Cor. 14. 25. Thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest and so falling down on his face he will worship God and report that God is in you of a truth Heb. 4. 12. The word of God is quick and powerful sharper than a two-edged sword piercing to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and joynts and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart It is a searching and discovering word John 4. 29. See a man that hath told me all that ever I did In changing sinners 1 Pet. 2. 9. That ye may shew forth the praises of him that hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light Peter's getting out of prison was nothing to it In comforting Every Grace is a Mystery to depend upon
for which the new creature was made and they are ever tending towards that happy state wherein they shall grieve God no more 3. Hope was made for things to come especially for our full and final happiness God fits us with graces as well as happiness not only grants us a glorious estate but gives us grace to expect it Hope would be of no use if it did not lift up the head and look out for a better Estate than the world yieldeth Hope fastens upon Gods title in the Covenant I am thy God Now God could not with honour take this title and give us no better than present things Heb. 11. 16. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he hath prepared for them a city Mark the Apostles reason Many expound these words so as if the meaning were but this That they did only express Gods condescension that he would take his title not from the Potentates of the world but from a few wandring Patriarchs that God was not ashamed to be called their God Alas the words have a quite other sense rather it expresseth an answerable bounty Unless the Lord would give them something answerable to their hopes more than was visible in the lives of the Patriarchs God would be ashamed to be called their God Do but look upon the slenderness of their condition if that he gave them in the world were all their reward what is this to own that magnificent title I am the God of Abraham c. No now he hath something better than all the honours and riches of the world now he may fitly be called their God Christ builds the doctrine of the resurrection upon the same argument God is the God of Abraham c. therefore they shall have a blessed estate in soul and body Matth. 22. 32. To be a God to any is to be a Benefactor and that according to the extent and largeness of an infinite and an eternal Power USE 1. Are you strangers and pilgrims David and such as he was that were of his stamp counted themselves strangers upon earth If you be so 1. You will always be drawing home and would not desire to stay long from Christ. A traveller would pass over his journey as soon as he can and be hastning homeward Phil. 1. 23. I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. Is there any looking longing waiting for your blessed estate It is no hard matter to get a Christian out of the world his better part is gone already his heart is there Do your hearts draw homeward Are your desires stronger and stronger every day after eternal life Natural motion grows swifter and swifter still as it draws nearer and nearer its center So certainly a Christian if he had the motions of the new nature he would be drawing homeward more every day 2. What provision do you make for another world if you are strangers Many bestow all their labour and travel about earthly things and neglect their precious and immortal souls They are at home all their care is that they may live well here O Christians what provision do you make for heaven A traveller doth not buy such things as he cannot carry with him as Trees Houses Houshold-stuff but Jewels Pearls and such as are portable Our Wealth doth not follow us into the other world but our Works do We are travelling to a Countrey whose Commodities will not be bought with gold and silver and therefore are we storing our selves for heaven for such things as are currant there Men that make a voyage to the Indies will carry such Wares as are acceptable there else they do nothing Do you make it your business every day to get clearer evidences for heaven to treasure up a good foundation 1 Pet. 6. 8. and do you labour every day to grow more meet for heaven Col. 1. 12. That 's the great work of a Christian to get evidences and a meetness for heaven These are the months of our purification we are now to cleanse our selves for the embraces of the great God When we grow more mortified strict holy heavenly then we ripen apace and hasten homeward Psal. 84. 7. They shall go on from strength to strength c. every degree of grace it is a step nearer and therefore do you grow more meet for this blessed estate 3. In the fulness of your worldly enjoyments do you mind your Country He that was going pilgrim to Ierusalem cryed out O! this is not the holy City So whatever enjoyments you have do your hearts call you off and say Soul this is not thy rest this is not that thou shouldst take comfort in thou art bound for heaven Do you miss your Countrey and your Parents The men of the world would have their portion here here 's their rest but when you have most of the world at will are you strangers 1 Cor. 7. 31. Using this world as not abusing it that is so making use of Gods bounty as expecting a greater happiness How do we use the world as not abusing it When we use it as a type as a motive and as a help to heaven As a kind of Type The enjoyment of temporal things should stir us up to a more serious consideration of heavenly as the Prodigals husks put him in mind of bread in his fathers house The company of your Relations puts you in mind of the company of God and Christ. The Cities of the Amorites their Walled Towns put the Patriarchs in mind of a City which had foundations Heb. 11. 26. If an earthly City be so glorious what 's the heavenly City These are the comforts of a strange place You abuse them when you forget home and therefore take heed If the creature be sweet heaven is better And when you use them as a Motive to serve God more cheerfully the more you find him a good Master 1 Tim. 6. 17. Trust in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy To make you more earnest in good works 2 Sam. 17. saith David there I dwell in a house of cedar and the ark of God within curtains When you have such kind of reasonings stirr'd up within you What do I for God that hath enlarged my house here And when you use them as a Help your Worldly enjoyments as Instruments of piety and charity Here 's a man's tryal what he doth in a full condition whether his heart be for home still yea or no when he hath the world at will if then he be treasuring up a good foundation and encouraging himself to serve God faithfully 4. What is your solace in your affliction and the inconveniences that you meet with in your pilgrimages Doth this comfort you Home will pay for all Heb. 10. 34. Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods knowing in your selves that ye have in heaven a better and enduring substance Do you reckon upon a more enduring substance Though the World frown upon you as
teach us to do otherwise we love our selves more than our neighbour and our neighbour more than God out of self-interest we comply with the lusts of men and in complying with the lusts of men make bold with God This wisdom every one that would keep Gods law must learn That we are bound to none so much as to God from whom we have life and breath and all things that none can reward our obedience so surely so largely as God who can bear us out when men fail that none can punish our disobedience so much as God If these considerations were more in our hearts we would not sin so boldly nor serve God so fearfully and cowardly as usually we do nor comply with men to the wrong of our souls We may refuse obedience in a particular instance where we do not refuse subjection 2. That heaven is to be preferred before earth and the salvation of our souls before the interests and concernments of our bodies Mat. 6. 33. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you And whosoever fail in this point of wisdom are very fools Luke 12. 10. But God said unto him Thou fool this night shall thy soul be required of thee then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided There should be no delays in heavenly matters We busie our selves about other things and defer our care for eternity from day to day but this should be sought before every other thing 3. That present affliction is to be chosen rather than future and temporal rather than eternal A wise man would have the best at last for to fall from happiness is the utmost degree of misery miserum est fuisse beatum And therefore better suffer now with hopes of reward in another world than take pleasure now to endure pains to come 2 Tim. 2. 3. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good souldier of Iesus Christ. It is better do so than to have all our hopes spent Son in thy life time thou receivedst thy good things Luke 16. 25. That which is present is temporal that which is to come is eternal 2 Cor. 4. 18. While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal The good and evil of the present state is soon over Now we stand not upon a short evil so we may compass a great good 4. That things of profit and pleasure must give place to things that belong to godliness vertue and honesty for the bastard good must give place to the true real good Profit and pleasure are but bastard goods They are counted understanding men in the world that make pleasure give way to profit therefore Solomon saith Where there are no oxen the cribb is clean yet there is much gain by the labour of the oxe I am sure he is an understanding man before God that maketh both give way to honesty and godliness for the same reason that will sway us to make pleasure give way to profit will also teach us to make profit give way to the interest of grace as for instance That pleasure is a base thing as being the happiness of beasts so is profit as being the happiness of the children of this world in contradistinction to holiness the perfection of the next The pleasure of sense is only in this life so is worldly gain onely serviceable in our pilgrimage pleasure in the excess destroyeth profit so doth profit destroy grace As the world scorneth a man that hath wasted an estate upon his pleasures so do God and Angels that for the abundance of his wealth maketh havock of a good conscience and neglecteth things to come Godliness is the great gain 1 Tim. 6. 5. 5. That the greatest suffering is to be chosen before the least sin In sufferings the offence is done to us in sin the offence is done to God The evil of suffering is but for a moment the evil of sin for ever in suffering we lose the favour of men in sin we lose the favour of God suffering bringeth inconvenience upon the body sin upon the soul suffering is only evil in our sense sin whether we feel it yea or no It requireth spiritual wisdom and understanding to choose of evils the least as well as of goods the best Moses Heb. 11. 25. chusing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season 6. That a general good is to be chosen before a particular and that which yieldeth all things rather than that which will yield a limited and particular comfort Riches will avail against poverty and honours against disgrace but godliness is profitable for all things 1 Tim. 4. 8. it will yield righteousness comfort and peace eternal and food and rayment maintenance and eternal life Now these and many such principles must be ingraffed in the heart if we would keep Gods laws The reasonableness of such propositions in the Theory may easily appear but as to practice we are governed by sense and humane passion which judgeth the quite contrary of all this and causes us to make bold with God because afraid of men to follow earthly things with the greatest delight and earnestness and spiritual things in a formal and careless manner to be all for the present and nothing for things to come and to sell the birthright for a mess of pottage to make a wound in our souls to avoid a scratch in our bodies and for a little particular contentment to neglect the things of God 4. Understanding is necessary that we may judg aright of time and place and manner of doing that we may do not only things good but well where to go where to stand still as 't is said they sought of God a right way Isa. 8. 21. And David behaved himself wisely in all that he did 1 Sam. 18. 5. It is for the glory of God and the credit of Religion and the peace of our own souls that we should regard circumstances as well as actions and discern time and judgment that we do not destroy what we would build up Therefore understanding is necessary See further verse the 98th of this Psalm 5. Because our affections answer our understanding If we understand not how can we believe if we believe not how can we love if we love not how can we do Knowledg perswasion affection practice these follow one another where the faculties of the soul are rightly governed and kept in a due subordination Indeed by the fall the order is subverted Tit. 3. 3. serving divers lusts and pleasures Objects strike upon the senses sense moveth the fancy fancy moveth the bodily spirits the bodily spirits move the affections and these blind the mind and lead the will captive But a true understanding makes us more stedfast Now all these
conforms it self to the body and only adheres to objects visible corporeal As water being put into a square vessel hath a square form into a round vessel hath a round form so the soul being infused into the body is led by it and accommodates all its faculties and operations to the welfare of the body And thence comes our ignorance averseness of sâ—…ul from holiness unruliness of appetite and inclination to sensual things In short without grace a mans mind is carried headlong after worldly vanities As water runs where it finds a passage so the soul of man being destitute of the Image of God finds a passage towards temporal things and so runs out that way 2. As man is thus corrupted and prone to worldly objects by natural inclination so by invelerate custom As soon as we are born we follow our sensual appetite and the first years of mans life are meerly governed by sense and the pleasures thereof are born and bred up with us and deeply ingraven in our natures and by constant living in the world conversing with corporeal objects the taint increaseth upon us and so we are more deeply dyed and setled in a worldly frame and we live in the pursuit of honour gain and pleasure according as the particular temper of our bodies and course of our interest do determine us Ier. 13. 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil Custom is as another nature and hardly left We find by experience the more we are accustomed to any course of life the more we delight in it and are weaned from it with a very great difficulty Every act disposeth the soul to the habit and after the habit or custom is produced then every new deliberate act adds a stiffness of bent or sway unto the faculty into which the custom is seated and the longer this evil custom is continued the more easily are we carried away with temptations that suit it and more hardly sway'd to the contrary Now this stiffness of will in a carnal course is that which the Scripture calls hardness of heart and a heart of stone for a man is ensnared by these customs and of all customs covetousness or worldliness is the most dangerous Why because this is a sin of more credit and less infamy in the world And this will multiply its acts in the soul most and works uncessantly Having hearts exercised with covetous practices 2 Pet. 2. 14. Well then these lusts being born and bred up with us from our infancy they plead prescription Religion that comes afterward and finds us biass'd and prepossest with other inclinations which by reason of long use is not easily broken and shaken off as upon trial when ever we are call'd upon or begin to apply our selves to the ways of life we shall be easily sensible of this stiffness of heart and obstinacy that bends us another way Thirdly The heart being thus deeply engaged to temporal things or things base and earthly it cannot be set upon that which is spiritual and heavenly for David propounds these things here as inconsistent To thy testimonies Lord and not to covetousness If the heart be addicted to worldly things it is necessarily averse from God and his testimonies for the habitual bent of the heart to any one sin is inconsistent with grace or a through obedience to Gods will That which the heart is inclined to hath the throne Now when we enquire after grace Have I grace or no Have I the work of God upon my heart The question is not what there is of God in the heart but whether that of God hath the throne Something of God is in the heart of the wickedest man that is and something of sin in the best heart that is therefore which way in the sway the bent the habitual and prevailing inclination of the soul what hath the dominion Sin hath not the dominion for ye are not under the Law but under Grace Rom. 6. 14. What hath the prevalency of the heart Though the Conscience takes part with God as it may strongly in a wicked man yet which way is the bent of our souls And as all sin in its reign is inconsistent with grace so much more worldly affections Mat. 6. 24. No man can serve two masters c. It is as inconsistent as for a man to look two ways at once And the Chaldee on this very Text Incline my heart to thy testimonies read it and not unto mammon You cannot be inclined to God and manimon 1 Joh. 2. 15. If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him The world draws men from the love of God and from his service And labour after temporal things deadens and hindreth us from looking after things which are eternal and we lose the relish of things to come and things spiritual the more the love of worldly things doth increase upon us The School-men say of worldliness it is that which most of all draws us off from God as our last end and chief good and make us cleave to the Creature therefore it is called Adultery and Idolatry Adultery Jam. 4. 4. as it draws away our love delight and complacency from God and Idolatry Col. 3. 5. as it diverts our trust and placeth it in Wealth and sublunary things The Glutton or Sensualist's love is withdrawn from God and therefore his belly is said to be his God Phil. 3. 19. Interpretatively that 's a man's God which is the last end of his actions and upon which all his thoughts affections and endeavours run most But now covetousness is not only a spiritual fornication and adultery which draws off our affections from God but Idolatry Considering our relation in the Covenant it is spiritual adultery and above this 't is idolatry because men think they can never be happy well nor have any comfortable being unless they have a great portion of these outward things Fourthly This frame of heart cannot be altered until we be changed by God's grace why for there is no principle remaining in us that can alter this frame or make us so far unsatisfied with our present state as to look after other things that can break the force of our natural and customary inclinations There are three things which lye against the change of the heart towards God 1. There 's Nature which wholly carrieth us to please the flesh and inordinately to seek the good of the body Now nature cannot rise higher than it self and determine it self to things above its sphear and compass As the Philosopher saith of water it cannot be forced to rise higher than its fountain Our actions cannot exceed their principle which is self-love But besides this 2. There 's Custom added to Nature which makes it more stiff and obstinate so that if it may be supposed that Conscience is sensible of our mistake and ill choice and some weighty
compose and purifie the Mind and make Sin more odious and fortifie us against the Baits of Sense which are the occasion of all the Sin in the World All our Joy is to be considered with respect to its Use and Profit Eccles. 2. 2. I said of laughter It is mad and of mirth What doth it The more a Man delighteth in God and in the Ways of God the more he cleaveth to him and resolveth to go on in this Course and Temptations to Sensual Delights do less prevail for the joy of the Lord is our strength The safety of the Spiritual Life lieth in the keeping up our Joy and Delight in it Heb. 3. 6. Whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoycing of the hope firm unto the end Isa. 64. 5. Thou meetest him who rejoyceth and worketh righteousness But now Carnal Delights intoxicate the Mind and fill it with Vanity and Folly The Sensitive Lure hath more power over us to draw into the slavery of Sin Tit. 3. 3. For we our selves were also foolish deceived serving divers lusts and pleasures Surely then the healing Delights should be preferred before the killing wounding Pleasures that so often prove a snare to us 2. The Object is to be considered thy commandments Here observe 1. David did not place his Delight in Folly or Filthiness as they do that glory in their shame or delight in Sin and giving contentment to the Lusts of the Flesh as the Apostle speaks of some that sport themselves in their own deceivings 2 Pet. 2. 13. that do not onely live in sin but make a sport of it beguiling their own hearts with groundless apprehensions that there is no such evil and hazard therein as the Word declareth and Conscience sometimes suggesteth they are beholden to their sottish Error and Delusion for their Mirth Neither did he place his Delight in Temporal trifles the Honours and Pleasures and Profits of the World as bruitish Worldlings do but in the Word of God as the Seed of the New Life the Rule of his Conversation the Charter of his Hopes that blessed Word by which his Heart might be renewed and sanctified his Conscience setled his Mind acquainted with his Creators Will and his Affections raised to the Hopes of Glory The Matter which feedeth our Pleasures sheweth the Excellency or Baseness of it If like Beetles we delight in a Dunghil rather than a Garden or the Paradise of God's Word it shews a base mean Spirit as Swine in wallowing in the mire or Dogs to eat their own Vomit Our Temper and Inclination is known by our Complacency or Displacency Rom. 7. 5. For when we were in the flesh the motions of sin which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death Therefore see which your hearts carry you to to the World or the Word of God The most part of the World are carried to the Pleasures of Sense and mastered by them but a Divine Spirit or Nature put into us makes us look after other things 2 Pet. 1. 4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises even of the great blessings of the new Covenant such as Pardon of Sin Eternal Life c. 2. Not onely in the Promissory but Mandatory part of the Word Commandments is the Notion in the Text. There is matter of great Joy contained in the Promises but they must not be looked upon as exclusive of the Precepts but inclusive Promises are spoken of Psal. 119. 111. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever for they are the rejoycing of my heart They contain spiritual and heavenly Riches and so are matter of Joy to a believing Soul but the Commandments call for Duty on our parts The Precepts appoint us a pleasant Work shew us what is to be done and left undone These Restraints are grateful to the New Nature for the compliance of the Will with the Will of God and its conformity to his Law hath a Pleasure annexed to it A renewed Soul would be subject to God in all things therefore delights in his Commandments without limitation or distinction 3. It is not in the Study or Contemplation of the Justice and Equity of these Commandments but in the Obedience and Practice of them There is a pleasure in the Study and Contemplation for every Truth breedeth a delectation in the mind Psal. 19. 8. The statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the soul. It is a blessed and pleasant thing to have a sure Rule commending it self with great evidence to our Consciences and manifesting it self to be of God therefore the sight of the Purity and Certainty of the Word of God is a great pleasure to any considering Mind no other Study to be compared with it But the Joy of Speculation or Contemplation is nothing to that of Practice Nothing maketh the Heart more chearful than a good Conscience or a constant walking in the way of God's Commandments 2 Cor. 1. 12. Our rejoycing is this the testimony of our conscience that with simplicity and godly sincerity not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God I have had my conversation in the world Let me give you this Gradation The Pleasures of Contemplation exceed those of Sense and the Delights of the Mind are more sincere and real than those of the Body for the more noble the Faculty is the more capable of Delight A Man in his Study about Natural things hath a truer pleasure than the greatest Epicure in the most exquisite enjoyment of Sense Prov. 24. 13 14. My son eat thou honey because it is good and the honey-comb which is sweet to thy taste so shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul when thou hast found it then there shall be a reward and thy expectation shall not be cut off But especially the Contemplation of Divine things is pleasant the Objects are more sublime certain necessary profitable and here we are more deeply concerned than in the Study of Nature Surely this is sweeter than Honey and Honey-comb to understand and contemplate the way of Salvation by Christ This is an Heaven upon Earth to know these things Iohn 17. 3. This is life eternal to know thee the onely true God and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent As much as the Pleasures of the Natural Mind do exceed these Bodily Pleasures so much do these Pleasures of Faith and Spiritual Knowledge exceed those of the Natural Mind These things the Angels desire to pry into Now the Delights of Practical Obedience do far exceed those which are the meer result of Speculation and Contemplation Why Because they give us a more intimate feeling of the Truth and Worth of these things and our Right in them thereby is more secured and our Delight in them is heightned by the supernatural Operation of the Holy Ghost The Joy of the Spirit is said to be unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1. 18. In short
our greatest Distresses Sorrow worketh Death but Joy is the Life of the Soul Now when dead in all sense and seeling the just shall live by faith Hab. 2. 4. and the Hope wrought in us by the Scriptures is a lively hope 1 Pet. 1. 3. Other things skin the Wound but our Sore breaketh out again and runneth Faith penetrateth into the Inwards of a Man doth us good to the Heart and the Soul reviveth by waiting upon God and gets Life and Strength 2. The Provision which the Word hath made for our Comfort It might be referred to four Heads 1. Its Commands 1. Provisionally and by way of anticipation The whole Scripture is framed so that it still carrieth on its great End of making Man subject to God and comfortable in himself Our first Lesson in the School of Christ is Self-denial Mat. 16. 24. If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me Now this seemeth to be grievous but provideth for Comfort For Self-denial plucketh up all Trouble by the Root the Cross will not be very grievous to a self-denying Spirit Epictetus summed up all the Wisdom that he could learn by the Light of Nature in these two words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bear and forbear to which answereth the Apostle's Temperance patience 2 Pet. 1. 6. Certainly were we more mortified and weaned from the World and could we deny our selves in things grateful to Sense we should not lie open to the stroke of Troubles so often as we do The greatness of our Affections causeth the greatness of our Afflictions Did we possess Earthly things with less Love we should lose them with less Grief Had we more intirely resigned our selves to God and did love Carnal Self less we should less be troubled when we are lessened in the World Thus Provisionally and by way of anticipation doth the Word of God provide against our Sorrows The Wheels of a Watch do one protrude and thrust forward another so one part of Christian Doctrine doth help another Take any piece asunder and then it is hard to be practised Patience is hard if there be no thorow Resignation to God no Temperance and command of our Affections But Christianity is all of a piece one part well received and digested befriendeth another 2. Directly and by way of express Charge the Scripture requireth us to moderate our Sorrow to cast all our Care upon God to look above Temporal things and hath expresly forbidden distracting Cares and Doubts and inordinate Sorrows 1 Pet. 5. 7. Cast all your care upon God for he careth for you and Phil. 4. 6. Be careful for nothing We have a Religion that maketh it unlawful to be sad and miserable and to grieve our selves inordinately Care Fear and Anguish of Mind are forbidden and no Sorrow allowed us but what tendeth to our Joy Isa. 35. 4. Say to them that are of fearful hearts Be strong fear not Isa. 41. 10. Fear not I am with thee be not dismayed I am thy God To fear the Rage and Power and Violence of Enemies is cotrary to the Religion which we do profess Fear not them which can kill the body Mat. 10. 26 28. Now surely the Word which is full fraught with Precepts of this nature must needs comfort and stay the Heart 2. The Doctrines of the Word do quicken and comfort us in our greatest Distresses all of them concerning Justification and Salvation by Christ they serve to deaden the Heart to present things and lift it up to better and so to beget a kind of dedolency and insensibility of this Worlds Crosses But especially four Doctrines we have in the Word of God that are very comforting 1. The Doctrine concerning particular Providence That nothing falleth out without God's Appointment and that he looketh after every individual Person as if none else to care for This is a mighty ground of comfort for nothing can befal me but what my Father wills and he is mindful of me in the condition wherein I am knoweth what things I stand in need of and nothing is exempted from his care ordering and disposal This is a ground both of Patience and Comfort Psal. 39. 8. I was dumb and opened not my mouth because thou didst it So Hezekiah Isa. 38. 15. What shall I say he hath both spoken unto me and himself hath done it It is time to cease or say no more why should we contend with the Lord Is it a Sickness or grievous Bodily Pain What difference is there between a Man that owneth it as a Chance or natural Accident and one that seeth God's Hand in it We storm if we look no further than second Causes but one that looketh on it as an immediate stroke of God's Providence hath nothing to reply by way of murmuring and expostulation So in loss of good Children how do we rave against Instruments if we look no further but if we consider the Providence of God Iob 1. 23. not Dominus dedit Diabolus abstulit but The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. So for Contumely and Reproches if God let loose a barking Shimei upon us 2 Sam. 16. 11. The Lord bid him curse To resist a lower Officer is to resist the Authority with which he is armed So in all other cases it is a ground of Patience and Comfort to see God in the Providence 2. His Fatherly Care over his People He hath taken them into his Family and all his doings with them are Paternal and Fatherly It allayeth our Cares Mat. 6. 32. Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things Our Sorrows in Affliction are lessened by considering they come from our Father Heb. 12. 5 6 7. Ye have forgotten the exhortation that speaketh unto you as unto children My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth If ye endure chastening God dealeth with you as with sons for what son is that whom the Father chasteneth not but if ye be without chastisement whereof all are partakers then are ye bastards and not sons and so those whom God doth love tenderly he doth correct severely 3. His unchangeable Love to his People God remaineth unchangeably the same When our outward Condition doth vary and alter we have the same Blessed God as a Rock to stand upon and to derive our Comforts from that we had before he is the God of the Valleys as well as of the Hills Christ in his Desertion saith My God My God Matt. 27. 46. surely we deserve that the Creature should be taken from us if we cannot find Comfort in God Hab. 3. 18. Although the Fig-tree should not blossom neither shall fruit be in the vine c. yet will I rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation Nothing can
often are they disappointed but if their Hopes should succeed and they should make themselves this way Eternal yet when the Pageantry of this World is over the great ungodly Men of the World who have Names Lands Families in the general Resurrection shall be Poor Base Contemptible whereas he that made it his Business to look after the World to come shall be Glorious for ever 4. When once our Qualification is clear every step of our remove out of this World is an approach to our abiding City Our Salvation nearer Rom. 13. 11. than when we first believed And 2 Cor. 4. 16. though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day 5. Every degree of Grace makes your Qualification clearer Col. 1. 12. giving thanks to the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light and 1 Tim. 6. 18. laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold of eternal life Evidences are encreased when ripening for Heaven more and more 2. Let us carry our selves as such as count our best Estate in this World as the House of our Pilgrimage 1. Let us with great Joy and Delight of heart entertain the Promises of the Life to come resolving to hold and hugg them and esteem them and make much of them till the Performance come Heb. 11. 13. These all died in Faith not having received the Promises but having seen them afar off and were perswaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were Strangers and Pilgrims on the Earth 2. Let us take heed of what may divert us and besot us and hinder us in our heavenly Journey 1 Pet. 2. 11. Dearly beloved I beseech you as Strangers and Pilgrims abstain from fleshly Lusts which war against the Soul A Relish of the Pleasures that offer themselves in the course of our Pilgrimage spoileth the sense that we have of the World to come and weakens our care and pursuit of it 3. Let us be contented with those Provisions that God in his Providence affordeth us by the way though they be mean and scanty 1 Tim. 6. 8. having food and raiment let us be content for we brought nothing into the world and it is certain we can carry nothing out we came into the World contented with a Cradle and must go out contented with a Grave therefore if we want the Pomp of the World let it not trouble us we have such allowance as our Heavenly Father seeth necessary for us till our great Inheritance cometh in hand 4. If the World increase upon us we should take the more care that we may have the Comfort of it in the World to come Rev. 14. 13. Their works follow them Luk. 16. 9. Make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations There is no other way to shew our weanedness in a full Estate nor to keep our hearts clean or to express our deep sense of the World to come but this 2. Doct. That during this Estate and the inconveniencies thereof God's Children find matter of Rejoycing in his Word 1. Let us consider how this Point lieth in this Text. 1. The Psalmist had a sufficient sense of the inconveniencies of the House of his Pilgrimage his absence from God for therefore he counts it a Pilgrimage the many affronts and dishonours that are done to God in the World which go near to a gracious heart who espouseth God's quarrel and interest therefore he saith Horrour hath taken hold upon me because men keep not thy Law nay and possibly his own Afflictions and Troubles for many Interpreters suppose him now expelled from Ierusalem and driven to wander up and down in the Forrests and Wildernesses yet then could he comfort himself in God and pass over his time in meditating on his Precepts and Promises The troubles and inconveniencies of our Pilgrimage are easily disregarded by them that have no sense of them or are slight-hearted or whose time of Trial is not yet come but then is strength of Grace seen when we can overcome sense of Trouble by the incouragements which the bare naked Word of God offereth If David were now in Exile it was a trouble to him not to enjoy the Ordinances and Means of Grace with the rest of God's People but to deceive the tediousness of it by God's Word that is the Trial. If we can depend upon the Promise when nothing but the Promise is left us there are no Difficulties too great for the Comfort of God's Word to allay 2. The Psalmist speaketh not of what he would doe but what he had done thy Statutes have been my Songs Experience of the Comfort of the Word is more than a Resolution to seek it there in his Resolution he would have been a Pattern of Duty but now he is a President of Comfort That which hath been may be God that hath given a Promise and Comfort to his Saints before will continue it in all Ages 3. The Psalmist speaketh not of an ordinary Joy but such as was ready to break out into singing which noteth the heart is full and can hold no longer without some vent and utterance As Paul and Silas were so full of Joy that they sang at midnight in the Stocks 2. Now I come to the Reasons why God's Pilgrims find matter of rejoycing in his Word during the time of their Exile and absence from God and all the Inconveniencies that attend it 1. Some on the Words part 2. Some on the part of him that rejoyceth 1. On the Words part God's Pilgrims can rejoyce in it 1. There they have the Discovery and Promise of eternal Life It telleth them of their Country a firm deed and conveyance is a Comfort to us before we have possession 2 Pet. 1. 4. To us are given exceeding great and precious Promises that being made partakers of the Divine nature we may escape the Corruptions that are in the world through Lust. In the Word there are Promises neither of small things of things of a little moment nor of things that we have nothing to doe with but of great moment and weight and given to us The Promises make the things promised certain to those to whom they do belong though they be not yet actually in their Possession and therefore the Children of God are delighted in them and so far as that their hearts are drawn off from worldly things They that adhere to them and prize the Comfort which they offer have something in them above natural Men or the ordinary sort of those that live in the World 2. There they have sure direction how they may attain this Blessedness which the Promises speak of and that is a great Comfort in the midst of the Darkness and Uncertainty of the present Life The Word of God is said to be a light that shineth to us
compared with all that may be called life Life is either Natural Spiritual or Eternal Compare it with life Natural and there the Psalmist will tell you Psal. 63. 3. Thy loving-kindness is better than life life is not life without it without the feeling of this love or the hope of feeling it it is little worth To have the light of the Sun which is the comfort of the senses without the light of God's Countenance which is the comfort of the soul is a sad and dark estate especially to the Children of God that know they are made for another world and for this onely in their passage thither Natural life onely giveth us a capacity to injoy the comforts of sense which are base dreggy and corruptive but the special favour of God lets us into such consolations as perfect the Soul and affects it with a greater pleasure than our natural faculties are capable of life natural is a frail brittle thing but these saving effects of Gods mercy lay a Foundation of eternal happiness Life natural may grow a burden but the love of God is never burdensome the days may come in which there is no pleasure Eccl. 12. 1. Job 33. 20. his life abhorreth bread and his soul dainty food in sickness and age in troubles of Conscience Men do pretty well with their worldly happiness till God rebuke man for sin then all the glory profit and pleasure of the creature doth us no good Psal. 39. 11. When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth Iudas halter'd himself when filled with the sense of Gods wrath Iob chose strangling rather than life At death when all worldly things cease and are of no more use to us the sense of Gods love will be of great use to us All the world understand the worth and value of Gods love when death cometh then a child of God feeleth it Oh saith he I would not for all the world but that I had made sure of the love of God before this hour how terrible else would it have been to leave all and leap out into an unknown world Ier. 17. 9. The unjust man at his latter end shall be a fool and Iob 27. 8. What is the hope of the Hypocrite if he hath gained when God cometh to take away his Soul 2. Life Spiritual the Soul hath no life but in communion with God who is the fountain of this new life now the more sensible and close this is the more they live the vitality of this life lyeth in the sensible participation of the effects of his special grace and mercy then we have it more abundantly Iohn 10. 10. not onely living but lively 3. For eternal life a comfortable sense of Gods mercy is the beginning and pledg of the true and heavenly life Rom. 5. 4 5 6. The shedding abroad the love of God in the heart of a believer maketh this his hope sure and certain he needeth not be ashamed for he hath earnest beforehand 2. Gods favour furnisheth us with a remedy against all evils and miseries i. e. wants troubles sins The want of other things may be supplyed by the love of God but the want of the love of God cannot be supplyed with any thing else if poor in the world yet we may be rich in faith Iam. 2. 5. if afflicted destitute yet this loss may be made up by the presence of God in the Soul 2 Cor. 4. 16. As our outward man decayeth our inward man is renewed day by day If they want the creature they have God there is no want of a candle when they have the Sun if they want health the Soul may be in good plight 3. Epist. Iohn 2. as Gaius had a healthy soul in a sickly body If they want liberty they ly open to the visits of his grace the Spirit of God is no stranger to them nor can his company and comforts be shut out Tertullian telleth the Martyrs you went out of the prison when you went into it and were but sequestred from the world that you might converse with God the greatest prisoners are those that are at large darkened with ignorance chained with lusts committed not by the Proconsul but God If they want the favour of men they have the favour of God God smileth when the world frowneth they may be Banished but every place is alike near to God and Heaven Some climates are nearer and some further off from the Sun but all alike near to the Sun of Righteousness Ibi pater ubi patria that is our Country where God is we are harrassed beaten afflicted in sundry manners but the sting is gone therod that is dip'd in guilt smarteth most but a pardoned man may rejoyce in tribulations Rom. 5. 1 2. But now on the contrary suppose a man high in honour wallowing in wealth spending his time and wealth in ease and pleasure but after all this God will bring him to Judgment the world is his friend but God is his enemy and he is all his life time subject to bondage Heb. 2. 14. not always felt but soon awakened and during the time of his comfort and delight he is danceing about the brink of hell liable to an eternal curse and there is but the slender thread of a frail life between him and execution a few serious sober thoughts undoe him 2. Sin that is the great evil both as to the guilt of it and the wages of it the guilt and obliquity of it no creature can provide a plaister for this sore to get our Consciences setled and our natures healed this is the special fruit of Gods mercy in Christ his business is to save us from sin Matt. 1. 21. Acts. 3. 26. God having raised up his son Iesus sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from your iniquity Rom. 11. 26. There shall come out of Zion the deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Iacob have Gods Image repaired and restored to his Grace and Favour those that have felt sin a burden nothing will satisfie till the Lord looks graciously upon them 3. The favour of the Lord is the fountain of all blessings Get an interest in his special mercy and then all things are yours you have God for your God who commandeth all things 1 Cor. 3. 22. Whether Paul or Apollo or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come all things are yours Matt. 6. 33. First seek the Kingdome of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you Prov. 10. 22. The blessing of the Lord maketh rich and he addeth no sorrow with it 4. It sweetens every Comfort a piece of bread with the love of God is a plentifull feast A little that a righteous man hath is better than the revenue of many wicked Quid prodest regium alimentum si ad Gehennam pascat What profiteth it to be fatted
2. There are certain things that cannot be discerned by external senses yet a Christian may have a feeling of them by internal sense 3. The outward senses sometimes set the inward senses awork 1. Because in those things which are liable to external sense a man may have an outward sense of them when he hath not an inward as in Seeing Tasting Touching In Seeing Deut. 29. 2. compar'd with ver 4. Ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt and yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear unto this day They saw yet had not an heart to see they saw those wonders with the eyes of their body they had a sense outward and natural but not a sense inward and spiritual So for Taste There is a Taste of God's goodness in the creature all taste it by their outward senses Psal. 145. 9. The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works The wicked are not excepted from this taste for the creatures are as useful for the preservation of their lives as the lives of others They do not mind God's love in it and so do rather taste the creature than God's goodness in the creature but the child of God tasteth his love therein The Fly finds no Honey in the Flower but the Bee doth A fleshly â—…alate relisheth only the gross pleasure of the creature not that refined delight which a spiritual Palate hath who hath a double sweetness it doth not only receive the creature for its natural use but it tasts God and feels the love of God in the conscience as well as the warmth of the creature in his bowels So for Feeling Ier. 3. 25. We lie down in our shame and our confusion covereth us for we have sinned against the Lord our God Men may feel the blows of his Providence and be sensible of the natural inconvenience yet they have not a spiritual feeling so as to be affected with God's displeasure and have a kindly impression left upon the soul that may make them return to God 2. It differs from the outward senses because they can by a spiritual sense discern that which cannot be discerned by the outward sense as in that place Heb. 11. 27. By faith Moses saw him that was invisible See the invisible God and are as much affected with his eye and presence as if he were before the eyes of the body as others are awed by the presence of a worldly Potentate this is matter of internal sense So for Taste they have meat which the world knows not of invisible comforts Iohn 4. 37. They have hidden Manna to feed upon and are as deeply affected with a sense of God's love and hopes of eternal life as others are with all outward dainties Then as to Feeling many things the outward sense cannot discern sometimes they feel spiritual agonies heart-breakings when all is well and sound without a man would wonder what they should be troubled about that abound in wealth and all worldly comforts and accommodations they have an inward feeling they feel that which worldly men feel not when they are afflicted in their spirits carnal comforts can work nothing upon them when they are afflicted outwardly spiritual comforts ease their heart And as they feel soul-agonies and soul-comforts so they feel the operations of the spiritual life they have a feeling of the power of the Spirit working in them they live and know that they live Now no man knows that he lives but by sense therefore if a Child of God knows he lives he hath internal sense as well as external We know we live naturally by natural sense and we know we live spiritually by spiritual sense Gal. 2. 20. I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me He lived and knew that he lived they have a life which they feel within themselves the operations and motions of the spiritual life they feel its impulsions to duty its abhorrencies from sin tendency of soul to God and spiritual supports and they feel the stirrings of the old nature workings of heart towards sin and vanity which the outward senses cannot discover 3. The outward senses sometimes set the inward senses a work The sweetness of those good things which are liable to sense put us in mind of the sweetness of better things as the Prodigal's Husks put him in mind of the Bread in his Father's House or as the Priests of Mercury among the Heathen when they were eating Figs they were to cry Truth is sweet because the god whom they worshipped was supposed to be the inventer of Arts and the discoverer of Truth So Christians when by the outward taste they find any thing sweet the inward sense is set a work and they have a more lively feeling of spiritual comforts as David Honey is sweet but the Word of God was sweeter than honey to him or the honey-comb Thus Christ when he was eating Bread Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God Luk. 14. 15. and they that have Christ's Spirit they act suitably 2 This sense differs from a bare and simple act of the understanding why for a man may know things that he doth not feel Simple apprehension is one thing and an impression another An apprehension of the sharpness of pain is not a feeling of the sharpness of pain Jesus Christ had a full apprehension of his sufferings all his life-long but felt them not until his agonies therefore he said Iohn 12. 27. Now is my soul troubled and what shall I say We have Notions of good and evil when we neither taste the one nor the other It is one thing to know sin to be the greatest evil and another thing to feel it to be so to know the excellency of Christ's love and to taste the sweetness of it this doth not only constitute a difference between a renewed and carnal man but sometimes between a renewed man and himself 1. Between renewed men and carnal men they know the same truths yet have not the same affections A carnal man may talk of truths according to godliness and may dispute of them and hold opinions about them but doth not taste them so he does but know the grace of God in conceit not in truth and reality as the expression is Col. 1. 6. As a man only that hath read of Honey may have a fancy and imagination of the sweetness of it but he that tasts it knows it in truth and in effect they know the grace of God and the happiness of being in communion with God by the light of nature in conceit but not in reality but the other they taste it If so be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious 1 Pet. 2. 3. There 's an impression of sweetness left upon the soul and real experience of the goodness of God in Christ so as to make them affect him with all
spirit Be careful for the Soul that you may keep up a lively faith and a constant sense of blessedness to come and so rejoyce in God Oh how much time and pains do men waste in decking and trimming the Body when in the mean time they neglect their Souls We may all fall a weeping when we consider how little we look after this inner life to keep that in heart and vigour SERMON CXXVIII PSAL. CXIX VER 116 117. And let me not be ashamed of my hope Hold thou me up and I shall be safe and I will have respect unto thy Statutes continually IN the former Verse I observed David begs two things Confirmation in waiting and the full and final accomplishment of his hopes Something remains upon the 116th Verse Let me not be ashamed of my hope Hope follows faith and nourisheth it Faith assures there is a promise hope looks out for the accomplishment of it Now David having fixed his hope upon the mercies of God begs Let me not be ashamed that is that hope may not be disappointed for hope disappointed brings shame Man is conscious of the folly and rashness in conceiving such a hope Iob 6. 20. They were confounded because they had hoped they came thither and were ashamed They looked for water from the Brooks of Tema but when they were dried up they were confounded and ashamed That breeds shame when we are frustrated in our expectations There is a hope that will leave us ashamed and there is another hope that will not leave us ashamed for David goes to God and desires him to accomplish his hope There is a Christian hope that is founded upon the mercies and promises of God and encouraged by experience of God that will never deceive us I shall speak of that hope that will bring shame and confusion and that is twofold worldly hope and carnal security 1. Worldly hopes such as are built upon worldly men and worldly things Upon worldly men they are mutable and so may deceive us sometimes their minds may change the favour of man is a deceitful thing As Cardinal Wolsey said in his distress If I had served God as diligently as I have done the King he would not have given me over in my grey hairs but it 's a just reward for my study to do him service not regarding the service of God to do him pleasure Let God be true and every man a Liar A man makes way for shame that humours the lusts of others and wrongs his Conscience and first or last they will find it is better to put confidence in God than the greatest Potentates in the World Psal. 118. 8. and therefore it should be our chief care to apply our selves to God and study his pleasure rather than to please men and conform our selves to their uncertain minds and interests To attend God daily and be at his beck is a stable happiness the other is a poor thing to build upon Mens affections are mutable and so is their condition too Psal. 62. 9. Surely men of high degree are a lye and men of low degree are vanity Whoever trusts in men high or low are sure to be deceived in their expectations And therefore we should think of it beforehand lest we be left in the dirt when we think they should bear us out 1 Kings 1. 21. When my Lord the King shall sleep with his Fathers I and my Son Solomon shall be counted offenders When the Scene is shifted and new Actors come upon the Stage none so liable to be hated as those that promised to themselves a perpetual happiness by the favour of men This is a hope that will leave us ashamed And then worldly things they that hope in these for their happiness will be ashamed There are two remarkable Seasons when this hope leaves us ashamed in the time of distress of conscience and in the day of death In time of distress of conscience Psal. 39. 11. When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity thou makest his beauty to consume away like a Moth. When sin finds us out and Conscience goes to work upon the sense of its own guilt O then what will all the plenty of worldly Comforts do us good The Creatures then have spent their allowance and can help us no more What good will an Estate do And all the pomp and bravery of the World will be of no more use to us than a rich shoo to a gouty foot Prov. 18. 14. A wounded spirit who can bear But now he that hath chosen God for his portion in all distress and calamities can revive his hopes So also in the hour of death Iob 27. 8. What is the hope of the hypocrite though he hath gained when God shall take away his soul When God puts the Bond in suit though man hath gained where 's his hope when God delivers him over to the Executioner to Chains of darkness 2. Carnal security will leave us ashamed Men living in their sins hope they shall do well enough and expect mercy to bear all and pardon all though they be not so strict and nice as others yet they shall do as well as they This hope is compared to a Spiders Web Iob 8. 12. a poor slight thing that is gone with the blast of every temptation when the Besome comes both Spider and Web are swept away And it is said Iob 11. 20. The hope of the wicked is like the giving up of the Ghost and these in a moment take an everlasting farewel of their hopes So their hopes fail in the greatest extremity This carnal and secure hope in God presumption of his mercy it is but a waking dream as a dream fills men with vain delusions and phantasms It is notably set out by the Prophet Isai. 29. 8. They shall even be as when a hungry man dreameth and behold he eateth but he awaketh and his soul is empty There will an awakening time come and then the Dream of a hungry man torments him more Carnal men are like Dreamers that lose all as soon as they are awake though they dream of enjoying Scepters and Crowns yet they are in the midst of Bonds and Irons Vain elūsions do they please themselves with that make way for eternal sorrow and shame Let us see how this false hope of the wicked differs from the true hope of Gods Children First This hope is not indeed built upon God God hath the name but indeed they trust upon other things as those women the Prophet speaks of Isai. 4. 1. We will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel only let us be called by thy name to take away our reproach So they call their hope ◅fter Gods name but their hearts are born up with other things as appears because when outward things fail they are at a loss and begin to awake out of their dream especially in adistressed case when it pincheth hard Secondly It is not a serious and advised trust
power of it There is a mighty power that goeth along with the Word of God and astonisheth the hearts of those that consider it and feel it 1 Thess. 1. 1. 5. Our Gospel came to you not in word only but in power and in the Holy Ghost By this power it doth not only fill the head with Notions but pierceth the heart alarms the Conscience awakens the Affections Heb. 4. 12. The word of God is quick and powerful sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart This power was seen in the wonderful success of that Doctrine and Religion which the Scriptures do establish It hath diffused and spread it self like Leven in the Mass and Lump throughout all parts of the known world within the space of thirty or forty years or thereabouts Hesterni sumus saith Tertullian tamen omnia vestra implevimus Urbes Insulas Castella Municipia Conciliabula Castra Tribus Decurias Palatium Senatum Forum sola vobis relinquimus Templa We are but of yesterday and yet how are we encreased Christians are found in all places Cities Villages Isles Castles free Towns Councils Armies Senate Markets every where but in the Idol-Temples Such a wonderful encrease and success was there in a short time The Apostle Col. 1. 6. The word of the truth of the Gospel is come unto you as it doth to all the world and bringeth forth fruit as it doth also in you The Doctrine it self is contrary to Nature it doth not court the senses nor woo the flesh it offereth no splendor of life nor pleasures nor profits but biddeth deny all these things and expect persecution Mark 16. 24. If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me It only telleth us of spiritual comforts and the recompences of another world Mahomet allured his Followers with fair promises of security and carnal pleasure their wind and tide went one way Man is credulous of what he desireth but Christ telleth us of denying our selves taking up the Cross cutting off right hand and plucking out right eye rowing against the stream of flesh and blood bearing out Sail against all the Blasts and furious Winds without here is nothing lovely to a carnal eye This was the Doctrine It taught the proud world humility the uncharitable world love of their enemies the unchast world that a glance is Adultery Matth. 5. 25. Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his heart the revengeful world to turn the other cheek to the Smiter the covetous man to be liberal not to cark and take thought for worldly things but to lay up treasures in Heaven the dissolute world to walk circumspectly in all godliness and honesty The persons and instruments that were to manage the Doctrine were in the worlds eye contemptible a few Fishermen destitute of all worldly props and aids of no power wealth secular wisdom authority and other such advantages as are apt to beget a repute in the world yet they preached and converted many Nations though they had no publick interest were not backed with the power of Princes as Superstitions are wont to prevail by their countenance and example Every one seeketh the Rulers face but the Gospel had gotten firm footing in the world long e'r there was a Prince to countenance it there were many to persecute it none to profess it As the instruments were poor so the persons that received their message Iames 2. 5. Hearken my beloved brethren hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him 1 Cor. 1. 26. Ye see your Calling Brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called When destitute of worldly succours and supports it held up head Ne videretur authoritate traxisse aliquos veritatis ratione non pompae gratia praevaleret saith Ambrose It was much it should hold up head yea the powers of the world against it bonds and sufferings and deaths did abide for them every where that professed this way Horrible tortures Never did War Pestilence and Famine sweep away so many as the first persecutions poor Christians were murthered and butchered every where yet still they multiplied as the Israelites did in Egypt under oppression or as a Tree lopped sends forth more sprouts As without worldly interests they had not such gifts of Art Eloquence and Policy as the world with whom they had to deal all was carried on in a plain way without pomp of words Paul was learned but he laid aside his ornaments lest the Cross of Christ should be of none effect 1 Cor. 2. 4 5. And my speech and my preaching was not with inticing words of mans wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God They were to deal with men of excellent parts and learning some of which received the Gospel This plain Doctrine was set afoot in that part of the world where Arts and civil Discipline most flourished at that time and were in their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus as Aaron's Rod devoured the Magicians Serpents so was the Gospel too hard for the wisdom of the world it prevailed not by force of Armes and the power of the long Sword as all Dotages do and Superstitions are planted but overcame by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives unto the death Rev. 12. 11. Christs Sword is in his mouth Psal. 8. 2. Out of the mouths of Babes and Sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger This way seemed to the world a novel way they were levened with prejudices and bred up by long custome which is a second Nature in the worship of Idols 1 Pet. 1. 18. For asmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers Men keep to the Religion of their Ancestors with much reverence Christ did not seize upon the world as a Wast is seized upon for the next Owner The Ark was to be set up in the Temple that was already occupied and possessed by Dagon Before Christ could be seated in the Government of the Nations first Satan was to be dispossessed and Superstitions received by a long tradition and prescription of time were to be removed the Wolf hunted out Thus the power great But this is past and gone There is a wonderful power that goes along with the Word First A power to humble and terrifie those that scoffed at the Miracles Acts 2. 37 When they heard
nothing There we must begin They that have not the favour of God are left to their own sway and their own hearts and counsels but those whom he loves know his secrets and are guided by his Spirit 3. The connexion He prays not for one but for both for God giveth both together consolation and direction and we must seek both together for we cannot expect God should favour us while we walk in a wrong way and contrary to his will First Let me speak of the first Petition Where I might observe First The matter of the Petition Make thy face to shine Secondly The Person Upon me Thirdly The Character by which he describeth himself Thy Servant First As to the matter Make thy face to shine It is a Metaphor taken from the Sun When the Sun shines and sheds abroad his light and heat and influence then the Creatures are cheered and revived but when that 's obscured they droop and languish What the Sun is to the outward World that is God to the Saints Or else here 's a Metaphor taken from men that look pleasantly upon those in whom they delight And so the Lord gives a smile of his gracious countenance upon his people indeed it alludeth to both For the allusion to the light and influence of the Sun is clear in the word shine and the allusion to the pleasant countenance of a man upon his child is included in the word face The phrase may be understood by what is said Prov. 16. 15. In the light of the Kings countenance is life and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain That place will illustrate this we have in hand Look what the smiling and pleasing aspect of the King is to those that value and stand in need of his favour that is the favour of God to the Saints The same form of speech is used in other places as in the form of the Priests blessing Numb 6. 25. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee And in that prayer Psal. 67. 1. God be merciful unto us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us Selah Well then the thing begged is a sense of Gods love Secondly For whom doth David beg this For himself Cause thy face to shine upon me David a man after Gods own heart But did he need to put up such a request to God 1. Possibly God might seem to neglect him or to look upon him with an angry countenance because of sin and therefore he begs some demonstration of his favour and good will David had his times of darkness and discomfort as well as others therefore earnestly beggeth for one smile of Gods face 2. If you look not upon him as under desertion at this time the words then must be thus interpreted He begs the continuance and encrease of his comfort and sense of Gods love Gods manifestations of himself to his people in this world are given out in a different degree and with great diversity Our assurance or sense of his love consists not in puncto an indivisible point it hath a latitude it may be more and it may be less and Gods Children think they can never have enough of it therefore David saith Lord cause thy face to shine If it did shine already the Petition intimates the continuance and encrease of it Thirdly He characterizeth himself by the notion of Gods servant as Psal. 31. 16. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant save me for thy mercies sake We must study to approve our selves to be the Lords servants by our obedience If we would have his face shine upon us we must be careful to yield obedience unto him The Points are four I. The sense of Gods favour may be withdrawn for a time from his choicest servants II. The Children of God that are sensible of this cannot be satisfied with this estate but they will be praying for some beams of love to be darted out upon their souls III. They that are sensible of the want or loss of Gods favour have liberty with hope and encouragement to sue out this blessing as David did Lord make thy face to shine upon thy servant IV. Gods Children when they beg comfort they also beg Grace to serve him acceptably I. The sense of Gods favour may be withdrawn for a time from his choicest servants David puts up this petition in point of comfort There 's a twofold desertion in appearance and in reality First In appearance only through the misgivings of our own hearts We may think God is gone and hides his face when there is no such matter as through inadvertency we may seek what we have in our hands Thus a Child of God thinks he is cast out of the presence of God when all the while he hath a full right and place in his heart Thus David Psal. 31. 22. We think God hath forgotten us neglects us casts us off hath no respect for us when in the mean time the Lord is framing an answer of Grace for us One chief cause is misinterpreting Gods Providence and our manifold afflictions The Lord sometimes frowns upon his Children as Ioseph upon his Brethren when his affections were very strong so the Lord covers himself with frowns and anger the visible appearance of it speaks no otherwise Secondly It may be really when he is angry for sin Isai. 57. 17. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth and smote him I hid me and was wroth As the Fathers of our Flesh shew their anger by whipping and scourging the Bodies of their Children so the Father of our Spirits by lashing the Soul and Spirits by causing them to feel the effects of his angry indignation Or else withdrawing the Spirit of comfort suspending all the acts and fruits of his love so that they have not that joyful sense of communion with God as they were wont to have Now the reasons why Gods people may want the light of his countenance are these 1. God out of Sovereignty will exercise us with changes here in the World Even in the inward man there we have our Ebbs and Flows that we may know Earth is not Heaven He hath an Eternity wherein to reveal his love and to communicate himself to his people therefore he will take a liberty as to temporal dispensations Isai. 54. 8. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee saith the Lord thy Redeemer He hath an everlasting love and kindness for us therefore here in the world he will exercise us with some uncertainties as David concealed his love towards his Son Absolom when yet his bowels yerned towards him Here he takes liberty to do it because he will make it up in Heaven All your changes shall then be recompenced by an uninterrupted comfort 2. To conform us to Jesus Christ. We should not know the bitter agonies our Redeemer sustained
and serve him Not to pluck the Stars from the Sky or to guide the Chariot of the Sun not such sublimity of Knowledg and Learning nor such a quantity and proportion of Alms nor to lance thy self or offer thy first-born nor Rivers of Oyl nor thousands of Rams for a burnt-Offering Mic. 6. 8. He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God The Lords Commands are not rigid and severe and unreasonable but sweet and desirable that we should do wrong to none do good to all and maintain communion with him and is this burthensome Go try the Drunkards life and the Adulterers life you will see the temperate the chast have much the sweeter life of it Therefore let there not be one disallowing thought of what God hath required Could we bring you to esteem the Word other things would come on more easily 3. Owne it and improve it as a faithful Word building upon the promises fearing the threats thereof The Word will not deceive them that are ruled by it Consider your condition and what will be the event of things There is a curiosity in men to know their own destiny We may easily know what shall become of us by the Word of God and if men were not more curious to know their end than careful to amend their lives they need not seek any other Oracle Rom. 8. 13. For if ye live after the Flesh ye shall dye but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body ye shall live So for the end of any action if the word of God say it will be bitter in the latter end though it bring profit and pleasure for a while believe it against all the wicked men in the World and say I do more believe this one Text and place of Scripture than all that men can do and say Mind the great Duties of the Gospel and venture your souls in Christs hands upon these terms 1 Tim. 1. 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation That Christ Iesus came into the world to save Sinners of whom I am chief I have nothing but God's Word yet I will venture my salvation my All upon it upon his bare word Comfort your selves in the midst of difficulties with the truth of Gods Word when all sense and outward seeming is contrary to the promise Before a promise be accomplished there will be unlikelihoods I will instance in Paul's Prediction Acts 27. 24 25 26. Lo God hath given thee all them that sail with thee wherefore Sirs be of good cheer for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain Island c. Yet how many difficulties came to pass First No Isle appeareth they are tossed in the Adriatick Sea for fourteen days together they knew not where they were nor whither they did go Thus doth God delay the accomplishment of the promise they know not how nor which way it shall be made good Another difficulty was That meeting with some Isle it fell out in the night-time they deemed they drew near to some Country but yet feared they should be split upon the Rocks ver 30. the Ship-men were ready to flee out of the Ship leave Paul and his Fellows in danger upon pretence of casting out Anchors out of the Fore-stern and so they were ready to miscarry in the Haven When this difficulty was over and it was day they were not able to row to Land because of their long fasting having eaten little or nothing for fourteen days Another difficulty was When they would have thrust the Ship ashore it was broken all in pieces what with high Banks and two Seas meeting Another difficulty was When they were to swim to Land they think of killing the Prisoners and the Captain willing to save Paul kept them from their purpose and so they escaped all to Land Therefore do not distrust the Word but especially bear up with the hope of eternal life though remote and in another World which we never saw Heb. 11. 13. These all died in faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off and were perswaded of them and embraced them Rom. 2. 7. To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for life and glory and immortality eternal life You will meet with bitter conflicts heavy troubles sad desertions yet remember Gods Word is a faithful Word and let this cheer and revive you Use 2. Express these Vertues of the Word We must be righteous and true if the Word of God be so for the Impression must answer the Seal and Stamp Rom. 6. 12. But God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of Doctrine which was delivered you 2 Cor. 3. 3. Ye are declared to be the Epistle of Christ ministred by us written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God not in Tables of Stone but in fleshly Tables of the heart Phil. 3. 16. Holding fast the word of life that I may rejoyce in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain neither laboured in vain A Christian is the Bible exemplified such a conformity there must be there to the Law of God the same light that shineth forth in Scripture should shine forth in the lives of the godly so it was in Hezekiah Isai. 38. 3. Remember O Lord how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight And of David it is said 1 Kings 3. 6. Thy servant David walked before thee in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart First For righteousness A Christians business is to give to every man his due to do what he is bound to do to God and man Matth. 22. 21. to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's Whether by the Law of Nature 1 Tim. 5. 8. If any provide not for his own and especially for them of his own house he hath denied the faith and is worse than an Infidel Or by relation as Boaz did the part of a Kinsman to Ruth Ruth 3. 13. Tarry this night and it shall be in the morning that if he will perform unto thee the part of a Kinsman well let him do the Kinsmans part but if he will not do the part of a Kinsman then will I do the part of a Kinsman to thee as the Lord liveth Or by place or station Neh. 6. 11. And I said Should such a man as I flee and who is there that being as I am would go into the Temple to save his life I will not go in Or by paction or agreement Col. 4. 1. Masters give to your Servants that which is just and equal Or according to rules of prudence equity
the word of God many pretend to have an high estimation and respect to the Doctrine of God when they cannot digest the directions of it because 't is contrary to their desires and carnal affections they reserve something in their hearts that makes their love questionable they that have not a real love to the word of God are but lightly tinctur'd with Religion not deeply dyed The stony ground received the word with joy Men may have strong affections and strange stirrings in their souls and yet not be right with God But here 's an undoubted Evidence to love the Word for it's purity A mans love may be questionable because he may love the word upon forreign motives either because of Novelty or fineness of expression or publique countenance and credit or external advantage Iohn 6. 26. Vix diligitur Iesus propter Iesum Or they may love it for internal reasons as 't is a good word as they that tasted of the power of the world to come they may look upon it for pleasure and profit but not as good and holy many look upon the Gospel as good and profitable as offering peace and pardon and comfort and eternal life nature that hath naturally a sense of Religion hath also an hunger after immortality and blessedness and therefore the promises of the Gospel may be greedily catched after as offering everlasting Life and Blessedness but now a love to that which is pure and holy leaveth a more durable impression upon the soul. And further many have a liking to the purity of the word and a general approbation of it as 't is a fit rule for Creatures to live by yet unless there be a strong prevailing affection all comes to nothing and therefore nothing but this love to the word because of its purity is unquestionable 4. Unless we love the word as pure we shall fail in many other parts of Religion we shall not love God as we ought for God is lovely not only as the Fountain of blessedness but as he is the most pure and perfect Being He was diligibilis naturae before any emanation of goodness passed from him We are to love him in desertions when we feel no good from him and he seemeth to write bitter things against us Isa. 26. 8. So that we cannot discharge this duty to love God as he is a pure and perfect Being if we do not love the word because 't is pure And we shall not love the Saints as we ought without this Psalm 16. 3. We are to love them for the Image of God in them If you love them that love you what thanks have you Matth. 5. 46. We are to love the Saints as Saints and for that reason Once more we are to hate sin as filthy as 't is a gross absurdity and deordination of the humane nature Psal. 96. 10. Ye that love the Lord hate evil Now till we have this frame of heart to love the Law as 't is pure we can do none of these things For there is the same reason for the one as for the other and therefore 't is not a nicity but a necessary frame of heart Use. 1. Is to inform us that they can never love God and his ways that hate purity till their hearts be changed There are a sort of men in the world whose hearts rise against purity for if they see any make Conscience of sin they brand them with the name of Puritans so those that seek to keep themselves from sin and the more holy they are they are an eye-sore to them Now can they say I love thy Law because 't is pure and cannot endure to see it copied out in others Oh! What a vile disposition is this in you to be despisers of that which is good 2 Tim. 3. 3. None live up to the purity of their profession but you scorn them and let me tell you you scorn that which is most glorious in God himself Would a Father take it well that a slave should mock his child because 't is like him So will God take it well that you should scorn those that are good because they are like their heavenly Father These are of the seed of the Serpent who are full of Enmity they have the old Antipathy Gen. 3. 15. Prov. 29. 27. 'T is a vile scorn of the God of heaven to hate a man for his holiness And they can never love the Law whatever they pretend that do not love the Law for it's purity a carnal distempered appetite hath no tast for the Word of God as 't is a direction to holiness 2 Cor 2. 14. 2. Use is Information to Inform us in what rank to place Principles There are several sorts of Principles there are some that are false and rotten and some more tolerable and some good and sound and some rare and excellent 1. There are some false and rotten principles as carnal Example and Custom Men will do as they have done or as others do they will own the Religion that their Fathers have done be it what it will by the same reason you may serve Mahomet as well as Christ. A man that standeth upon the Vantage ground is not taller than another such are of no better Constitution than the Turks only they stand upon the Vantage ground Another rotten principle is Vain-glory to be seen of Men Mat. 6. they pray and give almes to be seen of Men. Come see my Zeal for the Lord of Hosts saith Iehu Vain-glory many times filleth the sails and carries us on in the Service of God So secular and worldly Interests and Ends as the Pharisees made long prayers that they might devour Widows houses Mat. 23. that is they made long Prayers and show of Devotion to be trusted with the management of Widows Estates to make a prey of them All that I shall say to this principle is this that 't is better for the World that men would serve God any how that Christ should be served out of Vain-glory then not served at all as the Apostle saith some preach Christ out of envy and others out of good will but I am glad so Christ be preached Phil. 1. 18. though they themselves be rotten hearted Hypocrites yet the World fares the better for it 2. There are some more tolerable Principles the hope of Temporal Mercies When we come and Pray and do not seek the Favour of God but seek Temporal Mercies Hosea 7. 14. They howled upon their beds for Corn and Wine Or the fear of Temporal Judgments Isa. 58. 5. Ier. 2. 16. when all that they do is to remove some Temporal Judgment in their Afflictions they will seek me right early And I think I may add one thing more here the fear of Eternal Death when 't is alone otherwise 't is a Grace they shall be Damned else and so 't is a sleepy sop to appease an accusing Conscience and so 't is but a sin-offering Though it requireth some Faith to fear
the way which God propoundeth being prepossessed with carnal fancies 'T is counted a foolish thing to wait upon God in the midst of straits conflicts and temptations 1 Cor. 2. 14. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned More prejudices lye against the means than the end therefore out of despair they sit down with a carnal choice as persons disappointed in a match take the next offer since they cannot have Gods happiness they resolve to be their own carvers and to make themselves as happy as they can in the enjoyment of present things III. Our mistakes about it will cost us dear God is very jealous of what we make our happiness and therefore blasteth the carnal choice Those that will try experiments smart for it in the issue Solomon came home by weeping-cross Eccles. 1. 14. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun and behold all is vanity and vexation of Spirit He hath proved it to our hands He had a large heart and a large Estate and gave himself to pleasures to extract happiness from the Creatures to hunt after worldly satisfactions in a more artificial way than brutish Sots that merely act according to lust and appetite Eccl. 2. 1. I said in mine heart Go to now I will prove thee with mirth therefore enjoy pleasure and behold this also is vanity He gave himself to pleasures not meerly upon sensual but curious and artificial aims yet found his heart secretly withdrawn from God Whoever maketh Tryal will either run into utter mischief or must come home again by a sound remorse and so they learn it and dearly to their cost Use Let us study this Point well 1. That we may not take up with a false happiness or set up our rest in temporal enjoyments as height of honour abundance of riches favour of great men c. Things useful in their Sphere and beneficial to sweeten and comfort the life of man who hath placed his happiness in God Pleasures being enjoyed they do not satisfy being loved they defile being lost they increase our trouble and sorrow 1. They cannot satisfie because of their imperfection and uncertainty They do not answer the whole desire of man carry no proportion with the Conscience That which maketh a man happy must bear a thorow proportion with all the wants desires and capacities of the Soul so as conscience and heart and all may say it is enough But alas these things cannot give us solid peace and contentment Isa. 55. 2. Wherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not Till an hungry conscience be provided for we cannot be happy But besides their low use consider the uncertainty of injoyment Nothing can give us solid peace but what doth make us eternally happy These flowers wither in our hands while we smell at them Nothing but the favour of God is from everlasting to everlasting We have not a sure possession of these things in the world They are possessed with fear 1 Cor. 7. 30 31. 'T is the Apostles Counsel that they that buy should have such remiss affections to the world as though they possessed not and they that use this world as not abusing it for the fashion of this world passeth away A man must look for changes and lay forth for several conditions in the World Psal. 39. 11. When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth surely every man is vanity Selah Like glass brittle when most glistering 2. Being inordinately loved they defile There is not only gall but poison in them They cannot make us better but may easily make us worse as they defile and draw the heart from God and enslave us to our own Lusts. 1 Tim. 6. 10. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition For the love of money is the root of all evil which while some have coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves thorow with many sorrows 3. Being lost they encrease our Trouble and Sorrow A man that hath not learned to be abased as well as to abound his abundance maketh his case the more miserable It is hard to go back a degree or two They are apt to bring much trouble upon the heart of him that is conversant about them All is vanity and vexation of Spirit The more we make them our happiness when lost they increase our Trouble 2. That we may not be prejudiced against the true happiness Men think it a happiness to live without the yoke of Religion to speak and think and do what they please without restraint but to be always in bonds and held under the awe of the word that they count unreasonable and grievous Psal. 2. 3. Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us In studying of this Point 1. Lean not to thine own understanding Pro. 23. 4. Labour not to be rich cease from thy own wisdom but seek direction from God by his word and Spirit God can only determine who is the Blessed man in whose hand alone it is to make us Blessed 2. Take the light of faith sense and carnal reason will deceive you Blessedness is a riddle which can only be found out by faith Which is the evidence of things not seen Heb. 11. 1. That a poor Godly man who is counted the filth and off-scouring of all things should be the only happy Man and that the great Men of this world who have all things at will should be poor blind miserable and naked is a paradox will never enter into the heart of a Natural man that hath only the light of sense and carnal reason to judg of things for to sight and reason it is nothing so 3. Wait for the light and power of the Spirit to incline and draw thy heart to God Many times we are doctrinally right in point of Blessedness but not practically we content our selves with the meer notion but are not brought under the power of these Truths that is the work of the Spirit It is easy to prove that it is the Beasts happiness to enjoy pleasure without remorse easy to prove the uncertainty of riches and what unstable foundations they are for the Soul to rest on but to draw off the heart from these things to God is the work of the Holy Ghost Psal. 49. 13. This their way is their folly yet their posterity approve their sayings Many a man who stands over the grave of his Ancestors will say Ah how foolish were they to waste their time and strength in pleasure and in hunting after worldly greatness and esteem and favour with men what doth it profit them now And yet
To press you to walk according to this rule if you would be blessed To this end let me press you to take the Law of God for your Rule the Spirit of God for your Guide the Promises for your encouragement and the Glory of God for your end 1. Take the Law of God for your Rule Study the mind of God and know the way to Heaven and keep exactly in it It is an argument of sincerity when a man is careful to practise all that he knows and to be inquisitive to know more even the whole will of God and when the heart is held under awe of Gods word If a Commandement stand in the way it is more to a gracious heart than if a thousand Bears and Lyons were in the way more than if an Angel stood in the way with a flaming sword Prov. 13. 13. He that feareth the Commandment shall be rewarded Would you have blessings from God fear the Commandment It is not he that fears wrath punishment inconveniencies troubles of the world molestations of the flesh no but he that dares not make bold with a Commandment As Ier. 35. 6. Go bring a temptation set pots of Wine before the Rechabites O they durst not drink of them why Ionadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us saying Ye shall drink no wine Thus a child of God doth reason when the Devil comes and sets a temptation before him and being zealous for God dares not comply with the lusts and humours of men though they should promise him peace happiness and plenty A wicked man makes no bones of a Commandment but a godly man when he is in a right posture of spirit and the awe of God is upon him dare not knowingly and wittingly go aside and depart from God 2. Take the Spirit of God for your Guide We can never walk in Gods way without the conduct of Gods Spirit We must not only have a way but a voice to direct us when we are wandering Isa. 30. 21. And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying This is the way walk in it Sheep have a Shepherd as well as a Fold and children that learn to write must have a Teacher as well as a Copy and so it is not enough to have a Rule but we must have a Guide a Monitor to put us in mind of our duty The Israelites had a pillar of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night The Gospel-Church is not destitute of a Guide Psal. 37. 24. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterwards receive me to glory The Spirit of God is the Guide and Director to warn us of our duty 3. The Promises for your encouragement If you look elsewhere and live by sense and not by faith you shall have discouragements enough How shall a man carry himself through the temptations of the world with honour to God 2 Pet. 1. 4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruptions that are in the world through lust When we have promises to bear us up this will carry us clear through temptations and make us act generously nobly and keep close to him 4. Fix the Glory of God for your aim else it is but a carnal course The spiritual life is a living to God Gal. 2. 20. when he is made the end of every action You have a journey to take and whether you sleep or wake your journey is still a going As in a ship whether men sit lye or walk whether they eat or sleep the ship holds on its course and makes towards its Port. So you all are going into another World either to Heaven or Hell the broad or the narrow way and then do but consider how comfortable it will be at your journey's end in a dying hour to have been undefiled in the way then wicked men that are defiled in their way will wish they had kept more close and exact with God even those that now wonder at the niceness and zeal of others when they see that they must in earnest into another world oh then that they had been more exact and watchful and stuck closer to the Rule in their practice discourses compliances Men will have other notions then of holiness than they had before oh then they 'l wish that they had beem more circumspect Christ commended the unjust Steward for remembring that in time he should be put out of his Stewardship You will all fail within a little while then your poor shiftless naked souls must launch out into another world and immediately come to God How comfortable will it be then to have walked closely according to the line of Obedience The Third Point That a close walker not only shall be blessed but is blessed in hand as well as in hope How is he blessed 1. He is freed from wrath he hath his discharge and the blessedness of a pardoned man Joh. 5. 24. He that believeth on Christ hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation for he hath passed from death to life he is out of danger of perishing which is a great mercy 2. He is taken into favour and respect with God Joh. 15. 14. Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you There is a real friendship made up between us and Christ not only in point of harmony and agreement of mind but mutual delight and fellowship with each other 3. He is under the special care and conduct of Gods Providence that he may not miscarry 1 Cor. 3. 23. All things are yours and ye are Christs and Christ is Gods All the conditions of his life are over-ruled for good his blessings are sanctified and his miseries unstinged Rom. 8. 28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose 4. He hath a sure Covenant-right to everlasting glory 1 Joh. 3. 1. Behold now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be c. Is a Title nothing before we come to enjoy the Estate We count a Worldly Heir happy as well as a Possessor and are not Gods Heirs happy 5. He hath sweet experiences of Gods goodness towards him here in this world Psal. 17. 15. As for me I will behold thy face in righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness The joy of the presence and sense of the Lords love will counterbalance all worldly joys 6. He hath a great deal of peace Gal. 6. 16. And as many as walk according to this rule peace be on them and mercy and upon the Israel of God Obedience and holy walking bringeth peace Great peace have they which love thy Law and nothing shall offend them Psal. 119. 165. As there is peace in nature when all things keep their place and order This peace others cannot
favour that often resort to him carry on a constant communion with him those that are waiting for his power and presence in his Ordinances these are the men God will own We are not fit to receive so great a blessing as Gods favour if we will not look after it with diligence 2dly Observe Those that would seek God aright must seek him with their whole heart But how is that Besides what hath already been spoken of it in the Second Use it noteth three things 1. Sincerity of aims 2. Integrity of parts 3. Uniformity of endeavours 1. Sincerity of aims Many pretend to seek God but indeed they do but seek themselves As those that followed Christ for the loaves that take up Religion upon base and carnal respects Ioh. 6. 26. Verily I say unto you Ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled There was much outward diligence but a false heart lurking under it their belly drove them to him Of all by-ends this is the worst and basest Vix diligitur Iesus propter Iesum Jesus Christ is scarce loved for Jesus sake Yet further those that prayed to God for corn wine and oyl and did not seek his favour and grace in the first place see what the Lord saith of them Hos. 7. 14. They have not cried unto me with their heart when they howled upon their beds They did seek God but yet it is counted howling They only minded the supply of outward wants and made prayer meerly to be an act of carnal self-love and then it is but howling such a noise as a dog or a beast would make when he wants his food Christians no doubt they were instant there was a world of earnestness they were affected when the stroke was upon them and seriously desired to get rid of it But they have not cried to me with their whole heart it was but such a sense of pain and want as the beasts have If there be any thing sought from God more than God or not for God we do not seek him with the whole heart but only for other uses 2. It notes integrity of parts We read in Scripture of loving God not only with the heart but with the whole heart and of believing not only with the heart Rom. 10. 10. but of believing with the whole heart Act. 8. 37. Because seeking of God is but a Metaphorical term by which Faith is exprest therefore let us see what it is to believe with the whole heart The Doctrine of the Gospel is not only true to work upon the understanding but it is good so as to move and draw the will 1 Tim. 1. 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation c. Not only a faithful saying that is a true Doctrine That Iesus Christ came into the world to save sinners but it 's worthy of all acceptation it 's an excellent Doctrine to ravish the will Now observe what a great deal of difference there is between men in believing Some that hear the Gospel and have only a literal knowledg of it so as to be able to talk of it so as to understand the words and syllables to know what it means they may have some clearness of understanding this way but there is not a sound assent There are others affected so with the Gospel as by the common influence of the Spirit they may assent to the truths delivered concerning God and Christ and Salvation by him yet do not give it entertainment in their hearts these may be said to seek God but not with the whole heart A speculative naked and cold assent they may have but that is not enough It 's not enough to see food that is wholesom but you must eat it nor is it enough to understand the Gospel and believe that it is true but we must embrace it it must be accepted else we do not believe with the whole heart The word is propounded to man as true now the truth made known may cause a speculative assent this may draw profession after it and this we call Historical Faith because we are no more affected with the Gospel than with an ordinary History which we read and believe The word is propounded again as good to move and excite the will Now there 's a twofold good the good of happiness and the good of holiness The good of happiness that which is profitable and sweet Then there 's the good of holiness Now there are many that look upon the Gospel as good and profitable because it offereth pardon and eternal life such comfort to the Conscience and such good to our whole souls We may be affected with it as a good Doctrine Naturally man hath not only a sense of Religion but he hath a hunger after Immortality and everlasting blessedness Therefore since the Gospel doth so clearly promote happiness it may be greedily catched hold of by those whose hearts are affected while they look upon it under these notions and they may be so far affected that they may for a while not only profess it out of danger but when some danger doth arise they may defend their opinions with some care yet this is not with all the heart why assoon as any great danger doth arise out of which there is no escape as Gibbets Fires Racks Ignominy and utter loss assoon as persecution arose saith Christ all this ardor and heat of spirit which they did formerly seem to have comes to nothing What 's the reason it vanisheth because they receive the Gospel rather upon those notions of interest and profit than of duty and holiness And the impression of the profitableness of the Gospel as a Doctrine of happiness was not so deeply rooted in them not so durable that the hope of the future good would be prevalent over the fear of present evil and danger There may be some desires of heaven in a carnal breast but they are easily blotted out by worldly temptations but the true desires of holiness are lasting and will prevail over our lusts 3. Believing with all the heart implies uniformity of endeavours Oftentimes the soul may be strongly moved and affected for the present and carried out to the Gospel under the notion of holiness but it is but the lighter part of the soul that is so moved not the whole heart therefore it is not durable The people meant as they spake when they were willing to come under the obedience of the Word God gives them that testimony The people have well said but O that there were such a heart in them Deut. 5. 28 29. They may receive it and may seem affected with it and have a sense of reformation but saith the Evangelist Luk. 8. 14. it brings no fruit to perfection It was not so deeply rooted as to prevail strongly over their carnal distempers And therefore here comes in another sort of men that are affected with the word as a holy
well with you for the present but matters to come are put off little cared for Amos 6. 3. 2. In Hearing do not hear slightly but hide the Word in your heart that it be not imbezilled by thy own negligence forgetfulness running into carnal distractions that it be not purloined by Satan that he may not snatch away the good seed out of thy soul. When the Word is preached there is more company present than is visible there are Angels and Devils in the Assembly When ever the Sons of God meet together Satan is present with them The Devil is present to divert the mind by wandring thoughts by raising prejudices that we may cast out the Word or by excuses delays evasions putting it off to others when we begin to have some sensibleness of our sin and danger The Devil is loth to let us go too far lest Christ get a subject into his Kingdom Oh therefore labour to get something into thy heart by every Sermon some fresh notion or consideration is given out to set you a work in the spiritual life A conscientious waiting upon God will find something every time It is sad to consider how many have heard much and laid up little or nothing at all it may be they have laid it up in their Note-books but not laid up the word in their hearts 3. For Meditation Meditate upon the Word do not study the Word in a cursory manner or content your selves with a slight taste or a little volatile affection but ponder it seriously that it may enter into your very heart Hasty and perfunctory thoughts work nothing Meat must be well chewed and digested if you would have it turn into good blood and spirits you must follow it close till it settle into some affection So much for David's practice I have hid thy word in my heart The second thing is the aim and end of it That I may not sin against thee Doct. 2. In hiding the word in our hearts there must be a right end our knowledg of it and delight in it must be directed to practice 1. We must not study the Word meerly out of curiosity that we may know what is said there as men will pry into Civil Art and Discipline so the Athenians flocked about Paul Act. 17. 18 19 20 21. so for novelty sake men may have an affection and a delight in the Word Ioh. 5. 35. Ye rejoiced in his light for a season There are certain Adulterous affections we have to the Word when it is new and fresh but when it grows stale we loath it This affection to the Word is soon spent 2. We must not hide the Word in our heart meerly that we may be able to teach others that we may make a gainful trade of it Alas a man may teach others and be himself a cast-away Look as in coyning of money an iron-stamp may impress the character and print upon a piece of gold and silver so God may use the gifts and knowledg of some men to beget faith in others and perish themselves Mat. 7. 21. We haue prophesied in thy name yet depart from me I know you not 3. This must not be our end neither not meerly for delight Largeness of knowledg brings a content with it as it is an addition to our perfection Truth is the object of our understanding and may please an unsanctified mind not meerly out of subserviency to some base and inferiour ends that we may get esteem in the world or the repute of knowing persons but as it is an elevation of the understanding Every delight in truth is not a delight in God There is a natural oblectation we have in the contemplation of any sublime truth this is meerly a delight in the work of our own faculties when the affections are terminated in bare knowledg as it is a high and mysterious truth as it is a delectation to the understanding 4. We are not meerly to study the Word for the comfortableness of it and the suitableness to the Conscience As man is a reasonable creature he will delight in knowledg and as he hath a Conscience presageous of death and judgment to come he may delight in the comfort of it Many search out Promises that do not affect precepts The stony-ground seemed to have a joy they may delight in the comfortable part of Religion but this joy comes to nothing this gladsome forward spring is no sure Prognostication of a plentiful harvest Then do we receive the word a right when we look to the holy part and mortifie our natural desires and affections Many deal with the word as Great men do with fleshly companions are willing to entertain them at their Tables to hear their Discourse because of the pleasantness of their mirth but to enter into bonds for them and discharge them from debt or better their fortunes that they will not do So many will give Christ and the Word and the comfortable part of it entertainment but they are loth to take the duty of the Gospel upon themselves Therefore it is not enough to study the word meerly that we may cherish our own persons with the comfortable part of it but we must also study the holy part of it and that which doth require our duty Let us labour to hide the word in our hearts as David did I have hid thy word in my heart that I might not sin against thee SERMON XIII PSAL. CXIX 12. Blessed art thou O Lord teach me thy statutes IN these words you have 1. A Compellation Blessed art thou O Lord. 2. A Supplication Teach me thy statutes 1. Branch The Compellation carrieth the force of an argument Because thou art blessed O Lord therefore teach me And therefore I shall open the sense of this title that is here given to God so as I may still make good the argument For the sense God may be said to be blessed objectivè or subjectivè First Objectively as he is the Object of our blessedness it is our blessedness to enjoy God Psal. 144. 15. Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord. That is our blessedness to have God for our portion As soon as we are admitted into Covenant with God we have a right to him I am thy God and we have the full consummation of it when we enter into heaven there we have the highest enjoyment of God that we are capable of We have many fruitless and unquiet cares to enjoy the creatures which are neither blessed in themselves nor can make us blessed But now God is our summum bonum our chief good The enjoyment of him is the chiefest good Still we are capable of a higher happiness until we enjoy God In other things we can neither have satisfaction nor security the creature cannot satisfie nor yet secure us in the enjoyment of it self In this sense the argument will hold good Blessed art thou O Lord that is Thou art the object of my blessedness my blessedness lyeth
have hidden thy word in my heart and then with my lips have I declared c. And as it must be first in the heart so next in the tongue Joh. 7. 38. Christ speaks of him that believeth in him that out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water By the belly is meant the heart when there is true grace in the heart the sweet influences thereof will flow forth in their common discourse for the refreshing of others as a spring sendeth forth the streams to water the ground about it If the heart be full the tongue will drop what is savoury I say certainly if it be within it vvill break out The Word is to be hid but not like a Talent in a Napkin but like Gold in a Treasury to be laid out upon all meet occasions Thus referring it to the 11th Verse there may be a fair connexion Or if you refer it to the 12th Verse Blessed art thou O Lord teach me thy statutes teach me that I may teach others Our requests for knowledg are like to speed when we are willing to exercise this knowledg for the glory of God and the good of others Talents thrive by their use To him that hath shall be given Mat. 25. 29. that is to him that useth his talents Trading brings encrease and so it may be used as an argument to back that Petition Lord teach me for I have been ever declaring with my lips all the judgments of thy mouth Again none can speak of God with such savour and affection as he that is taught by God Teach me and I have or will declare it may be read either way all the judgments of thy mouth A Heathen could say Non loquendum de Deo sine lumine We must not speak of God without light The things of God are best represented with the light of his own grace David shews that he would perform the duty of a good disciple that he would teach others if God should teach him In the words two things are to be explained 1. What he will declare All the Iudgments of thy mouth 2. In what sense he will declare them First What he will declare Gods will revealed in the Scripture is called the judgments of his mouth His judgments I have shewed that v. 7. at large Briefly now I will add two Reasons First because it is the Rule according to which we must judg of all spiritual truth Isa. 8. 20. To the law and to the testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them Secondly it is the rule according to which we must look to be judged both here and hereafter Here I will chastise them or judg them as their congregation hath heard According to the sentence of the word so will the course of his Providence be and according to which we shall be judged hereafter John 12. 48. The word that I have spoken the same shall judg him in the last day Gods Providences are a comment upon the Scriptures The Scripture is not only a Record of what is past but a Calender and Prognostication of what is to come you may read your doom your judgment there for the statutes of the Lord are all called Judgments because of an answerable proceeding in the course of Gods Providence if men escape here they will not escape the judgment of the last day when the sentence of that God shall infallibly be made good Now the verdict of the word it is called the judgments of his mouth as if God himself had pronounced by Oracle and judged from heaven in the case and these judgments of his mouth the Psalmist saith shall be the matter of his discourse and conference with others Secondly In what sense it is said that he will declare all the judgments of his mouth In this speech David may be considered as a King as a Prophet or as a private believer 1. As a King so some conceive that whenever he judged or gave sentence upon the throne he would declare the judgments of Gods mouth that is decree in the case according to the sentence of the Law In favour of this sense it may be alledged 1. That certainly the King was bound to study the Law of God as you shall see Deut. 17. 18 19. When he sitteth upon the throne of his Kingdom that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites and it shall be with him and he shall read therein all the days of his life Every King was bound to have a copy of the Law the Rabbies say written with his own hand carried about with him wheresoever he went in City or Camp 2. That the Kings of Iudah were bound up by the Judicials of Moses out of that which is before the Priests and Levites that is according to thy Iudicial Laws so will I pass sentence upon Malefactors 3. That proceeding according to this Rule their declarations in Court were the Judgments of Gods mouth 2 Chron. 19. 6. He said to the Iudges Take heed what ye do for ye judg not for man but for the Lord who is with you in the judgment If this sense did prevail we might observe hence That a godly man useth the word to season the duties of all his relations And again That a good Magistrate is so to judg upon the Throne that his Sentences there may be as the Judgments of Gods own mouth But that which caused this misconceit was the word Iudgments which is not of such a limited import and signification as those that pitched upon this Interpretation did conceive and therefore mistook the meaning of this place 2. David may be considered here as a Prophet and so as a pattern of all Teachers He asserts his sincerity in two respects 1. As to the matter of his doctrine it should be the judgments of Gods mouth such as he had received from God 2. As to the extent that he would declare all the judgments of his mouth 1. As to the matter of his doctrine it should be the judgments of his mouth That which should be declared and taught in the Church should not be our own opinions and fancies but the pure word of God not the vanity of our thoughts but the verity of his Revelations otherwise we neither discharge our duty to God nor to the children of God Not to God when we come in his name without his message Jer. 4. 10. Ah Lord thou hast greatly deceived this people saith the Prophet Ieremiah to God Thou thou hast done it because the false prophets had done it in his name The dishonour reflects upon him when his Ordinance is abused to countenance the fancies of our own brain Nor to the children of God whose appetite carrieth them to pure unmixed milk 1 Pet. 2. 2. As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
to meet together and after they had read the Word of God every one did acquaint one another with his weaknesses with his temptations and mutually asked counsel and comforted one another out of the Word of God and after this they concluded all with prayer and so every man went to his home These examples did we observe them they would be most useful to us we might drive on a trade to Heaven and be of very great profit in the spiritual life if the gifts of private Christians were managed without pride vain glory and without despising of the weak it would be of exceeding honour to God use and comfort to the Saints SERMON XV. PSAL. CXIX 14. I have rejoyced in the way of thy Commandments as much as in all riches THESE words may respect the 12th Verse as another argument wherewith to back his request Teach me thy statutes for I have rejoyced in the way of thy commandments as much as in all riches Many are for worldly wealth but I have other desires Lord teach me how to understand and keep thy statutes and this will be a greater benefit than any worldly possession whatsoever Or you may refer them to the 13th verse as a reason of his practice every man will be speaking of that wherewith he is delighted Lord thy testimonies are my rejoycing therefore I have and will be speaking of them upon all occasions Or this may be the fruit of what was mentioned before Those that are exercised about the word the study and practice of it and conference about it have a sweet sense of the goodness of it in their own souls so as they delight and rejoyce in it above all things and if we have not felt this effect it is because we are strangers to the word In the words there is 1. A Delight asserted 2. The object of it in the way of thy testimonies 3. The degree of it as much as in all riches By way of Explication The testimonies of God are his word for it testifieth of his will Now the Prophet saith not only I have rejoyced in thy testimonies but in the way of thy testimonies Way is one of the words by which the Law is expressed Gods Laws are ways that lead us to God and so it may be taken here The way which thy testimonies point out and call me unto or else his own practice as a mans course is called his way his delight was not in speculation or talk but in obedience and practice In the way of thy testimonies The degree as much as in all riches as much not to shew the equality of these things as if we should have the same affection for the World as for the Word of God but as much because we have no higher comparison This is that Worldlings dote upon and delight in now as much as they rejoyce in worldly possessions so much do I rejoyce in the way of thy Testimonies For I suppose David doth not compare his own delight in the word with his own delight in wealth but his own choice and delight with the delight and choice of others If he had spoken of himself both in the one respect and in the other the expression was very high David that was called to a Crown and in a capacity of enjoying much in the world Gold Silver Lands Goods largeness of Territory and a compound of all that which all men joyntly and every man severally doth possess yet was more pleased in the holiness of Gods ways than in all the world For what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul Mat. 15. 26. Doct. A gracious heart finds more true joy in the way of Gods word than in all worldly things whatsoever To explain this consider 1. What this delight is 2. How a gracious heart finds more delight in the word of God than in all worldly things 3. The reasons why they do so I. What this delight is I shall give you several distinctions 1. There is a sweetness in the study of Gods word or when we give up our selves to attain the knowledg of it The very speculation and study produces a delightful tast for three Reason 1. Truth is the good of the understanding therefore when the faculty is suited with a fit object this correspondence causeth a rejoycing and delectation Prov. 24. 14. My son eat thou honey because it is good and the honey-comb because it is sweet to thy tast so shall the knowledg of wisdom be to thy soul when thou hast found it Every truth if it be but a Natural or Philosophical Verity when we come to consider and see it with our own eyes and have found it out by search and do not repeat it by rote only breedeth a delight Pleasure is applicatio convenientis convenienti so it is true in Theological truths we are the more affected with them the more they are represented with evidence to the soul. 2. Scriptural truths are more sublime than other truths and do ennoble Reason with the knowledg of them Deut. 4. 6. Surely this great Nation is a wise and an understanding people Such doctrines as we meet with in the word of God concerning Angels and the Souls of men the Creation and Government of all things the Redemption of men must needs affect the heart and breed a joy in the view and contemplation of them 3. Because these truths are suitable to our necessities To every man that hath a conscience it cannot but be very pleasing to hear of a way how he may come to the pardon of sins and sound peace of conscience solid perfection and eternal glory Man is naturally under fears of death Rom. 1. 32. and would be glad of a pardon weak and unable to find out or attain to moral perfection would be glad of an exact rule and groapeth and feeleth about for an everlasting happiness Acts 17. 27. So far as any thing is found to this purpose in the writings of men they have a marvellous force and influence upon us Any beam of this truth scattered in Plato or Socrates of mans Reconciliation with a holy and just God there is nothing in their writings the then World was under perplexity But yet of Moral Perfection and an Eternal state of Blessedness there were some glimmerings Now when these are represented to the understanding with such evidence and satisfaction as they are in the Scriptures where you have the only sufficient direction to true Happiness no wonder if they are greedily catched at Now this delight though good I speak not of because it may be in Temporaries who have a tast of the good word to invite them to seek for more Heb. 6. 4. and is a fruit of common illumination The stony ground received the word with joy Luke 8. 13. and though it may affect the heart yet if not above all riches it doth not prevail over carnal affections 2. There is a sweetness found in the way
command To meditate in the Law is a part of the description of a godly man Psal. 1. 2. His delight is in the law of the Lord and in that law doth he meditate day and night It is commended to us by the practice and example of the Saints in Scripture Isaac Gen. 24. 63. went out to meditate in the field in the even-tide to pray as in the margent the word in the original is indifferent to both senses it properly signifieth muttering or an imperfect or suppressed sound The Septuagint sometimes renders it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to sing but others by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to exercise himself The word is used here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Symmachus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to speak Aquila 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to discourse with God and his own soul. The Original word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth to mutter or such a speaking as is between thoughts and words He made his duty his refreshment and solace at night So David often in this Psalm Reason enforceth it God that is a Spirit deserveth the most pure and spiritual worship by the mind as well as that which is performed by the body Thoughts are the eldest and noblest off-spring of the soul and it is fit they should be consecrated to converse with God 2. It is a necessary duty not a thing of arbitrary concernment a moral help that may be observed and omitted at our pleasure but of absolute use without which all graces wither Faith is lean unless it be fed with meditation on the promises Psalm 119. 92. I had fainted in my affliction unless thy word had been my delight Hope is not lively unless we contemplate the thing hoped for and with Abraham walk through the Land of Promise Gen. 15. and think often and seriously on the glory of the riches of the inheritance of the Saints Eph. 1. 18. and get upon the Mount of Meditation upon the top of Pisgah to get a view of the Land So for Love the more we study the height and breadth and depth of Gods love in Christ Eph. 3. 18 19. the more is the heart melted and drawn out to God and more quickned to obedience Psal. 26. 3. Thy loving-kindness is before mine eyes And as it helpeth our Graces in their exercise so all other duties as hearing of the word To hear and not to meditate is unfruitful the heart is hard and the memory slippery the thoughts loose and vain and therefore unless we cover the good seed the fowls of the air will catch it away It is like a thing put into a bag with holes lost while it is received James 1. 23 24. Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own souls for if a man be a hearer of the word and not a doer he is like a man beholding his natural face in a glass for he beholdeth himself and goeth away and straightways forgetteth what manner of person he was Bare hearing begets but transient thoughts and leaveth but a weak impression in the soul like a flash of Lightning as soon gone as come or the glance of a Sun-beam upon a wave A man never discerneth the scope the beauty the order of the Truths delivered till he cometh to meditate on them and to go over them again and again in his thoughts Psal. 62. 11. God hath spoken once twice have I heard this c. i. e. when we repeat it upon our thoughts inculcate it and meditate upon it this maketh a deeper impression and that which is spoken rebounds again and again it is twice heard David saith Psal. 119. 99. I have more understanding than all my Teachers for thy testimonies are my meditation The Preacher can but lay down general Theorems and deduce practical Inferences but that which fasteneth them upon the heart is our own thoughts and so we come to be wiser to see more clearly and practically as to our own case than he that preacheth we see a farther use than he was aware of So for prayer What we take in by the word we digest by Meditation and let out by prayer These three Duties help one another What is the reason men have such a barren dry and sapless spirit in their Prayers it is for want of exercising themselves in holy thoughts Psal. 45. 1. My heart inditeth a good matter and then my tongue is as the pen of a ready writer It alludeth to the Mincah the Meat-offering the Oyl and Flowr was to be kneaded together and fryed in a pan and so offered to the Lord. When we come with raw dough-baked offerings before we have concocted and prepared our thoughts by mature deliberation we are barren or tumultuary in our prayers to God Prayer is called by the name of Meditation because it is the product and issue of it as Psal. 5. 1. Give ear to my words oh Lord consider my meditation So Psal. 19. 14. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight Implying that prayer is but the vent and expression of what we have deliberated and meditated upon So David findeth his desires more earnest after grace the more he mused and meditated Psal. 143. 5 6. I remember the days of old I meditate on all thy works I muse on the works of thy hands I stretch forth my hands unto thee my soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty land Well then it is the life and strength of other Ordinances without which how slight and perfunctory are we I might instance in Conference the stream of good discourse is fed by serious thoughts The Lords Supper a duty which is mainly dispatched by our thoughts there we come to put Reason to the highest use to be the Instrument of Faith and Love of Faith in believing-applications of Love in resolutions of Duty and Thankfulness In that one Ordinance there is an union of mysteries which we take abroad in holy and serious thoughts To have an unfruitful understanding then is a great damp and deadness to the heart Now we shall never inlarge our selves in pertinent and savoury thoughts unless we use to meditate for spiritual dispositions do not come upon us of a sudden and by rapt motions but by progressive and orderly degrees and preparations 3. It is a profitable duty as to Temporals Isaac went out to meditate and of a sudden he espieth the Camels coming upon which Rebecca was brought to him Gen. 24. 63 64. Was this a meer accident think you or a Providence worthy of remark and observation Isaac goes to meet with God and there he gets the first view of his bosome-friend and Spouse This was a mercy cast in to the bargain Godliness hath the promises of this life and that which is to come There is nothing lost by duty and acts of piety Seneca said the Iews were a foolish people because they lost the full seventh part of their lives Septimam
my Law but they were counted as a strange thing God is the Author whosoever be the Pen-man it is a Writing from him to us Now to be strangers to it or little conversant about it argueth some contempt of God As to slight the Letter of a Friend sheweth little esteem of the Writer But now the Saints put it into their bosomes view it with delight it is Gods Epistle 2. In regard of its own excellency in three respects It is 1. Their Direction 2. Their Support 3. Their Charter 1. It is their Direction it is a light that shines in a dark place 2 Pet. 1. 19. The World is a dark place beset with dangers and ever and anon we are apt to stumble into the pit of destruction without taking heed to this light The Word discovereth to them evils that they may see them repent of them forsake them and sheweth us our ready way to heaven that we may walk therein It discovereth the greatest dangers and pointeth out the surest way to safety and peace They are called true Laws and good statutes Neh. 9. 13. to shew the full proportion that they bear to the soul. Verum and Bonum Truth and Goodness are proper for our most eminent faculties the understanding and will It doth a man's heart good to study these statutes A child of God that seeth others stumble and fall how may he stand and bless God for the direction of the word that God hath given him counsel in his reins that he hath a Clue to lead him out of those Labyrinths in which others have lost their way and know not how to escape 2. It is their Support The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Basil expresseth it 't is Gods shop from whence they fetch all their Cordials in a time of fainting and so are freed from those fears and discontents and despairing thoughts under which others languish Psal. 119. 50. This is my comfort in my affliction thy word hath quickned me When a believer is damped with trouble and even dead at heart a Promise will revive him again Ver. 92. Unless thy law had been my delight I had perished in my affliction And many such like experiences the Saints have had The worth of the Word is best known in an evil time One Promise in the Word of God doth bear up the heart more than all the arguings and discourses of men though never so excellent In a time of temptation in the hour of death O what a reviving is one word of Gods mouth 3. It is their Charter that which they have to shew for their everlasting hopes There we have promises of eternal joy and blessedness under the greatest assurance and this makes way for strong consolation Heb. 6. 18. A man that hath a clear evidence to show for a fair Inheritance it is not irksome to hear it read or to look over it now and then as a covetous man is pleased to look into his Bills and Bonds which he has under hand and seal 2. This Delight will be of great use to them 1. To draw us off from carnal Vanities We have another delight and the strength of the soul runneth out in another way there will not be such room for worldly affections As fear is cured with fear the fear of men with the fear of God so is delight by delight delight in Gods statutes is the cure of delight in worldly things Love cannot lye idle it must be occupied one way or another either carried out to the contentments of the flesh or else to holy things Now if you can find a more noble delight there is a check upon that which is carnal Psal. 119. 37. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity and quicken thou me in thy way The enlargement of the heart straitens the flesh 2. It will take off the tediousness of Religious Exercises What we delight in is not irksome In Hunting Fowling and Fishing though there be as much labour as in our ordinary imployments yet we count the toyl nothing because of the delight in them We are very apt to be weary of well-doing and to tire in an holy course but now when it is our delight it goeth on the more easily In one sense we must make Religion our business in another our recreation our work to prevent slackness our recreation to prevent tediousness it is not a task but a pleasure USE 1. This informeth us of the ill choice that many men make of their Delights and recreations they must have Cards and Dice and foolish mirth to pass away the time or else idle stories and vain Romances a Christian is every where like himself he sheweth himself a Christian in his recreations as well as his business Castae deliciae meae sunt Scripturae tuae saith Austin Lord my chast delights are the holy Scriptures If we were as we should be it would be our recreation to understand our duty to contemplate the way of reconciliation to God by Christ and to take a view of our everlasting Hopes Were we seriously perswaded of the benefits which men have by the word that there is a sure direction to resolve our doubts and our scruples and the offers of a pardon and a glorious estate by Christ what need a Christian any other Recreation Will not the sense of Gods love and the hopes of heaven make us merry enough Indeed because of the weariness of the flesh we need temporal refreshments but here should be our great delight I will solace or recreate my self in thy statutes USE 2. Caution to us to fix our delight aright 1. It is a considerable affection All the affections depend upon Pleasure or Pain Delight or Grief the one is proper to the body the other to the soul which grow from the contentment or distast which we receive from the divers objects which we meet with If we love it is for that we find a sweetness in the object beloved if we hate we apprehend a trouble in what we hate if we hope we promise our selves an happiness or satisfaction in the possession of the thing hoped for if we despair it is because the thing cannot be obtained from which our contentment would arise Desire is of some good which we judg pleasing By Fear and Flight we shun things which we apprehend would breed us vexation So that in effect Delight sets all the other affections a-work 2. It is a choice affection more proper to Fruition than Use and therefore not for the means so much as end and so reserved for God who is the last End There are fruenda and utenda God and Heavenly things to be enjoyed but earthly things to be used for means those that are in the nearest vicinity to the end as the Law of God and Grace earthly things are to be used with a kind of indifferency and therefore should have little of our joy but our solid complacency must be in God next in the things of God
his Law and Grace which are means in the nearest vicinity with our End Psal. 37. 4. Delight thy self also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart Phil. 4. 4. Rejoyce in the Lord always and again I say rejoyce 3. Delight if not right set of all the affections it is apt to degenerate We have a liberty to delight in earthly things the affection is allowed the excess is forbidden Thou maist delight in the Wise of thy youth in thy Children Estate in the Provisions heaped upon thee by the indulgence of Gods Providence Pleasure is the sawce of life to better digest our sorrows It is allowed us but it must be well guarded We are most apt to surfeit of pleasant things and to miscarry by sweet affections Sorrow is afflictive and painful and will in time wear away of it self Pleasure is ingrained in our natures born and bred with us and therefore though we may delight in the moderate use of the refreshments of the present life in Estate Honour Reputation yet we should take heed of excess that our hearts be not overjoyed and too much taken up about these things Carnal joy is the drunkenness of the mind it besotteth us maketh us unmindful of God weakens our esteem of his favour and blessing it chaineth us to present things Pleasure is the great Witch and Sorceress that inchants with the love of the world maketh us unmindful of the Countrey whence we came and whither we are a going therefore we should be jealous of our delight and how we bestow it USE 3. To exhort us to this delight in Gods Statutes or this spiritual rejoycing 1. Here is no danger of exceeding the greatest excesses here are most praise-worthy In other things we must exercise it with jealousie feed with fear rejoyce as if we rejoyced not a man may easily go beyond his bounds when he rejoyceth in the creature but here enlarge thy heart as much as is possible and take thy fill of pleasure Cant. 5. 1. Eat O friends drink yea drink abundantly O beloved This is ebrietas quae nos castos facit chast Flagons Eph. 5. 18. Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess but be ye fill'd with the Spirit 2. We shall never be ashamed of these joys 2 Cor. 1. 12. Our rejoycing is this the testimony of our conscience c. All carnal joys have a turpitude affixed to them and therefore affect to lye hid under a vail of secresie The world would cry shame of him that would say of his bags or his dishes Here is my joy as much as men affect these things yet they desire to conceal them from the knowledg of others 3. We shall be never weary of these joys The delights of the senses become nauseous and troublesome our natural dispositions become weary and importunate a man must have shift and change pleasures refreshed with other pleasures But these delights add perfection to Nature therefore when fully enjoyed they delight most A good conscience is a continual feast a dish we are never weary of The blessed spirits in heaven are never weary of beholding the face of God God is new and fresh every moment to them The contemplation of such excellent objects doth not overcharge and weaken the spirits but doth raise and fortifie them It is true the corporeal powers being weak may be tired in such an employment as much reading is a weariness to the flesh but the object doth not grow distastful as in carnal things How shall we get it 1. Get a suitableness to the word Every man's delights are as his principles Rom. 8. 5. They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit A man is much discovered by his savour and relish of things All creatures must have suitable food There must be a sutableness between the Faculty and the Object spiritual things are spiritually discerned 2. Be in a condition to delight in the word A guilty soul readeth its own doom there it revealeth themselves to themselves accuseth and condemneth them As Ahab said of Micajah He prophesieth evil against me and therefore could not endure to hear him Joh. 3. 20. Every one that doth evil hateth the light neither cometh he to the light lest his deeds should be reproved 3. Purge the heart from carnal distempers lust envy covetousness love of pleasures these are Diseases that need other diet than the word Such persons must have other solaces they cater for the flesh to please the senses An earthly heart will not delight in spiritual things Doct. It standeth Gods children upon to see that they do not forget the word I. What is it to forget the word A man may remember or forget two ways Notionally and Affectively 1. Notionally when the notions of things formerly known are either altogether or in part worn out Jam. 1. 25. He is like one that looks his natural face in a glass but goeth away and straightway forgetteth what manner of person he was 2. Affectively when though he still retain the notions yet he is not answerably affected nor doth act according thereunto Thus the Butler did not remember Ioseph that is did not pity him Thus God is said not to remember the sins of them that repent when he doth not punish them and to forget the afflictions of his people when he doth not deliver them and we are said to forget God Psal. 106. 21. when we do not obey him and to forget his word when we do not remember his commandments to do them Psal. 103. 18. In this place both are intended the Notional and Practical remembrance II. The Reasons why we should not forget his word 1. Meditation will fail else A barren lean soul is unfit to enlarge it self in holy thoughts shall never grow rich in the spiritual understanding Col. 3. 6. Let the word of God dwell in you richly in all knowledg c. Men of small substance grow rich by continual saving and holding together what they have gotten but if they spend it as fast as they get it they cannot be rich Luk. 2. 19. Mary kept all these sayings and pondered them in her heart 2. Delectation will grow cold unless the memory be rubbed up ever and anon When they fainted under affliction the cause is intimated Heb. 12. 5. Have ye forgotten the exhortation that speaketh unto you as unto children Distrust in straits is from the same source Mar. 8. 13. They remembred not the miracle of the loaves for their hearts were hardened Ye see and hear and do not remember David was under great discomfort till he remembred the years of the right hand of the Most High Psal. 77. 10. Lament 3. 21. This I recall to mind therefore I have hope 3. Practice and conscience of obedience will grow more remiss Nothing keepeth the heart in a holy tenderness so much as a presence of the truth and when
we can bring our knowledg to act and have it for our use upon all occasions it urgeth us to practice Jam. 1. 25. Being not a forgetful hearer but a doer Most of our sins are sins of forgetfulness and incogitancy Peter would never have been so bold and daring and done what he did if he had remembred Christs prediction The Text saith Luk. 22. 61. When he remembred he wept bitterly A bad memory is the occasion of much mischief to the soul. When we do not call Truths to mind in their season and when fit occasion and opportunity is offered Memory is an handmaid to Understanding and Conscience and keeps Truths and brings them forth when called for USE is to press us to Caution Let us not forget the Word Helps to memory are 1. Attention Men remember what they heed and regard Prov. 4. 21. Attend to my sayings keep them in the midst of thy heart Where there is attention there will be retention Oh lay up truths with much earnestness and care Sensitive memory is seated in the hinder part of the head as one would say in a Chamber backward from the noise of the street Now oh lay up Truth safe and lay it out when ever you have need But Rational memory lyeth near the Understanding and Conscience in the midst of thine heart Reverence in the admission of the word helps us in the keeping of it Heb. 2. 1. Let us take heed to the things which we have heard lest at any time they slip from us If we did receive it with more heed we would retain it with more constancy lay them up keep them choicely 2. Affection that is a great friend to memory VVhat we esteem most we best remember Omnia quae curant senes meminerunt An old man will not forget where he laid his bag of gold Delight and Love will renew and revive the object upon our thoughts Here in the Text we have this Truth asserted I will delight my self in thy statutes I will not forget thy word Affection to Truths cometh from the application In a publick Edict a man will be sure to carry away what is proper to his case 3. Meditation We must be often viewing and meditating of what we have laid up in the memory It availeth not to the health of the body to eat much but to digest what is eaten Tumultuary reading and hearing without Meditation is like greedy swallowing much meat When little is thought on it doth not turn to profit This concocteth and digesteth what we have heard The more a thing is revolved in the mind the deeper impression it maketh 4. Beware of inuring the mind to vain thoughts for this distracts it and hindereth the impression of things upon it The face is not seen in running-waters nor can things be written in the memory unless the mind be close and fixed Lead is capable of engraving because it is firm and solid but Quicksilver because it is fluid will not admit it An inconsistent wandering mind reapeth little fruit from what is read or heard 5. Order is an help to memory Heads of Doctrine are as Cells wherein to bestow all things that are heard from the word He that is well instructed in the Principles of Religion will most easily and firmly remember Divine Truths Methodus est catena memoriae to link Truths one to another that we may consider them in their proportion 6. Get a lively sense of what you hear or read and you will remember it by a good token Psal. 119. 93. I will never forget thy precepts for by them thou hast quickned me They that are quickned by a Sermon will never forget such a Sermon 7. Holy Conference the speaking often of good things keeps them in the heart and the keeping of them there causeth us to speak to those that are about us 8. Get the memory sanctified as well as other faculties and pray for the Spirit for that faculty is corrupted as well as others SERMON XVIII PSAL. CXIX 17. Deal bountifully with thy servant that I may live and keep thy word IN the former part we heard of the virtue and excellency of the word and therefore how much the Saints desire to understand it meditate of it speak of it and transfer it into their practice Now whosoever will resolve upon such a course will necessarily be put upon prayer for mark how David's purposes and prayers are intermingled I will and I will and then presently prayeth again Deal bountifully with thy servant that I may live and keep thy word In this request observe 1. It is generally expressed together with his own relation to God Deal bountifully with thy servant 2. It is particularly explain'd wherein he would have this bounty expressed 1. In the prorogation of his life that I may live 2. In the continuance of his grace And keep thy word The one in order to the other David doth not simply pray for life but in order to such an end and the general request concerneth both parts yea rather the latter than the former That whilst I live I may keep thy word as counting that to be the greatest benefit or argument of Gods bounty to have an heart framed to the obedience of his will I might observe many things as 1. What a great honour it is to be Gods servant David a great King giveth himself this title Thy servant And Constantine counted it a greater honour to be a Christian than to be Head of the Empire 2. That all we have or expect cometh from Gods bounty to us So doth David express himself Deal bountifully with thy servant as intimating not only the measure but the rise and source of what he expected from God 3. That among all the benefits which we expect from the bounty of God this is one of the greatest To have an heart to keep his word 4. Gods word must not only be understood but obeyed for this is the meaning of keeping the word Joh. 14. 21. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them c. hath implyeth knowledg we must have them before we can keep them but when we have them we must keep them and do what we know But omitting all these points which will be more fitly discussed elsewhere I shall only point out two Lessons 1. The Cause of life and that is Gods Bounty 2. The End and Scope of Life Gods Service 1. The Cause of life Deal bountifully with thy servant that I may live Observe The prorogation of our lives is not the fruit of our merits but the free grace of God 1. Long life is in it self a blessing and so promised though more in the Old Testament than in the New when Eternity was more sparingly revealed That it is promised as a blessing is evident Prov. 28. 16. He that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days And in the fifth Commandment Exod. 20. 12. That thy days may be long in the land of the living So Psal. 91.
a right understanding of the word of God I. What is meant by opening the eyes Before I come to the particular explication of the terms let me premise two observations 1. The Saints do not complain of the obscurity of the Law but of their own blindness The Psalmist doth not say Lord make a plainer Law but Lord open mine eyes blind men might as well complain of God that he doth not make a Sun whereby they might see The word is a light that shineth in a dark place 2 Pet. 1. 19. There is no want of light in the Scripture but there is a vail of darkness upon our hearts so that if in this clear light we cannot see the defect is not in the word but in our selves 2. The light which they beg is not any thing besides the word When God is said to enlighten us it is not that we should expect new Revelations but that we may see the wonders in his word or get a clear sight of what is already revealed Those that vent their own dreams under the name of the Spirit and divine light they do not give you mysteria but monstra portentous opinions not show you the wondrous things of Gods Law but the prodigies of their own brain unhappy abortives that dye as soon as they come to light Isa. 8. 21. To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them The light which we have is not without the word but by the word Now to the phrase the Hebrew signifieth unvail mine eyes There is a double work Negative Positive There is a taking away the vail and an infusion of light Paul's cure of his natural blindness is a fit emblem of our cure of spiritual blindness Acts 9. 18. Immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales and he received sight forthwith First the scales fall from our eyes and then we receive sight 1. There is a taking away the vail before we can have a true discerning of the mysteries that are revealed in the word of God 2 Cor. 3. 14 15. the Apostle speaking of the Iews saith But their minds were blinded for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament which vail is done away in Christ but even unto this day when Moses is read the vail is upon their hearts Now this vail is divers 1. The vail of Ignorance Though man hath Reason and is capable of understanding the sense and importance of the words that are used about the Mysteries of godliness yea and the matter too yet he gets not the saving-knowledg of them by his natural abilities There is a Grammatical knowledg and a Spiritual knowledg a man may know things Grammatically and literally that is ignorant of them Spiritually As a child may read the letters and words that doth not conceive of the sense so a man may know what is said concerning God and Christ and Sin and Grace the vanity of the creature the excellency of heaven and have yet no saving-knowledg of these things and therefore the Scripture useth the expression that they oversee in seeing as Acts 28. 26. Hearing ye shall hear and not understand seeing ye shall see and not perceive Though Truths are never so plainly delivered never so powerfully pressed and though they are capable to understand the words yet they do not take in the truth into their hearts so as to profit by it So Deut. 29. 2 3 4. Ye have seen yet ye have not an heart to see Most will declaim against the vanity of the creature evil of sin but they do not see with an affective heart-piercing light they have on them the vail of spiritual ignorance 2. The vail of Carnal knowledg and wisdom that puffeth up 1 Cor. 8. 1 2. by which seeing not we think we see This is a great hinderance to the entertaining of the word So Christ telleth the Pharisees who were conceited of their own knowledg Joh. 9. 39. For judgment am I come into this world that they which see not might see and they which see might be made blind The Pharisees were the Rabbies of the age the most seeing and learned men of that time Carnal men are puffed up with a conceit of their own abilities and so are obstructed by them from profiting by the Gospel 3. The vail of Prejudice and corrupt affections The passions of the mind Love and Fear Desire and Anger hinder us from judging aright in the things of God Our hearts are overcast with strong affections to the world and so cannot clearly judg either of practical truths or of the controversies of the age Not of practical truths When Christ had taught that they could not serve God and Mammon it is said Luk. 16. 14. And the pharisees that were covetous derided him Holy mortifying truths are unpleasing to a carnal ear though they be represented with never so much evidence How will men distinguish themselves out of their duty They shift and stretch and turn and wind hither and thither and prove truth to be no truth rather than part with their lusts So present truths as the Apostle calls them 2 Pet. 1. 12. when the dust of Interest is raised are not discerned The Orthodoxy of the world is usually an age too short 2 Cor. 4. 4. The god of this world hath blinded their eyes 4. The vail of carnal sense 2 Pet. 1. 9. He that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off There are so many mists and clouds in the lower world that men cannot out-see time and without the Prospective of faith have a sight of Eternity Nature is short-sighted so inured to present things that we receive no light concerning things to come These are the scales that are upon our eyes 2. There is an infusion of light without which men of excellent wit and sharp understanding in other things are stark blind in the things of God What this light is will appear by the degrees of knowledg and the uses of this light 1. The degrees of knowledg 1. In some there is a simple nescience both of terms or notions and things as in those that have not a revelation or have not regarded it when the revelation is made As the Gentiles that have not a Revelation Eph. 4. 18. Having their understanding darkned being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart Or rude and ignorant Christians that have not the advantage of education so as to understand the notions in which the Doctrine of God is propounded Isa. 28. 9 10. Whom shall he teach knowledg and whom shall he make to understand doctrine them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts for precept must be upon precept precept upon precept line upon line line upon line here a little and there a little So sottish and brutish
wild asses colt not only for untamedness and affectation of liberty but for rudeness and grosness of conceit yet man would be accounted wise The Pharisees took it ill that Christ charged them with blindness Joh. 7. 41. Are we blind also We all affect the reputation of wisdom more than the reality that is the reason why we are so touchy in point of Error we can easier brook a sin reproved than an error taxed Till we have spiritual ey-salve we do not know it and will not hear of this blindness Rev. 3. 17. It is a degree of spiritual knowledg to know that we know nothing 2. Observe how much spiritual blindness is worse than bodily those that are under bodily blindness are glad of a Remedy glad of a Guide 1. Glad of a Remedy How feelingly doth that man speak Mark 10. 51. What wouldst thou have me to do Lord that mine eyes may be opened Those that are blind spiritually are not for a Remedy not only ignorant but unteachable and so their blindness groweth upon them to their natural there is an adventitious blindness If we cannot keep out the light we rage against it 2. Glad of a Guide as Elymas the Sorcerer when he was stricken blind looked about for some body to lead him by the hand Acts 13. 11. But the blind world cannot endure to be directed or the blind lead the blind and both fall into the ditch He that prophesieth of strong wine is the teacher of this people saith the Prophet Men love those that gratifie their lusts and humours let one come soundly and declare the counsel and will of God to them he is distasted 3. We cannot help our selves out of this misery without Gods help Our incapacity is best understood by opening that noted place 1 Cor. 2. 14. The natural man receiveth not the things that are of God for they are folly to him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned Let us a little open that place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the souly man that is a man considered in his pure naturals Jude 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sensual having not the spirit However he useth the best word by which a natural man can be described he doth not say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not only those that are brutish and depraved by vicious habits but take Nature in its excellency soul-light in its highest splendor and perfection though the man be not absolutely given up to vile affections Well it is said of him that he neither doth nor can receive the things of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the things of the spirit are such truths as depend upon meer Revelation and are above the reach and knowledg of Nature There are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things of God that may be known by a natural light Rom. 1. 19. That which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things revealed in the word though a natural man be able to understand the phrases and sentences and be able to discourse of them yet he wanteth faith and a spiritual sense and relish of them They are folly to him It noteth the utter contempt of spiritual things by a carnal heart who looketh upon Redemption by Christ crucified with the consequent benefits as things frivolous and vain Paul at Athens was accounted a babler Acts 17. 18. The same disposition is still in natural men for though these truths by the prescription and consent of many Ages have now obtained veneration and credit yet carefully to observe them to live to the tenor of them whatever hazards and inconveniencies we are exposed to in the world is still counted foolish Mark for greater emphasis it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 folly as carnal wisdom is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 enmity against God Rom. 8. 7. Neither can be know them it is out of sloth and opposition and moral impotency as 't is said Rom. 8. 7. The carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can it be Reason is a short and defective light not only actually ignorant but unable to conceive of them 'T is not only through negligence he doth not but through weakness he cannot Take meer Nature in it self and like Plants neglected it soon runs wild As the Nations barbarous and not polished with Arts and Civility have more of the beast than the man in them Jude 10. But what they know naturally as brute beasts in those things they corrupt themselves Suppose they use the Spectacles of Art and the natural light of Reason be helped by Industry and Learning yet how erroneous in things of Religion Rom. 1. 21. When they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish hearts were darkned c. The most civil Nations were most foolish in matters of Worship and many placed Fevers and human passions and every paultry thing among the gods The Scythians worshipped Thunder the Persians the Sun the most stupid and blockish Nations seemed most wise in the choice of their gods others were given up to more gross superstitions All the arts in the world could not fully repair the ruins of the Fall The Heathens invented Logick for polishing Reason Grammar and Rhetorick for Language for Government and as a help to human society Laws for bodily necessities Physick for mollifying and charming the passions so far as concerned human conversation Ethicks for Families and private Societies Oeconomicks But for the Soul and Religious concernments how blind and foolish were they Nay go higher Suppose besides the Spectacles of Art Nature be furnished with the glass of the Word yet John 1. 5. The light shined in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not We see how great Scholars are defective in the most useful and practical points Nicodemus a Teacher in Israel was ignorant of Regeneration Iohn 3. 10. They always err in one point or another And in these things of moment if they get an opinion and a Dogmatical Faith and have an exact model and frame of Truth yet as long as they are carnal and unregenerate how much doth a plain godly Christian exceed them in lively affection and serious practice And whilst they are disputing of the natures and offices of Christ and the nature of Justification and Sanctification others enjoy what they speak of and have a greater relish and savour and power of these Truths upon their hearts For ever it was a truth and ever will be Rom. 8. 5. They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh and they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit Nature can go no further than it self than a fleshly inclination moveth it They have not this transforming light and that sense of Religion which is prevalent over
upon earthly things they must have Heaven The more their affections are estranged from the one the more they are taken up about the other Col. 3. 2. Heaven and Earth are like two scales in a Ballance that which is taken from the one is put into the other 3. There is no sufficient direction how to attain this durable estate but in the word of God Without this we are but like poor pilgrims and wayfaring men in a strange Countrey not able to discern the way home A blessed state is only sufficiently revealed in the word 2 Tim. 1. 10. Life and immortality is brought to light in the Gospel The Heathens did but guess at it and had some obscure sense of an estate after this life but it is brought to light with most clearness in the Word so the way thither is only pointed out by the Word It is the Word of God makes us wise to salvation and our Line and Rule to lead us to the heavenly Canaan and therefore it concerns those that look after this durable state to consult with the Word 4. There is no understanding Gods word but by the light of the Spirit Job 32. 8. There is a spirit in man but the inspiration of the Almighty that giveth understanding Though the Word have light in it yet the spirit of man cannot move till he enlightens us with that lively light that makes way for the dominion of the truth in our hearts and conveyeth influence into our hearts This is that light David begs when he saith Hide not thy commandments from me David was not ignorant of the ten Commandments of their sound but he begs their spiritual sense and use 5. If we would have the Spirit we must ask it of God in prayer For God gives the Spirit to those that ask him Luke 11. 13. and therefore we must say as David Psal. 43. 3. O send out thy light and thy truth let them lead me let them bring me to thy holy hill to thy tabernacle 6. When we beg it of God we must do it with submission to his Soveraignty and with subscription to his Iustice Therefore doth David use this manner of speech Hide not thy Commandment from me God doth hide when he doth not open our eyes to see now the Lord may chuse whether he will do this or no for he is Soveraign and may in Justice forbear to do so because we have abused the light we have it will be hid from us unless he reveal it The mystery of Grace is wholly at Gods dispose and whosoever begs it he must refer himself to the holy and soveraign good pleasure of God who may give out and withhold his efficacious grace according to his pleasure Matth. 11. 25 26. I thank thee Lord of heaven and earth because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes even so Father for so it seemed good in thy sight Here 's the Lords Soveraignty he doth in these things as he pleaseth therefore David submits to it And then it implies It may be just with God to leave us unto our natural blindness and suffer Satan to blind us more It is fully consistent with the honour of his Justice therefore it is said Johâ—… 12. 40. He hath blinded their eyes and hardned their hearts c. that is judicially suffering them to encrease their own blindness by their sin blindness that 's their sin and the Lord may leave it as a Judgment upon them USE Here 's Direction to you that know you are but pilgrims the great thing you should seek after is the straightest way to heaven If you have a sense of Eternity and a sense of your present frailty you should look how to get home to your Countrey To this end 1. Study the word why This is your Antidote against Infection and a Cordial to cheer us in the way It is an Antidote against Infection 2 Pet. 1. 4. By the promises we escape the corruption that is in the world through lust The World is an Infectious place therefore you had need take the promises next your heart to keep your hopes alive And here 's your Cordial to keep you from fainting that which makes you to rejoyce in the midst of present afflictions Psal. 119. 54. 'T is a cordial to cheer us up to revive us in the way till we come to our journeys end This will make up losses sweeten difficulties allay your sorrows Then 't is your direction the way to lead you home Psal. 119. 105. Thy word is a light to my feet and a lanthorn to my paths We shall soon pass over this life all our care should be to pass it over well there are so many by-paths in the world and in a strange place we may soon miscarry 2. Intreat the Lord of his abundant grace to pity poor strangers who are ignorant and desire him he would not hide his word from you that you may walk in the nearest closest way wherein he would have you walk He may hide it from you as an Absolute Supreme Lord for he is bound to give his grace to none and he may do it as a just Iudg he may leave you to your own infatuations and prejudices Say Lord pity a poor stranger and pilgrim The word may be hidden two ways and take care of both 1. In point of External administration when the powerful means are wanting O it is a great mark of Gods displeasure when men are given up by their own choice to blind Guides to those that have no skill or no will to edifie or no abilities rightly to divide the Word of truth only fill the ear with clamour and noise but do not inform Conscience or move the heart by solid and powerful instruction from the Word of God 2. In point of Internal influence when the comforts and quicknings of the Spirit are withholden Lord withhold not thy Spirit from me SERMON XXI PSAL. CXIX 20. My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times DAVID had begged Divine illumination v. 18. The reason of his request was Because he was a stranger upon earth and a stranger may easily be bewildred Now here is a second reason why he would have God to open his eyes Because his heart was carried out with so strong an affection to the word He that asketh a thing coldly doth but bespeak his own denial But David was in good earnest when he prayeth for light it was not a dead-hearted perfunctory petition but such as came from an ardent and strong affection My soul breaketh c. In the words we have 1. The Object of David 's affection Thy judgments 2. The quality or kind of his affection 1. It was vehement My soul breaketh with longing 2. It was constant at all times By Misphalim Iudgments is meant the Word which is the infallible Rule of Gods proceeding with sinners For the Affection I shall
open that and there first speak of the vehemency My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath It 's a Metaphorical expression to set forth the earnestness of his affection The Septuagint renders it thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My soul coveteth to desire thy judgments Desire is the stretching forth of the soul to the thing desired Now as things that are stretched out do break and crack in stretching so saith David my soul breaketh for the longing Here 's no respect to brokenness of heart in this place it is only strength of desire that is exprest and the expression is used the rather 1. Because affections when strong are painful and affect the body with impressions answerable thereunto 2. Not only the denial but the delay of satisfying the affection encreaseth the pain when they have not what they do desire they are even broken in heart as Prov. 13. 12. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick but when the desire cometh it is a tree of life like Apples of Paradise comforting and reviving Now the constancy and continuance of this desire is set forth in these words at all times not for a flash and pang but 't was the ordinary frame of his heart Doct. Gods children have a strong constant and earnest bent of affection towards his word 1. To open the nature of this affection 2. The Reasons of it First The nature there consider the Object the End the Properties and the Effects 1. The Object of this affection is the Word of God written or preached As it is written in the Scriptures so it is their constant exercise to read it and consult with it often Psal. 1. 2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night And Joshua 1. 8. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night As it is preached and explained they submit to Gods Ordinance in that also who hath appointed Pastors and Teachers as well as Prophets and Apostles Eph. 4. 11. Prophets and Apostles to write Scripture so Pastors and Teachers to open and apply Scripture therefore James 1. 9. They are swift to hear that is take all occasions for that end and purpose 2. For the End of this affection it is a sanctified subjection to God and strength and growth in the spiritual life 1 Pet. 2. 2. As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby not meerly that you may know but that you may grow thereby not to replenish the head with notions but that you may encrease in spiritual strength and find more liberty of heart towards God 3. For the Properties of it you have them here in the Text 1. They must be earnest 2. A constant bent of heart 1. An earnest bent of heart Common and ordinary affection or desire after the word will not serve the turn not a faint and cold wish but such as hath heat and warmth in it It is good to see by what expressions the desires of the Saints are set forth in Scripture By the desire of Infants after the breast 1 Pet. 2. 2. they cannot live without it It is set forth also by the panting of the Hart after the water-brooks Psal. 42. 1. To meet with God in his word it is as a brook of water to a chased Hart it refresheth and revives it It is set forth by the desires of a longing woman vers 40. of this Psalm Behold I have longed after thy precepts The children of God are fond of nothing so much as of his Word and Ordinances It is set forth by the appetite which a hungry man hath toward his meat after a long abstinence Psal. 84. 2. My soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord. Or as a weary traveller and thirsty man longeth after drink Psal. 63. 1. My soul thirsteth for thee c. Or as cool air to the weary Psal. 119. 131. I opened my mouth and panted for I longed for thy commandments A Metaphor taken from a man tired with running gaping for breath to take in some cool air and refreshing What think you of all these expressions are they strains and reaches of wit or the real experiences of the children of God The truth is we have such languid motions this way that we know not how to understand the force of such expressions therefore we think them to be conceits we that are so cold and indifferent whether we meet with God in his word yea or no. 2. As it is not cold so it is not fleeting but constant Many men have good affections for a while but they abide not as I shall give you some kinds 1. Some out of Error in judgment think the word of God is only fit for Novices as the Stancarists to enter us into the Rudiments of Religion but too low a dispensation for our after growth It is milk for babes they think but afterwards we must live immediately upon the Spirit But we see that David's affection ever carried him to the word not only at his first acquaintance with God but at all times as in the Text. 2. Some prize the word in Adversity when they have no other comforts to live upon then they can be content to study the word to comfort them in their distresses but when they are well at ease they despise it But David made use of it at all times in prosperity to humble him in adversity to comfort him in the one to keep him from pride in the other to keep him from despair in affliction the Word was his Cordial in worldly encrease it was his Antidote And so at all times his heart was carried out to the Word either for one necessity or another 3. Some during a qualm of conscience have an affection for holy things as we desire Strong-waters in a pang not for a constant diet While the terrors of God are upon them nothing will satisfie them but the Word O send for Moses and Aaron then when the plague was upon them but as their trouble wears off so doth their affection to the Word of God It is fear that drives them to the Word and not love 4. Some out of a general sense of the excellency that is in the Word They go on smoothly for a while as Herod who heard gladly Mark 6. 20. so do many till the Word come to cross their lusts and touch their darling sin then they run to earthly pleasures again and out of a sense of difficulty and carnal despondency they give over the pursuit 5. Some are taken with the meer novelty Joh. 5. 35. Ye were willing to rejoyce in his light for a season while the Doctrine is novel and Ministers have countenance from great men as Iohn had from Herod and their gifts are in the flourish none but Iohn in their account but when the conceit of Novelty was gone and Iohn fell under the
word as it is an excellent Doctrine suited to mans necessities as the stony ground received the word with joy Mat. 13. 20. certainly he hath yet a purer gladness than meerly that man that is vers'd in natural studies O but when a man can reflect upon the promises as having an interest in them that delight which flows from faith and is accompanied with such a certainty surely that 's a more pure delight than the other and doth more ravish the heart they have more intimate and spiritual joy than others have 5. It is a joy that ends well Carnal rejoycing makes way for sorrow the end of that mirth is heaviness Prov. 14. 13. It is a poor forced thing saith Cooper A man in a burning Fever is eased no longer by drinking strong drink than while he is drinking of it for then it seems to cool him but presently it encreaseth his heat so when men seek ease and comfort in troubles from outward external things though they seem to mitigate their heaviness for the present yet they encrease it the more afterward 6. It is not a joy that perverts the heart Carnal comforts the more we use them the more we are ensnared by them Eccles. 2. 2. I have said of laughter it is mad and of mirth what doth it For what serious and sober use doth carnal rejoycing serve There is no profit by it but much hurt and danger therefore Solomon preferreth sorrow before it Eccles. 7. 3. Sorrow is better than laughter for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better But now the more of this delight we have the more we delight our selves in the word of God the more we love God the better the heart is 7. It is a delight that overcomes the sense of our affliction and all the evils that do befall us and therefore it is said of the heirs of promise that they have strong consolation Heb. 6. 18. The strength is seen by the effects therefore it is strong because it supports and revives notwithstanding troubles It establisheth the heart notwithstanding all the floods and storms of temptations that light upon it 1 Thes. 1. 6. it is said of them that they received the word with much affliction and joy in the Holy Ghost Secondly How do we find it in the word His testimonies are my delight The word requires this joy in troubles and the word ministers it to the soul. It requires this joy Jam. 1. 2. Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations We are not only with patience to submit to Gods will but also to rejoyce in it So Mat. 5. 12. When men persecute and revile you and say all manner of evil against you falsly for my name sake rejoyce and be exceeding glad Many times when other ways of persecution cease yet there is reviling Those that have no strength and power to do other injuries yet have such weapons of malice always in readiness Some being not good Christians themselves will defame those that are so that so when they cannot reach them in practice they may depress them by censure when they cannot go so high as they they may bring them as low as themselves by detraction Nowthough this be a great evil we should bear it not heavily but cheerfully rejoyce and be exceeding glad in hope of the promises Rom. 5. 3. We glory in tribulation A true believer that hath received the word of God as the rule of his life and guide of his hopes he can not only be patient but cheerful glory in his tribulation A carnal man is not so comfortable in his best estate as he is at his worst Again it gives us matter and ground of joy God speaks a great deal of comfort to an afflicted spirit It was one end why the Scriptures were penn'd Rom. 15. 4. that we through patience and comfort of the Scripture might have hope And Heb. 12. 5. Have you forgotten the consolation that speaks to you as children The great drift of the word is to provide matter of comfort and that in our worst estate But now what are the usual comforts that may occasion this delight and joy in the Holy Ghost in the midst of deep affliction 1. The Scripture gives us ground of comfort from the Author of our afflictions who is our Father and never manifests the comfort of adoption so much as then when we are under chastning Heb. 12. 5. The consolation that speaks to you as children And Joh. 18. 11. The cup which my father hath put into my hands shall I not drink it It is a bitter Cup but it is from a Father not from a Judg or an Enemy Nothing but good can come from him who is love and goodness it self nothing but what is useful from a Father whose affection is not to be measured by the bitterness of the dispensation but by his aims what he intends If God should let us alone to follow our own ways it were an argument we were none of his children 2. The necessity of afflictions 1 Pet. 1. 6. Ye are for a season in trouble if need be Before the Corn be ripened it needs all kind of weathers and therefore the Husband-man is as glad of showers as sun-shine because they both conduce to fruitfulness We need all kind of dispensations and cannot well be without the many troubles that do befall us 3. The nature and use of affliction it is a medicine not a poyson it works out the remainders of sin Isa. 27. 9. By this therefore shall the iniquity of Iacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away his sin Afflictions are useful and help to mortification It is a file to get off our rust a flayl wherewith we are thresht that our husk may flye off a fire to purge and eat out our dross He verily for our profit that we may be partakers of his holiness Heb. 12. 10. If God take away any outward comforts from us and give us graces instead of them it 's a blessed exchange if he strip us of our garments and clothe us with his own Royal Robe as holiness is God himself is glorious in holiness now that we may be partakers of his holiness surely that 's for our profit 4. For the manner of God's afflicting it is in measure Isa. 27. 8. In measure when it shooteth forth thou wilt debate with it He stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east-wind So Jer. 46. 28. Fear thou not O Iacob my servant saith the Lord c. So 1 Cor. 10. 13. God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above measure His conduct is very gentle as Iacob drove on as the little ones were able to bear Gen. 33. so doth God with a great deal of moderation measure out sufferings in a due proportion not to our offences only but our strength as a father in correcting his children regards their weakness as well as their wantonness laying
meditating for meditating frequent turning the key maketh the Lock go more easie Good dispositions make way for good dispositions Psal. 27. 14. Psal. 31. 24. Wait on the Lord be of good courage and he shall strengthen thy heart Pluck up your spirits strive to take courage and then God will give you courage To shake us out of laziness God maketh the precept to go before the promise God biddeth us pray though prayer be his own gift Act asyou would expect 7. There is a supply cometh in ere we are aware Cant. 6. 12. Or ever I was aware my soul made me like the chariots of Aminadab in the very work A strange difference of temper is to be observed in David before the Psalm be over 1 Chron. 22. 16. Arise therefore and be doing and the Lord be with thee God will not help that man that hath legs to go and will not 8. We are to rowse up our selves Psal. 64. 7. And there is none that calleth upon thy name that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee When we are willing to get the work over and wrestle not for life and power in praying we do not all we are able The Cock by clapping the wings addeth strength to the crowing We should rowse up our selves We use not the bellows to a dead coal c. 2. The next circumstance is the argument according to thy word what word doth David mean Either the general promises in the books of Moses or Iob which intimate deliverance to the faithful observers of Gods Law or help to the miserable and distressed or some particular promise given to him by Nathan or others Chrysostome saith Quicken me to live according to thy word but it is not a word of command but a word of promise Mark here 1. He doth not say Secundum meritum meum but secundum verbum tuum the hope or that help which we expect from God is founded upon his word there is our security in his promises not in our deservings Promittendo se fecit debitorem c. 2. When there was so little Scripture written yet David could find out a word for his support Alas in our troubles and afflictions no promise occurreth to mind As in outward things many that have less live better than those that have abundance so here now Scripture is so large we are less diligent and therefore though we have so many promises we are apt to faint we have not a word to bear us up 3. This word did not help him till he had lain long under this heavy condition that he seemed dead Many when they have a promise think presently to enjoy the comfort of it No there is waiting and striving first necessary We never relish the comfort of the promises till the creatures have spent their allowance and we have been exercised God will keep his word and yet we must expect to be tryed 4. In this his dead condition faith in Gods word kept him alive When we have lest feeling and there is nothing left us the word will support us Rom. 4. 19 20. And being not weak in faith he considered not his own body now dead when he was about an hundred years old neither yet the deadness of Sarahs womb he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong in faith giving glory to God 5. One good way to get comfort is to plead the promise to God in prayer Chirographa tua injiciebat tibi Domine shew him his hand-writing God is tender of his word These arguings in prayer are not to work upon God but our selves USE Well then let us thus deal with God looking to him in the sense of our own weakness praying often to God for quickning as David doth in the Text. God keepeth grace in his own hands and dispenseth it at his pleasure that he may often hear from us and that we may renew our dependance upon him it is pleasing to him when we desire him to renew his work and bring forth the actings of grace in their vigour and lustre And let us acknowledg Divine Grace if there be strong actings of faith and love towards God He is to be owned in his work SERMON XXVII PSALM CXIX 26. I have declared my ways and thou heardest me teach me thy statutes IN this Verse you have three things 1. David's open and free dealing with God I have declared my ways 2. God's gracious dealing with David and thou heardest me 3. A Petition for continuance of the like favour teach me thy statutes 1. For the first I have declared my ways that is distinctly and without hypocrisie laid open the state of my heart and course of my affairs to thee Note Doct. They that would speed with God should learn this point of Christian ingenuity unfeignedly to lay open their whole case to him That is to declare what they are about the nature of their affairs the state of their hearts what of good or evil they find in themselves their conflicts supplies distresses hopes this is declaring our ways the good and evil we are conscious to As a sick Patient will tell the Physician how it is with him so should we deal with God if we would find mercy This declaring his ways may be looked upon 1. As an act of faith and dependence 2. As an act of holy friendship 3. As an act of spiritual contrition and brokenness of heart for this declaring must be explain'd according to the sense of the object of what David means by this expression My ways First His businesses or undertakings I have still made them known to thee committing them to the direction of thy Providence and so it is an act of faith and dependence consulting with God and acquainting him with all our desires This is necessary 1. That we may acknowledg the Soveraignty of his Providence and Dominion over all Events Prov. 16. 9. A mans heart deviseth his way but the Lord directeth his steps Man proposeth but God disposeth and carrieth on the event either further than we intended or else contrary to what we intended 2. We must declare our ways to God that we may take God along with us in all our actions that we may ask his leave counsel blessing Prov. 3. 6. In all thy ways acknowledg him and he shall direct thy paths There 's a twofold direction one of Gods Providence the other of his Counsel The direction of his Providence that 's understood Prov. 16. 9. A mans heart deviseth his way but the Lord directeth his steps But then there 's the direction of his Counsel and the latter is promised here if we acknowledg God and declare our ways to him God will counsel us And David did thus declare his way upon all occasions 2 Sam. 2. 1. David enquired of the Lord saying Shall I go up into any of the cities of Iudah It is a piece of Religious manners to begin every business with God to go to God Lord
done and especially is this found by experience when great trouble comes upon us by reason of sin There is some sin at the bottom God will bring out and until they come to clearness and openness with God the Lord still continues the trouble they are kept roaring and do not come to their peace Iob 33. 26 27. When a man is under trouble and the sense of sin doth not fasten on the heart he is not prepared for deliverance but when it comes to this I have sinned and it profits me not then God sends an Interpreter one among a thousand to shew unto man his uprightness 3. It prevents Satans accusations and Gods judgments It is no profit to cover our sins for either Satan will declare them or God find us out and enter into judgment with us It prevents Satan as an Accuser and God as a Judg. 1. It prevents Satan as an Accuser Let us not tarry till our adversary accuse There is one that will accuse you if you do not accuse your selves He that 's a tempter is also an accuser of the brethren Now Confession puts Satan out of office When we have sued out our pardon Satan is not an accuser so much as a slanderer Rom. 8. 33. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect The Informer comes too late when the guilty person hath accused himself and sued out his pardon And 2. It prevents God as a Iudg. It is all known to God Psal. 69. 5. O God! thou knowest my foolishness and my sins are not hid from thee It is a folly to conceal that which cannot be hid God knows them how God may be said to know things two ways Either simply with respect to the perfection of his nature and so he knows all things or by virtue of his office and so God knows things judicially as Judg of the world he takes knowledg of it so as to punish it unless you confess it But in this kind of knowledg he loves to be prevented he will not know it as a Judg if we confess it when there is process against sin in our own consciences 1 Cor. 11. 31. If we judg our selves we shall not be judged When we accuse and judg our selves then God's work is prevented God is contented if we will accuse arraign judg and condemn our selves then he will not take knowledg of our sins as a Judg. The end of God's judging is Execution and punishment but the end of our judging is that we may obtain pardon Now consider whether you will stand at the bar of Christ not as a Saviour but as a Judg or you will judg your selves in your own heart Better sit as Judg upon your own heart than God should sit as Judg upon you therefore deal plainly and openly with him Thus I have explained what it is to declare our wavs it is an act of dependence to take God's leave blessing counsel along with us an act of friendship as to lay open our case to God and an act of brokenness of heart as declaring our sins and temptations For the reasons why if we would speed with God we should unfeignedly lay open our case before him 1. It argueth sincerity A hypocrite will pray but will not thus sincerely open his heart to God Psal. 32. 1. Blessed is he in whose spirit there is no guile No guile it hath a limited sense with respect to the matter of confession that doth not deal deceitfully with God but plainly and openly declares his case Many ways men may be guilty of guile of spirit in confession of sin either when they content themselves with general or slight acknowledgments as thus We are all sinners but they do not declare their ways Generals are but notions and as particular persons are lost in a crowd so sins lye hid in common acknowledgments Or else men take up the empty forms of others You shall see in Numb 19. the waters of purification wherewith a man had been cleansed if another touched it he became unclean Confessions are like those waters whereby one hath cleansed himself Now to take up others Confessions and the forms of others without the same affection feeling and brokenness of heart doth but defile us the more when the heart doth not prescribe to the tongue but the tongue to the heart or else men make some acknowledgments to God but do not uncover their privy sore they are loth to draw forth the state of their hearts into the notice and view of conscience This guile of spirit may be sometimes in God's children Moses had a privy sore which he was loth to disclose and therefore when God would have sent him into Egypt he pleads other things insufficiency want of elocution that he was a stammerer that he had not utterance I but his carnal fear was the main therefore see how God touches his privy sore Exod. 4. 19. Arise Moses go into Egypt the men that sought thy life are dead Why Moses never pleaded that he mentions other things that were true that he was a man of slow speech and his brother Aaron was fitter but he never pleads carnal fear but the Lord knew what was at the bottom So it is with Christians many times we will confess this and that which is a truth and we may humble our selves for it I but there 's a privy-sore yet kept secret Therefore this open-dealing with God is very necessary to lay open before God whatever we know of our state and way for then God will be nigh to us Out of self-love men spare themselves and will not judg and condemn themselves therefore they deny excuse extenuate or hypocritically confess O! I am a sinner and the like but do not come openly 2. It argueth somewhat of the spirit of adoption to put in the bill of our complaint to our heavenly Father to draw up an Indictment against our selves to judg that 's irksome but to put in a bill of complaint to a Friend or Father that savours of more ingenuity To tell God all our mind notes freedom and familiarity not such as is bold rude nor a dress of words but such as is grave serious proceeding from an inward sense of God and hope of his mercy 1 Joh. 3. 21. If our hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God then we can deal with him as one friend with another and acquaint him with all our griefs and wants A man had need walk exactly that would maintain his freedom with God There is a freedom as men may call it such as is bold rude and wretchless in words only but that which proceeds from confidence in God and his mercy that 's a fruit of close walking we cannot have it in our hearts without it 3. It is the way to make us serious and affected with our condition When we open our whole heart to God then we shall be more earnest for a remedy we content our selves with some transient
and saith unto him We have found the Messias and Philip called Nathanael and saiah unto him We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write Iesus of Nazareth the son of Ioseph 2. For the edification of others Luke 22. 32. And thou being converted strengthen thy brethren True grace is communicative as fire c. 3. For our own profit He that useth his knowledg shall have more Whereas on the contrary full breasts if not sucked become dry In the dividing the loaves encreased All gifts but much more spiritual which are the best are improved by exercise Well then 1. Get a sense and experience of God's Truths and then speak of it to others That which we have seen we are best able to report of God giveth us experiences to this end that we may be able to speak of it to others None can speak with such confidence as those that have felt what they speak Christ saith those that come to him shall not only have a spring of comfort themselves but flow forth to others Joh. 7. 38. He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water IV. Point In our desires of knowledg it is meet to propound a good end As David here beggeth understanding that he might see and discover to others what he had found in God's Law To know that we may know is foolish curiosity to know that we may be known is vanity and ostentation to see that we may sell our knowledg is baseness and covetousness To edifie others this is charity to be edified our selves this is wisdom Good things must be sought to a good end Ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss to consume it upon your lusts Jam. 4. 3. All things must be sought for to holy ends to glorifie God much more spiritual gifts The only good end is God's glory Open thou my lips that I may shew forth thy praise Psal. 51. 15. We are to desire knowledg that we may the more enjoy God and the more glorifie him There is a natural desire of knowledg even of Divine knowledg but we must look to our ends that we may grow in grace 1 Pet. 2. 3. that we may be more useful for God not meerly to store the head with notions or to vaunt it over others as having attained more than they no it should be only to do good to our own souls and to save others Rom. 15. 14. I am perswaded that ye are filled with all knowledg and able to admonish one another But now to make a market of our knowledg or to use it for our vile ends that 's naught Not for boasting ostentation curiosity and vain speculation but for practice should be our end When we improve our stock well we please God and shall have eternal profit our selves SERMON XXIX PSALM CXIX 28. My soul melteth for heaviness strengthen thou me according to thy word ACHRISTIAN should neither be humbled to the degree of dejection nor confident to the degree of security and therefore he is to have a double eye upon God and upon himself upon his own necessities and upon God's Alsufficiency You have both represented in this Verse as often in this Psalm his Case and his Petition 1. His Case is represented My soul melteth for heaviness 2. His Petition and Request to God Strengthen thou me according to thy word First His Case My soul melteth for heaviness In the Original the word signifies droppeth away The Septuagint hath it thus My soul fell asleep through weariness Probably by a fault of the Transcribers one word for another My soul droppeth It may relate 1. to the plenty of his tears as the word is used in Scripture Job 16. 20. My friends scorn me but mine eye poureth out tears unto God or droppeth to God the same word so it notes his deep sorrow and sense of his condition The like allusion is in Joshua 7. 5. The heart of the people melted and became as water Or 2. It relates to his languishing under the extremity of his sorrow as an unctuous thing wasteth by dropping so was his soul even dropping away Such a like expression is used in Psal. 107. 26. Their soul is melted because of trouble and of Jesus Christ whose strength was exhausted by the greatness of his sorrows it is said Psal. 22. 14. I am poured out like water all my bones are out of joint my heart is like wax it is melted in the midst of my bowels Be the allusion either to the one or to the other either to the dropping of tears or to the melting and wasting away of what is fat and unctuous it notes a vehement sorrow and brokenness of heart that 's clear his soul was even melting away and unless God did help him he could hold out no longer Doct. That Gods children oftentimes lye under the exercise of such deep and pressing sorrow as is not incident to other men David expresseth himself here as in a languishing condition which is not ordinary My soul droppeth or melteth away for heaviness The Reasons of the point are three 1. Their burdens are greater 2. They have a greater sense than others 3. Their exercise is greater because their reward and comfort is so great First Their burdens are greater than others as temptation desertion trouble for sin The good and evil of the spiritual life is greater than the good and evil of any other life whatsoever As their joys are unspeakable and glorious so their sorrows are sometimes above expression A wounded spirit who can bear Prov. 18. 14. Common natural Courage will carry a man through other afflictions O! but when the arrows of the Almighty stick in their heart Iob 6. 3. that's an unsupportable burden According to the excellency of any life so are the annoyances and the benefits of that life Man that hath a higher life than the beasts is more capable of delights and sorrows than Beasts are of pain and pleasure and so a Christian that lives the life of faith he is more capable of a higher burden Consider they that live a spiritual life have immediately to do with the Infinite and Eternal God and therefore when he creates joy in the heart O what a joy is that and when God doth but lay his hand upon them how great is their trouble Sin is a heavier burden than affliction and the wrath of God than the displeasure of man Coelestis â—…ra quos premit miseros facit humana nullos Evils of an eternal influence are more than temporal therefore must needs be greater and more burdensome Secondly They have a greater sense than others their hearts being intendered by Religion None have so quick a feeling as the children of God why because they have a clearer understanding and more tender and delicate affections 1. Because they have a clearer understanding and see more into the nature of things than those that are drowned
in present delights and contentments The loss of God's favour carnal men know not how to value but the Saints prefer it above life the favour of God is better than life Psal. 63. 3. therefore if the Lord do but suspend the wonted manifestations of his grace and favour how are their hearts troubled Thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled Psal. 30. 7. A child of God that lives by his favour cannot brook his absence therefore when they lose the sweet sense of his favour and reconciliation with him O what a trouble is this to their souls Other men make no reckoning of it at all And so for sin common spirits value it only by the damage that it doth to their worldly interests when it costs them dear they may hang the head Jer. 2. 9. Now know what an evil and bitter thing it is to forsake the Lord. A worldly man may know something of the evil of sin in the effects of it but a child of God seeth into the nature of it they value it by the wrong by the offence that is done to God and so are humbled more for the evil in sin than for the evil after sin So for the wrath of God carnal men have gross thoughts of it and may howl upon their beds when their pleasant things are taken from them but God's children are humbled because their Father is angry they observe more the displeasure of God in afflicting Providences than others do and one spark of God's wrath lighting into their consciences O what sad effects doth it work more than all other straits whatsoever Thus they have a clearer understanding they see more into the dreadfulness of God's wrath into the evil of sin and they know how to prize and value his favour more than others 2. They have delicate and tender affections Grace that gives us a new heart doth also give us a soft heart Ezek. 36. 26. I will put a new heart into them what kind of heart a heart of flesh as the old heart that is taken out is a heart of stone A new soft heart doth sooner receive the impression of divine terror than another heart doth A stamp is more easily left upon wax or a soft thing than upon a stone Or thus a slave hath a thicker skin than one nobly born tenderly brought up therefore he is not so sensible of stripes A wicked man hath more cause to be troubled than a godly man but he is not a man of sense he hath a heart of stone and therefore is not so affected either with God's dealings with him or his dealings with God Look as the weight of the blows must not only be considered but the delicateness of the constitution so because their hearts are of a softer and more tender constitution being hearts of flesh and receptive of a deeper impression therefore their sorrows exceed the sorrows of other men Thirdly The good that they expect is exceeding great and their exercise is accordingly for after the rate of our comforts so are our afflictions Wicked men that have nothing to expect in the World to come but horrors and pains they wallow now in ease and plenty Luk. 16. 25. Son in thy life-time thou receivedst thy good things God will be behind-hand with none of his creatures those that do him common service have common blessings in a larger measure than his own people have they have their good things that is such as their hearts chuse and affect But now good men that expect another happiness they must be content to be harras'd and exercis'd that they may be fitted and prepared for the enjoyment of this happiness As the stones that were to be set in the Temple were to be hewn and squar'd so are they to be hewn squar'd and exercised with bitter and sharp things that they may be prepared for the more glory USE 1. Then carnal men are not fit to judg of the Saints when they report their experiences if it be with them above the rate of other men When afflicted consciences speak of their wounds or revived hearts of their comforts their joys are supernatural and so are their sorrows and therefore a natural man thinks all to be but fancy all those joys of the Spirit that they are but Fanatick delusions and he doth not understand the weight of their sorrows When a man is well to see to and hath health strength and wealth they marvel what should make such a man heavy all their care is to eat drink and be merry and therefore because they are not acquainted with the exercises of a feeling conscience they think all this trouble is but a little mopishness and melancholy Poor contrite sinners who are ready to weep out their hearts at their eyes can only understand such expressions as these My soul melteth away for heaviness There 's another manner of thing in trouble of conscience than the carnal world doth imagine and many that have all well about them great Estates much befriended and esteemed in the world yea for the best things yet when God hides his face poor souls how are they troubled If he do but let a spark of his wrath into conscience and hide his face from them it 's a greater burden to them than all the miseries of the world David was a man valiant that had a heart as the heart of a Lyon 2 Sam. 17. 10. He was a man cheerful called the sweet Singer of Israel 2 Sam. 23. 1. of a ruddy sanguine complexion and a great Master of Musick He was no fool but a man wise as the Angel of God and yet you see what a bitter sense he had of his spiritual condition And when a man so stout and valiant so cheerful so wise complains so heavily will you count this mopishness and foolish melancholy But alas men that never knew the weight of sin cannot otherwise conceive of it they were never acquainted with the infiniteness of God nor power of his anger and have not a due sense of Eternity therefore they think so slightly of these matters of the spiritual life USE 2. Be not too secure of spiritual joys We warn you often of security or falling asleep in temporal comforts and we must warn you of this kind of security also in spiritual All things change You may find David in this Psalm in a different posture of spirit sometimes rejoycing in the Word of God above all riches and at other times his soul melteth away for very heaviness God's own people are liable to great trouble of spirit therefore you should not be secure as to these spiritual enjoyments which come and go according to God's pleasure Men that build too much upon spiritual suavities or sensible consolations occasion a snare to their own souls partly as they are less watchful for the present like Mariners which have been at Sea when they get into the Haven take down their tackling and make merry and think never to see
the occasion of the first sin and therefore we had need be cautioned against it Consider there is a lying to God in publick and private worship In publick worship How often do you compass him about with lyes We shew love with our mouths when our heart is at a great distance from God O how odious should we be to our selves if our heart were turned inside outward in the best duty and all our thoughts were turned into words for in our worship many times we draw near to God with our mouths when our heart is at a great distance As when their bodies were in the Wilderness their hearts were in Egypt so we prattle words without sense and spiritual affection Nay in our private worship we confess sin without shame we pray as if we cared not to be heard Conscience tells us what we should pray for but our hearts do not go out in the matter and we throw away our prayers as children shoot away their arrows which is a sign we are not so hearty as we should be We give thanks but without meltings of heart Custom and natural light tells us something must be done in this kind but how hard a matter is it to draw near God with truth of heart Again Would we not be accounted better than we are who would be thought as ill as he hath cause to think of himself We storm if others but speak of us half of what we speak of our selves to God therefore all had need look to it to be kept from a way of lying And for gross lying how far are we from being willing that should be accomplished which the Lord speaks of Zeph. 3. 13. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity nor speak lies neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth rather we may take up Davids complaint Psal. 12. 1 2. The godly man ceaseth the faithful fail from among the children of men they speak vanity every one with his neighbour with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak Promises Oaths Covenants all broken and therefore so many jealousies because so much lying all trust is lost among us This lying is always ill but especially in Magistrates men of publick place Prov. 17. 7. Lying lips become not a Prince So Ministers Rom. 9. 1. I say the truth in Christ I lye not 2 Cor. 11. 31. The God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ knoweth that I lye not Among private Christians are we not too rash in our suspicions and speak worse of others than they deserve do we not take up and vent reports without search it may be out of envy at the brightness of their profession Do not unwary Expressions drop from us much talk cannot be justified Are there not rash promises we make noconscience to mind and look after Many ways may we trace our selves in this sin of lying Therefore look to the prevention of it what remedies are there against it 1. Hate it do not think it to be a venial matter Psal. 119. 163. I hate and abhor lying not only hate it nor simply I abhor it but hate and abhor to strengthen and increase the sense and make it more vehement Where the enmity is not great against the sin the matter may be compounded and taken up O but I hate and abhor it and hate it with a deadly hatred Slight hatred of a sinful course is not sufficient to guard us against it 2. Love to the Law of God if that be dear to you you will not break it upon any light occasion In the Text Grant me thy law graciously If a man prize the Laws of God and would fain have them printed in the heart he will not so easily break them 3. Remember your spiritual conflict you never give Satan so great an advantage as by falshood and guile of spirit The Devil assaults by wiles but your strength lyeth in down-right honesty Eph. 6. 11. That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil Satans strength lies in wiles but you must beat him down in sincerity The first piece of the spiritual armour is the girdle of truth that is the grace of sincerity whereby a man is to God and men what he gives out himself to be or seems to be This is that which will give you strength and courage in sore tryals O when Satan shall accuse and challenge you for your base hypocrisie then how will you hold up your heads in the day of spiritual conflict if you have not the girdle of truth But now uprightness gives us courage strength and stands by us in the very agonies of death 4. Heedfulness and a watch upon the tongue Psal. 39. 1. I said I will take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue Let us speak of what we think and think of what we speak that the mind may conform it self with the nature of truth 5. Avoid the causes of lying There are three of them 1. Boasting or speaking too much of our selves When men are given to boasting whatever thing of weight is done they were privy to it their hand was in the work in contriving and prosecuting the business their counsel was for it Nothing can be acted without their knowledg and approbation This spirit of vain-glory is the Mother of vain talking therefore of a lying tongue Psal. 12. 3. Flattering lips and the tongue that speaketh proud things are joyned together 2. Flattery or desiring of ingratiating themselves with those that are great and mighty in the world when they have mens persons in admiration Psal. 12. 2. With flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak So Hosea 7. 3. They make the king glad with their lyes To please their Rulers they sooth them up with flattering applause and fawning upon them 3. Carnal fear and distrust This was that which put David to his shifts in his dangers he was apt to fail and deal a little deceitfully in time of temptation and danger We had need pray to God to be kept from all ways and counsels that are contrary to Gods word The Scripture speaks Deut. 33. 29. of Counterfeit submissions to higher powers Thine enemies shall be found lyars unto thee thou shalt tread upon their high places the meaning is shall be subdued by thee So Psal. 18. 44. Strangers shall submit themselves to me Psal. 66. 3. 81. 15. and many other places The word implieth feigned submission Obj. But are we openly to profess our mind in all things in time of danger I answer Prudent concealment may be without fault but a professed subjection should be sincere for open and free dealing doth best become Gods Children It is true we are not bound to speak all the truth at all times to every person In some cases we may conceal something Luk. 9. 21. Our Saviour straitly charged them and commanded them to tell no body that he was the Christ. 1 Sam. 16. 2. When the Lord
offence Christians what Religion is it you are of Is it not the Christian Religion whose great interest and work it is to draw you off from the concernments of the present world unto things to come The whole drift and frame of the Christian Religion is to draw mens hearts off from earthly things and to comfort and support them under the troubles inconveniences and molestations of the flesh therefore for a Christian to hope an exemption from them is to make the doctrine of the Gospel as incongruous and useless as to talk of bladders and the art of swimming to a man that never goes to sea nor intends to go off from the firm land 3. A great occasion to shake the faith of many is Scandals the evil practices of those that profess the name of God O! when they run into disorder especially into all manner of unrighteousness and iniquity and cruel things and make no conscience of the duties of their relations as subjects as children and the like it is a mighty offence and we that have to do with persons and sinners of all sorts find it a very hard matter to keep them from Atheism such stumbling blocks having been laid in their way Scandal's far more dangerous than Persecution There are many that have been gained by the patience courage and constancy of the Martyrs but never any were gained by the scandalous falls of professors Persecutions do only work upon our fear which may be allayed by proposal of the Crown of life but by scandalous actions how many settle into a resolved hardness of heart In crosses and persecutions a man may have secret likings of truth and a purpose to own it but by scandal She dislikes the way of God of Religion it self it begets a base and vile esteem thereof in the hearts of men so they are loose and fall off And this mischief doth not only prevail with the lighter sort of Christians but many times those which have had some taste it makes them fly off exceedingly Matt. 18. 7. There will be offences but wo be unto them by whom they come Christ hath told us all will not walk up to the Religion they own therefore we must stand out against this temptation Secondly Be fortified within by taking heed to the causes of apostasie and falling off from the truth either in judgment or practice What is there will make men apostates 1. Ungrounded assents A choice lightly made is lightly altered When we do not resolve upon evidence and have not taken up the ways of God upon clear light we shall turn and wind to and fro as the posture of our interest is changed First we must try all things then hold fast 1 Thes. 5. 21. Men waver hither and thither for want of solid rooting in truth they take up things hand over head and then like light chaff they are driven about with every wind of doctrine Eph. 4. 14. Half conviction leaveth us open to changes Iames 1. 8. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways A man that seems to have a faith concerning such a thing then seems to have a doubt concerning such a thing sometimes led by his faith at other times carried away by his doubts If we have not a clear and full perswasion of the ways of God in our own minds we shall never be constant 2. Want of solid rooting in grace that is rooted in faith Col. 2. 7. or rooted and grounded in Love Eph. 3. 17. as to both it is said Heb. 13. 9. It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace that is by a sound sense of the love of God in Christ. A sweet superficial tast may be lost but a sound sense of the love of God in Christ will engage us to him O! we have felt so much sweetness and have had such real proof of the goodness of Christ that all the world cannot take us off The more experience you have and the deeper it is the more you will be confirmed The most of us content our selves but in a superficial tast When we hear of the doctrine of salvation by Christ we are somewhat pleased and tickled with it but this is not that which doth establish us but a deep sense of God's grace or feeling the blood of Christ pacifying our Consciences this is that which establisheth our heart and setleth us against apostasie 3. Unmortified lusts which must have some error to countenance them By an inordinate respect to worldly interests we are sure to miscarry A man governed by lusts will be at uncertainty according as he is swayed by the fear or favour of men or his carnal hopes 2 Tim. 4. 10. Demas hath forsaken us having loved this present world If a man hath love to present things if that be not subdued and purged out of his heart he will never be stable never upright with God It may be he may stand when put upon some little self-denial for Christ he may endure some petty loss or some tender assault I but at length the man will be carried away as Ioab that turned after Adonijah though he turned not after Absolom 1 King 2. 28. there will some temptation come that will carry them away though at first they seem to stand their ground as long as lust remains unmortified in the heart 4. Sometimes a faulty-easiness As there is an ingenuous facility The wisdom that is from above is gentle and easie to be entreated Jam. 3. 17. so there 's a faulty easiness when men cannot say nay when they change their Religion with their company out of a desire to please all and Camelion-like they change colour with every object Some are of such a facile easie nature soon perswaded into great inconvenience This faulty-easiness always makes bold with God and conscience to please men when we are of this temper Jer. 38. 5. The King is not he that can do any thing against you It is not a good disposition but baseness and pusillanimity It is observed of Chrysostome though a good man in the main yet he ran into many inconveniences why because he was through simplicity and plainness of his nature easily to be wrought upon Therefore though a good man in regard of the sweetness of his temper and converse should be as a Load-stone yet he should be also resolute and severe in the things of God Paul though they did even break his heart they could not break his purpose 5. Self-confidence when we think to bear it out with natural courage and resolution as Peter did Though all men forsake thee yet will not I. We are soon over-born and a light temptation will do it God gives men over that trust in themselves For the Lord takes it to be his honour to be the Saints Guardian to keep the feet of his Saints 1 Sam. 2. 9. He will be owned and depended upon 6. There 's an itch of Novelty when men are weary of old truths and
not a waste either God is there framing gracious operations or the Devil who worketh in the children of disobedience Ephes. 2. 2. will you give them to God to be saved or to the Devil to be damned Whos 's they are now they are for ever 5ly If you love any you give him the heart and you are wont to wish that there were windows in your bodies that they might see the sincerity of your hearts towards them Surely if you have cause to love any you have much more cause to love God No such friend as he no such benefactor as he if you consider what he hath done for us what blessings he hath bestowed internal external temporal eternal He hath given his Son the great instance of love Ioh. 3. 16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him might not perish but have everlasting life His Gospel that his love might be preached to us His Spirit that not only sounded in our ears but is shed abroad in our hearts Rom. 5. 5. His Christ to save us his word to enlighten us his Spirit to guide and direct us till we come to Heaven where he will give himself to us an eternal inheritance Certainly unless void of all sense and common ingenuity thou wilt say as the Psalmist Psal. 116. 12. What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me What indeed wilt thou render to him love will tell thee but lest thou shouldst miss God himself hath told thee Prov. 23. 26. My Son give me thine heart There is no need to wish for windows in thy body He searcheth the heart and trieth the reins Psal. 7. 9. The righteous God trieth the hearts and reins And 1 King 8. 39. Thou knowest the hearts of all the children of men The whole world is to him as a sea of glass He knoweth how much thou esteemest and honourest him If thou givest him the whole world and dost not give him thy heart thou dishonourest him and settest something else before him 6ly This is that all may give him if God should require costly sacrifices rivers of oyl thousands of rams then none but the rich would serve him and he would require nothing but what many Hypocrites would give him Then the poor would be ashamed and discouraged not being able to comply with the command Yea then God would not act like the true God Who accepteth not the person of Princes nor regardeth the rich more than the poor for they are all the work of his hands Job 34. 19. Say not Mica 6. 6 7 8. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the High God shall I come before him with burnt-offerings with calves of a year old will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousands of rivers of oyl shall I give my first-born for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul But go to God and give him thy heart this will make thy mite more acceptable than the great treasures of the wicked Luk. 21. 1 2 3 4 And he looked up and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury and he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites and he said Of a truth I say unto you that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all for all these have of their abundance cast unto the offerings of God but of her penury she hath cast in all the living that she had We read in Pagan-story of one that when many rich Scholars gave gifts to Socrates every one according to his birth and fortunes a poor young man came to him and said I have nothing worthy of thee to bestow upon thee but that which I have I give and that is my self others that have given to thee have left more to themselves but I have given all that I have and have nothing left me I give thee my self The Philosopher answered Thou hast given me a gift indeed and therefore it shall be my care to return thee to thy self better than I found thee So come to God he needeth us not but 't is for our benefit we should give our hearts and selves to him He knoweth how much it is for our advantage that he should have our hearts to make them better to sanctifie and save them 2ly The whole heart Here I shall shew you 1. what it is to keep the Law with the whole heart 2. Why we must keep the Law with our whole heart 1. What it is to keep the Law with the whole heart It is taken Legally or Evangelically as a man is bound or as God will accept what is required in justice or what is accepted in mercy 1st According to the rigor of the Law The Law requireth exact conformity without the least motion to the contrary either in thought or destre a full obedience to the Law with all the powers of the whole man This is in force still as to our rule but not as to the condition of our acceptance with God This without any defect and imperfection like mans love to God in innocency since the fall is no where found but in Christ Jesus who alone is harmless and undefiled and will never thus be fulfilled by us till we come to Heaven For here all is but in part but then that which is in part shall be done away Then will there be light without darkness knowledg without ignorance faith without unbelief hope without despair love without defect and mixture of carnal inclinations All good motions without distraction Here is folly and confusion here flesh lusteth against the Spirit in the best Gal. 5. 17. They have a double principle though not a double heart 2ly In an Evangelical sense according to the moderation of the second Covenant and so God out of his love and mercy in Christ Jesus accepts of such a measure of love and obedience as answereth to the measure of Sanctification received When God sanctifieth a man he sanctifieth him as to all the parts and faculties of body and soul inlightneth the understanding with the knowledg of his will inclineth the heart to obedience circumciseth the affection filleth us with the love of God himself and holy things But being a voluntary agent he doth not this as to perfection of degrees all at once but successively and by little and little Therefore as long as we are in the world there is somewhat of ignorance in the understanding perversity in the will fleshliness and impurity in the affections flesh and spirit in every faculty like water and wine in the same cup but so as the gift of grace doth more and more prevail over the corruption of nature light upon darkness holiness upon sin and heavenliness upon our inclinations to worldly vanities As the Sun upon the shadow of the night till it groweth into perfect day Prov. 4. 18. The path of the
a greater portion of worldly things and that sets you upon carking and if you have not this you cannot see how you and yours can be provided for Cure this how by Gods Promises 1 Pet. 5. 7. Cast all your care upon him for he careth for you Cannot you trust God upon security of a Promise Cannot you go on in well doing when the Lord hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Cure it by observing the usual course of Gods Providence God provides for the young Ravens he clothes the Lillies It is Christs argument will he be more kind to a Raven than a child Will he take more care of a flower than of a Son one that is in Covenant with him Cure it by holy maxims and considerations Remember all dependeth upon Gods blessing Luk. 12. 15. Take heed and beware of covetousness How should we do so For a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth Alas all is in Gods hand both being and well-being life and estate and all things else God can soon blast abundance and can relieve us in the deepest wants He can give you a sufficiency in your deep poverty 2 Cor. 8. 2. If you should go on carking and caring and feathering your nests God may take you off or set your nests on fire A little serves the turn to bring us to Heaven And when our desires are moderate God will not fail Prov. 16. 8. Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right 2. For discontent with your portion that you may not always be craving more meditate upon the baseness and vanity of worldly things They do but deceive us with a vain shew they cannot give us any true joy of heart or peace of Conscience or security against future evil they cannot give you health of body nor add one cubit to your stature nor one day to your lives now should we disquiet our selves for a vain shew shall there be such toil in getting such fear of losing when they are of no more use to us in the hour of death When you need strength and comfort most all these things will leave you shiftless helpless if they continue with you so long Nay reason thus the more estate the more danger the greater charge lyeth upon you Larger gates do but open to larger cares There is more duty more danger more snares more temptations When you have more you will be more difficultly saved It is a truth pronounced by the Lord of Truth That it is a hard matter for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven It will be more hard to keep the flesh in order to guide our spirits aright in the ways of God If you must needs be coveting labouring and carking you are called to better things Ioh. 6. 27. Labour not for the meat which perisheth but for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life Covet the best gifts 1 Cor. 12. 31. Be as passionate for grace as others are for the world If once you were acquainted with these better things it would be so with you you would never leave the fair and fresh pastures of grace for the barren heath of the world If you did once tast the sweet of Heavenly things then let dogs scramble for bones and scraps you have hidden Manna to feed upon the sense of Gods love to look after hopes of everlasting glory wherewith to solace your souls If once you did tast of these everlasting riches you would do so 1 Tim. 6. 10 11. There are many that through the love of mony have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows But thou O man of God flee these things and follow after righteousness godliness faith love patience meekness Let the men of the world whose portion and happiness lyeth here scramble for these things but you that profess your selves Children of God follow after all the gifts and graces of the Spirit let that be your holy covetousness to increase in these things SERMON XLII PSAL. CXIX Vers. 37. Turn thou away mine Eyes from beholding Vanity and quicken thou me in thy way DAvid still continueth his requests to God for Grace and intituleth him to the whole Work He had prayed before that God would incline his Heart Now that he would Turn away his Eyes from beholding worldly Vanities In this Prayer there are two Branches the one concerneth Mortification the other Vivification 1. Turn away Then Quicken c. The first request is for the removing the Impediments of obedience the other for Addition of new degrees of Grace These two are fitly joyned for they have a natural Influence upon one another unless we turn away our Eyes from Vanity we shall soon contract a deadness of Heart Nothing causeth it so much as an inordinate liberty in carnal Vanities when our affections are alive to other things they are dead to God therefore the less we let loose our Hearts to these things the more lively and Chearful in the work of Obedience On the other side the more the Vigour of Grace is renewed and the Habits of it quickned into actual exercise the more is Sin mortified and Subdued Sin dieth and our Senses are restored to their proper use These two requests are fitly joyned Let us consider them asunder 1. Turn away mine Eyes from beholding Vanity There observe 1. The Object Vanity 2. The Faculty mine Eyes 3. The Act of Grace desired The removing of this Faculty from this Object 1. The Object Vanity Thereby is meant carnal and worldly Things worldly Pleasures worldly Honour worldly Profits all these are called Vanity because they have no solid happiness in them and do so easily fade and Perish Thus 't is said Prov. 31. 30. Favour is deceitful and Beauty is Vain The same is true of any other Transporting Object Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity Eccle. 1. 2. and Iob. 15. 31. Let not him that is deceived trust in Vanity for Vanity shall be his recompence Rom. 8. 20. The Creature is made Vanity By vanity there is understood the vain things of the World which do so often deceive us as to the happiness they promise 2. The Faculty is mentioned the Eye t is Imployed and commanded by the Heart But this inkindleth new Flames there and as it is set a work by it so it sets the Heart a work again It is the Instrument of increasing Sin in us 3. The act Turn away Our evil delight is too apt to fix it and become a Snare to us till God cureth both Heart and Sense by Grace He prayeth not from beholding it altogether but from beholding as a Snare Doct. It concerneth those that would walk with God to have their Eyes turned away from worldly things I shall give you the meaning in these Propositions 1. He that would be quickned carried out with Life and Vigour in the ways of God must first be Mortified dye unto Sin The
God failed not and surely he that hath been true hitherto will not fail at last 3. When the Word is performed in part it assureth us of the Performance of the whole 'T is an earnest given us of all the Rest 2 Cor. 1. 21. 22. For all the Promises of God in him are Yea and in him Amen A Christian hath a great many Promises and they are a performing daily God is Delivering Comforting Protecting him speaking peace to his Conscience but the greater Part are yet to be performed Present Experiences do assure us of what is to come Thus Stablish thy word that is make it good by the Event that I may learn to trust another time either for the same or other Promises or Accomplishment of thy whole Word Doct. That it is Matter of great Consequence to have the Word of God established to us or to be confirmed in a certain belief of his Promises David asketh it here as a very necessary thing Stablish thy word unto Servant give me Lord to look upon it as a stable and firm thing This will appear if you consider the Conveniency Necessity Utillity and the Profit of this Establishment First The Conveniency and Suitableness of it It is very convenient that we should build strongly upon a strong Foundation That sure truths should be entertained with a certain Faith and things taken as they are uttered There is Certitudo Objecti a certainty of the Object it self and Certitudo Subjecti The certainty of the Subject our being perswaded of the certainty of it the one warrants the other and both are necessary to our Comfort that is as the Word is certain in it self so it should be certain to us No matter how strong the Foundation be if the Building upon that Foundation be weak down it falleth The Word of God is stable in it self but if we are not perswaded it is so we are soon shaken with Temptations To stay a Ship from being tost upon the Rocks it is necessary the Anchor hold be good its self and be fastened upon somewhat that is firm therefore 6 Heb. 18. 19. 20. The Apostle speaks first of the Stability of the ground and then of the strength of the Anchor There 's a firm rocky Ground to build upon the Immutable Promises of God and a solid strong Anchor which is our Faith and Affiance As faith without the Promises is nothing but Groundless and Fruitless conceit so the Promises yield us no Comfort without faith The promises are Yea and Amen in Christ. 2 Cor. 1. 20. And then presently Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ is God It is not sufficient that the Promises be Established but we mustbe Established upon them They are Yea and Amen in Christ but what 's that to us God may lose the glory of his Truth and we the comfort if we be not Established Second The Necessity of it will appear if we consider 1. How natural Unbelief is to us all and 2. How weak the Faith of most is 1. If we consider how natural Unbelief is to us it is a Sin we suck in with our Milk When our first Parents sinned against God his Word was not believed and thereupon the Sin was committed 3. Gen. 4. The Devil contradicted that which God delivered with his own mouth his Nay prevails above Gods Yea Ye shall not surely dye that was that which let in the first Sin And ever since it is very natural to us 3. Heb. 12. Take heed left there be an Evil heart of unbelief in you in departing from the living God Unbelief is the special part of the Hearts wickedness Partly because we have wronged God therefore are apt to suspect him for men are always jealous of those whom they have wronged and that they cannot mean well to them from whom they have received ill we have wronged God and therefore are suspicious of him and of his Good-will to sinners And partly because the truths of God lie cross to our Lusts and carnal Interest which maketh us so ready to pick Quarrels with him Ahab would not hear Micajah not because he prophecied False but Evil. Iohn 3. 20. They will not come to the Light lest their deeds should be reproved I say such strict Rules such close and quickening truths as God hath published in the Gospel men could wish they were not true that there were no Heaven nor Hell nor World to come and therefore because it lies so cross to our Lusts our wishes gain upon our understanding and blind us and we are not apt to believe these things Who will close with that which makes against him Men that are loath the Word of God should prove true are therefore slow of Heart to believe it 24. Luk. And Partly because ever since we were born we have been trained up to live by Sense and are affected only with the things we see hear and feel and therefore are little Skil'd in Faith which is the Evidence of things not seen 11. Heb. 11. which carrieth us to things above Sense to the concernments of another World In short then for these Reasons because it is natural to us to live by Sense to indulge our own Lusts and to suspect those whom we have wronged therefore Unbelief of God is so rife in the World 2. The necessity of Establishment in the Word of God will appear if we consider how weak the Faith of the most is There are few that entertain the Word as a sure and certain truth There are several degrees of Assent there is Conjecture Opinion Weakfaith and Faith that is stronger and that which comes up to an assurance of understanding as the Apostle calls it There is Conjecture or a lighter inclination of the mind to the Word of God as Possibly or Probably true a suspicious knowledge of things or bare guess at them when we go no higher than it may be so that all this is true which God hath spoken concerning Christ and Salvation There is beyond this Opinion when the mind is more inclin'd to think it true when we are so convinced of the truth of it that we are not able reasonably to Contradict it we think it true but there is still a fear of the contrary that it is not true which prevails over us and taints our Practice and weakens our Affections and withdraws them from things to come Then beyond this there is Faith or a firm and undoubted perswasion of the Truth of Gods Word which also hath it's Latitude There 's weak Faith which hath it's incident Doubts And there is beyond this receiving the Word in much Assurance as the experssion is 1 Thes. 5. 1. still we may increase higher in the degree of our assent for in this Life there is never so much but there may be more there is not so much Faith but there may be more There is something lacking to our Faith and it is not easie to grow up to the Riches of the
Service you must not walk as you list but as your Master pleaseth Aristotle makes it the property of a Servant to be one that cannot live as he would that hath no will of his own but hath given up himself to be commanded and directed by another and sometimes contrary to his own inclination They are Rebels and not Servants that said our tongues are our own Psal. 12. 3. Your tongues are not your own to speak what you please not your hearts your own to think what you please not your hands your own to do what you please You are Gods servants therefore must be wholly at his will The Angels that are Gods Ministers when they are described they do his pleasure Psal. 103. 21. So your business is to do the will of God not to please your self Men or the flesh but to please God to do the will of God without any respect to your own inclinations and worldly interests and therefore your hearts will rise against sin upon this account when you are tempted to do any thing that is contrary to the will of God O I am not my own these members are Christs You look upon every thing as Gods to be employed to his Service Secondly Those that would have the Word to be established why must they be Servants of the Lord 1. God doth not look to the work but to the qualification of the Person God will not accept a man for one good work one Prayer but he looks to the qualification of his Person The Prayer of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord Prov. 28. 9. How is that not only when it is managed in a careless fashion when a wicked man prays wickedly no let him do his best for 't is said Prov. 21. 27. The Sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination How much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind at best it is an abomination God will not accept of a Sacrifice at his hands and therefore the qualification of the person is to be regarded when we pray for a blessing promised Iames 5. 16. There is the qualification of the Prayer it must be fervent effectual a Prayer driven with Life and Motion that hath Spirit and Life I but it must be of a Righteous Person As Naturallists speak of a Jewel which if put into a dead mans mouth loseth all its vertue and efficacy So Prayer in the mouth of a wicked carnal man loseth its efficacy with God When one that had revolted from the Romans sent gifts to the Roman General he made him this Answer he should first return to his obedience to the State of Rome So God saith to wicked men first let them be Gods Servants and then they shall have the blessing of his Promises 2. It is agreeable to the Covenant for the Covenant is mutual I will be your God and you shall be my People All Promises relate to a Covenant Now in every Covenant there is ratio dati accepti something required as well as something given for it binds mutually therefore if we would have God give us Grace we must yield Obedience Precepts and Promises go hand in hand and therefore they that would have Promises performed they must observe Precepts And mingle resolutions of Duty with Expectations of mercy That 's the Covenant way of Dealing with God There must be a sincere Purpose and endeavour to serve God I am thy Servant therefore stablish thy Word to me Use. To press you to become Gods servants I might bring Motives both from the time past present and to come 1. From the time Past You are obliged to be so You are his Creatures you have Life Being and all things from him We cannot receive a small kindness from man but it doth produce respect I am your Servant Shall a kindness from God less affect us who made us and gives us Life Breath and all things We take no notice of what comes from an invisible Hand Here 's the wonder that the great God who hath no need of us so often provoked by us that is of such Excellent Majesty so far above us should take notice of us Therefore if God made us keeps us and maintains us from Day to Day and that he abaseth himself to behold us to look after us this should engage us And then from what is Present the honour that is put upon you it is a great advancement to be Gods servant The meanest Offices about Princes are accounted honourable Jesus Christ himself as Mediator he hath this Title put upon him my righteous Servant 53. Isa. 11. and the Angels they are your fellow Servants Psal. 103. 2. they are called Ministers of God Likewise for the present you have free access to God Gods servants may stand in his Presence and they have Liberty to ask any thing they need of The Queen of Sheba said concerning Solomon in the 1 Kings 10. 8. Happy are these thy Servants which stand continually before thee and hear thy Wisdom Much more may it be said concerning Gods servants Blessed are those that stand in his Presence that have such free leave to hold Communion with God To come and have assurance of welcome when ever they come And for the time to Come Gods service will issue it self into everlasting Blessedness Gods servants have Excellent wages Iohn 12. 26. If any man serve me he shall be there where I am and my Father will honour him Christ and his Father will study what honour they can put upon him Therefore be Gods servants that you may please him for the present and comfortably wait for his everlasting Blessing Thus I have gone over the first thing namely the request Stablish thy Word unto thy Servant Secondly The Motive and Argument who is devoted to thy fear The word may be rendred either Which or Who as relating either to thy Word or thy Servant 1. Thy word for in the Original Heb. the posture of the verse is thus Stablish to thy Servant thy word which is to the fearing of thee That is given that thou mayest be feared There being in the word of God the greatest Arguments and Inducements to fear and reverence and obey him The word of God was appointed to this use to plant the fear of God in our Hearts and to increase our reverence of God Not that we may play the wantons with Promises and feed our Lusts with them I rather take our own Translation as more accommodate and it hath such a Sence as that 109. Psal. 4. But I give my self unto Prayer In the Original 'T is But I prayer And 2. Stablish thy word to thy Servant Who is to thy fear Our Translators add to make the Sence more full addicted devoted to thy fear that is that makes it his Business Care and Desire to stand in fear of God Now this is added as a true note and Description of Gods servants as being a main thing in Religion Psal. 111. 10. The fear of
being hard to come by unless Desires be strongly fixed men are soon put out of the Humour and so nothing would be done to any purpose in the World Surely Holiness that is so difficult and distasteful to Flesh and Blood would be but little looked after if there were not strength of Desires to keep it up Therefore is this affection that we may encounter Difficulties and Oppositions As Nehe. 4. 6. When there were Difficulties and Straits it is said They built the Wall for the People had a mind to work that is their Hearts were set upon it So if we had a mind to any Excellent thing it is this mind that keeps us up in the midst of all Difficulties and Labours All excellent Things are hard to come by it is so in Earthly matters much more in Spiritual The Lord will have it so to make us Prize them more for things soon got are little esteemed As riotous Heirs which know not how to get an Estate lavishly spend it A man is chary of what is hardly gotten Iacob prized Rachel the more because he was forced to serve for her so long So we shall prize Heavenly things the more when they cost us a great deal of Diligence and Labour to get them Now sluggish Desires soon fail but Vehement longings keep the Heart a work 5. Consider the issue of these Desires As they come from a good Cause which is the new Nature and a new Life for Appetite follows Life so they tend to a good Effect are sure of a good Accomplishment and Satisfaction God is wont to give Spiritual things to those that desire them there the Rule is Ask and have It is not so in carnal Things many that seek and hunt after them with all the Strength and Labour of their Souls at length are miserably disappointed But all the Promises run for Satisfaction to a Hungry Thirsty Earnest and Longing Soul 5. Math. 6. Those that are hungry and have a strong Desire upon them he will fill 1. Luke 51. And open thy Mouthwide and I will fill it 81. Psal. 10. They that open unto him as the thirsty Land for the Rain God that gives Velle to Will will give Posse to Do First the Desire and then the Satisfaction and therefore where there is this strength of Desire though there may be some failing in other things in our Endeavours and Performances yet the Lord will accept it 6. It argues some nearness to compleat Fruition or to full Satisfaction in Heaven when we begin to be more earnest after Holiness than we were before and after more of God and his Grace and Image to be set up in our Souls The more we desire Holiness the more ripe for Heaven This is a Rule The nearer we are to any good thing our Hearts are set upon the more impatient in the want of it as natural Motions are swifter in the end than in the beginning though violent Motions are swifter in the beginning while the impression of the stone lasts it is swift but afterwards it abates So when the Soul beats so strongly after God and Holiness and larger measures of Grace 't is a sign we are Ripening apace for Heaven Paul when he was grown aged in Christianity then he saith Rom. 7. 24. Who shall deliver me from this Body of Death As what we translate in the Psalms O that Salvation were come out of Sion It is in the Hebrew Who shall give Salvation So here it is an Hebreisme Who shall that is O that I were delivered He had many afflictions he was in Perills often Scourged Whipped Persecuted but he doth not say O that I could get rid of this troublesome Life of affliction but it was the Body of Death the remainders of Corruption was most burdensome to him The Children of God their Pulses beat strongly when they are upon the Confines of Eternity and their full and final Consummation These men begin to Ripen for their Heavenly State into which God will translate them Use 1. For Conviction of several sorts of Persons that are sar from this Temper and frame of Heart To begin with the most Notorious 1. Some desire Sin with a passionate Earnestness Iob 15. 16. He drinketh iniquity like Water As a thirsty Beast in those hot Countries would drink in water so did they drink in Sin Most wicked men are mad when their Lusts are set a working and there are some whose constant frame of Heart it is who make hast who march furiously as if they were afraid of coming to Hell too late bear down Conscience Word and all before them that set themselves to do Evil with both hands earnestly that have a strong desire after Sin and are carried out with as impatient longing after Sin as the Children of God such Eminent ones of God after Holiness 2. Some have no desire to the ways of God at all Iob 21. 14. They say unto God depart from us For we desire not the knowledge of thy ways the Hearts of many say so though their Tongues do not They are those which shut out the Light that cannot endure a searching Ministry lest it should trouble their Lusts disturb the Devils Kingdom that banish the thoughts of God out of their Hearts lest it revive the Sense of their Obligation to duty that set Conscience a challenging Gods right in their Souls that keep off from the Light 3. There are some that are insatiable in worldly things but have no Savour of these Heavenly and Holy things they are Thirsty for the Earth But God is not in all their thoughts Psal. 10. 4. a little Grace will serve their turn and think there is more ado than needs about Heaven and Heavenly things Alass the very contrary is true a little of the World will serve their turn here below If men had not a mind to increase their Temptations and Snares about a frail and temporal Life why do they make so much ado When many times they are taken away before they have Roasted what they have got in Hunting God takes them away but their Eternal estate is little looked after Riches qualifie us not but Holiness doth qualifie us for Heaven and it is our Ornament before God and his holy Angels And woe be to us if our poor Souls be thrust out Naked and Uncloathed in the other World Can we hunger and hanker after these lying Vanities and have no Hungering and Thirsting after Grace a little time will wear out the distinction of Rich and Poor High and Low but the distinction of Holy and Good will continue to Eternity Think of that time when not only the World but the Lust will pass away The lust of the World may be gone before we are out of the World as in Sickness and Pains but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever When we are Sick and Dying we have some kind of Notions and Apprehensions of these things then we can long and wish
neglect no occasion of gain and shall not we make it the business of our lives and be projecting still how we may grow in Grace and increase in the love of God and ripen for the Heavenly State and grow more like God every day You know how sparing they are and how apprehensive of their losses O should not the decays of Religion go as near us and should not we be careful that we do not wast that Grace we have received and that we increase it more and more and that it thrive upon our Hands 2. Watch against the Abatement of your Desires for they are of great use to you in the spiritual Life If a man lose his Appetite the Body pineth and languisheth and Strength decayeth what Appetite is to the Body that Desire is to the Soul it fitteth us to take in our supplies and putteth us upon Action and Diligence it is the vigorous bent of the Soul Therefore see that it doth not decay It is said Rev. 2. 4. of the Church of Ephesus that she had lost her first Love and then presently left her first Works Now your desire decayeth when your Prayers are less fervent for Prayer is the presenting our desires to God or Vent given to spiritual Groans Therefore keep up your Desires Psal. 27. 4 One thing have I desired of the Lord and that I will seek after When the desires are fixed endeavours are ingaged our Desires must be pursued resolutely But what shall we do to awaken these earnest longings in our Souls and those desires after Holiness 1. Go to God for he giveth both to Will and to Do Phil. 2. 13. All is from God the Will is from God and the Deed from God The Will I bring that to shew how you should beg that he would stir up those earnest Desires in you because all affections are but the Vigorous Motions of the Will Desire is but Passionate Will or the Will Effectually and Powerfully excited or stirred up to some absent good Now the Appetite is from God as well as the Meat Desire of Grace is an affection above Nature and must be Planted in us by the Spirit of God God gives the desire and he satisfies it He draws then we run after him Cant. 1. 4. He puts this desire in our Hearts then we are carried on with an earnest pursuit after Grace 2. Would you have and keep up ardent Desires do as they do that would keep in the fire cherish the Sparks and blow them up to a Flame There is no man that lives under the means of Grace and under the discoveries of God and Religion but hath his good Moods and very lively Motions The waters are stirr'd many times take hold of this Advantage Strengthen the things that remain and are ready to Dye Rev. 3. 2. and blow up these Sparks into a Flame God hath left us enkindling Means Prayer Meditation and the Word Observe where the Bellows blow hardest and ply that Course The more Super-natural things are there needs more Diligence to preserve them A strange Plant needs more care than a native of the Soyl. Worldly desires like a Nettle breed of their own accord but Spiritual desires need a great deal of Cultivating 3. Improve your Tasts 1 Pet. 1. 3. If you have tasted that the Lord is Gracious and Coll. 1. 6. Since ye knew the Grace of God in truth When you have got any Tast of the worth of these Spiritual things they do not cloy but awaken Appetite Fancy and Imagination cannot awaken it so much as this Tast. When you have tasted how Good and Sweet it is to live in a state of Conformity this will make you Long for more Psal. 63. 1. My Soul thirsteth for thee my Flesh longeth for thee David had been acquainted with the Pleasures of the Sanctuary therefore longs for them more He that hath tasted Honey is more affected with it than he that hath only read of it The Gauls when they had tasted of the wine of Italy nothing would keep them from pressing into the Country So when we have tasted of the Clusters of Canaan the first fruits of the Spirit this should encourage and whet our Appetite 4. Watch over other Desires such as would Dull and Blunt the edge of the Spirit As Iron drives out Iron so one desire drives out another If we are taken with other things Christ loseth of his Sweetness and Relish Vain worldly desires Extinguish those that are Spiritual and Heavenly They lose their Fervor when Prostituted to base Objects Your Prayers are more flat and cold for your desires are manifested by Prayer and Industry Now your desires will flagg and abate when you let out your Hearts to the world therefore you must Watch lest the Carnal savour and Carnal minding increaseth upon you for then the Spiritual minding is quite hindred impeached and interrupted Rom. 8. 5. For they that after the Flesh do mind the things of the Flesh But they that are of the Spirit the things of the Spirit When outward things would steal away your Hearts and Affections from God remember your first Choice whom have I in Heaven but thee c. Psal 73. 25. 5. Renew your desires every time you come to God When you come to the Word come with an Appetite prepare your Stomachs always for Gods food they see more so Christ in an Ordinance that come most unworthy in their own Sence Iohn 7. 37. saith Christ If any man Thirst let him come unto me and Drink you shall have Benjamins Portion and more plentifully filled when you come with a strong Appetite and a holy longing after God and his Grace Christ takes it best when you come with most enlarged desires and raised expectations Did God ever fail a thirsty Soul Luke 22. 15. With desire I have desired to eat this Pass-over with you before I die Christ himself hungred and thirsted for us he longed to give us pledges of his Love and shall not we say with desire have I desired to taste of thy Feast and eat of thy Supper Christ longs to give and shall not we long to take certainly where there is this earnest working of heart towards God and this desire the Lord will fill it The gaping of young Ravens God satisfies it the Psalmist concludes from thence Psal. 145. 19. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him he also will hear their cry and will save them Naturalists observe the Raven exposeth her young ones and they are meerly fed by Providence but when they gape the Lord satisfieth them with that food which is convenient for them much more will he fulfil the desires of the humble 6. Consider your Wants and the fulness that is in Christ and his readiness to impart unto you 1. Your Wants I speak not now of a total want indeed if those that are under a total want of soul could be brought to consider their condition the work of Conversion would
open your hearts to God as Hezekiah did Rabshekahs Letter tell him of these cruel mockings as they are called Heb. 11. 36. It is the manner of Saints so to do Psal. 115. 2. Wherefore should the Heathen say where is now their God and Ioel 2. 17. On the Fasting day let the Priests the Ministers of the Lord weep between the Porch and the Altar and let them say spare thy People O Lord and give not thine Heritage to Reproach that the Heathen should rule over them wherefore should they say among the People where is their God Doct. IV. God making good his Promises confuteth these Reproaches and Insultations when deliverance cometh their mouths are stopped Job 5. 16. The Poor hath hope and Iniquity stoppeth her Mouth Psal. 107. 42. The Righteous shall see it and Iniquity shall stop her mouth then when he sets the Poor on high from Affliction and maketh them Families like a Flock In both these places it is not said God stoppeth their mouths or the Saints stop their mouths but they stop their own mouths then we need not answer our Adversaries they answer themselves they have not a word to say and all their Pride and Insultation is defeated and silenced Use 1. Prayer is necessary desire God to appear and right himself that he may confute the perverse thoughts of men and wrong Applications of his Providence that Carnal men may see your hope and confidence in God is not in vain you may beg deliverance on this ground that the mouth of Iniquity may be stopped 2. Wait Carnal men reproach Gods People with their Trust when in their distress he stayes a little when they have humbled themselves for their sins and sought Reconciliation with God as his Word prescribeth and are sufficiently weaned from Carnal Props and have learned to depend on him the Wicked shall find himself mistaken about the Godly whose ways he counted Folly SERMON XLIX PSALM CXIX Verse 43. And take not the Word of Truth utterly out of my mouth for I have hoped in thy Iudgments IN the first Verse of this Portion David had begged for Deliverance according to the Word this he backeth with several Arguments his first Argument was from his Enemies who would else Reproach him for his Trust he now inforceth that Request from another Argument lest his Case and Condition should make him affraid or his Disappointments ashamed to own his Faith in Gods Promises and so his mouth be shut up from speaking of God and his Word for the Edification of others and the Confutation of the Wicked Here Observe 1. His Request and take not the Word of Truth out of my mouth 2. The Profession of his Faith repeated by way of Argument and Reasons for I have hoped in thy Iudgments 1. For his Request you may wonder why he beggeth that the Word of Truth may not be taken out of his Mouth rather you would think he should ask that it might be kept in his heart but you must consider that confession of Truth is very necessary and in a time of dangers and Distresses very difficult the proper Seat of the word of Truth is the Heart it must abide there But when the heart is full the tongue will speak I have believed and therefore have I spoken Psal. 116. 10. The Word is first in the Heart and then in the Mouth therefore David faith take it not out of my mouth And pray mark he doth not only deprecate the evil it self but the degree and extremity of it take it not utterly out of my mouth Gods Children may not have liberty to speak for him or if liberty not such a courage as is necessary therefore though he should or had failed in being ashamed to profess his hope yet he desireth he might not wholly want either an Occasion or an Heart so to do that he might not wholly want an Occasion having no Relief and Comfort by the Promises nor an Heart as being altogether dismayed or disconsolate 2. The Profession of his Faith is renewed For I have hoped in thy Iudgments the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Judgments signifieth either the Law or the Execution of the Sentence thereof 1. The Law or whole Word for God so that I have hoped in thy Judgments is no more but in thy Word do I hope as it is Psal. 130. 5. I wait for the Lord my Soul doth wait and in his Word do I hope 2. Answerable Execution when the Promise or Threatning is fulfilled 1. When the Promise is fulfilled that is Judgment in a sence when God accomplisheth what he hath promised for our Salvation and Deliverance Thus God is said to judge for his people when he righteth and saveth them according to his Word Lam. 3. 59. O Lord thou hast seen my wrong judg thou my cause 2. But the more usual notion of Judgment is the execution of the threatning on wicked men which being a benefit to Gods faithful Servants and done in their favour David might well be said to hope for it Their Judgment is our obtaining the Promise Points 1. Doct. It is not enough to believe the Word in our hearts but we must confess it with our mouths 2. Doct. Such Tryals may befal Gods Children that the Word of Truth may seem to be taken out of their mouths 3. Doct. At such a time God must be dealt withal as much concern'd in it David saith to the Lord Take not the Word of Truth utterly out of my mouth 4. Doct. If it please God to desert us in some passage of our Tryal we must not give him over but deal with him not to forsake us utterly 5. Doct. They will not utterly be overcome in their Tryals who hope in Gods Iudgments Doct. 1. It is not enough to believe the Word in our hearts but we must confess it with our mouths So it is expressly said Rom. 10. 9 10. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved For with the heart man believeth unto Righteousness and with the mouth Confession is made unto Salvation There is the whole summ of Christianity and it is reduced to these two Points Believing with the Heart and Confessing with the Mouth an entertaining of Christ in the Heart with a true and lively Faith and a Confessing of Christ with the Mouth in spite of all persecution and danger So in the first solemn Proposal of the Gospel Mark 16. 16. He that Believeth and is Baptized shall be Saved and he that Believeth not shall be Damned Where not only Belief is required but open Profession for that end serveth Baptism which is a Badg and Bond a Badg to distinguish the worshipers of Christ from others and a Bond to bind us to open Profession of the Name of Christ and Practice of the Duties included therein So Heb. 3. 1. Iesus Christ is called the great High Priest and
manner of Obedience If he will give us a heart and a little liberty to confess his Name and serve him we should not be backward or uncertain but walk closely with him 2. This would give him assistance and strength If God do daily give assistance we shall stand if not we fall and faulter this will be a means of his perseverance not only engage and oblige him but help him to hold out to the end Then mark the constancy of this Obedience continually and for ever and ever David would not keep it for a fit or for a few days or a year but always even to the end of his Life Here are three words to the same sence continually for ever and ever And the Septuagint expresseth it thus I shall keep thy Law always and for ever and for ever and ever four words there This heaping of words is not in vain 1. It shews the difficulty of perseverance unless Believers do strongly persist in the resistance of Temptation they will soon be turned out of the way therefore David binds his heart firmly we must do it now yea always unto the end 2. He expresseth his vehemency of Affection Those that are deeply affected with any thing are wont to express themselves as largely as they can As Paul that had a deep sence of Gods Power 1 Eph. 19. Exceeding Greatness of his Power according to the working of his mighty Power He heaps up several words because his sence of them was so great So David here doth heap up words continually and for ever and for ever and ever 3. Some think the words are so many that they may express not only this life but that which is to come I will keep them continually and for ever and ever that is all the days of my life and in the other world So Chrysostom I will keep them continually c. points out the other life where there will be pure and exact keeping of the Law of God Here we are every hour in danger but then we shall be put out of all danger and without fear of sinning we shall remain in a full and perfect righteousness we hope for that which we have not attained unto and this doth encourage us for the present so would he make David express himself 4. If we must distinguish these words I suppose they imply the continuity and perpetuity of Obedience the Continuity of Obedience that he would serve God continually without Intermission and the Perpetuity of Obedience that he would serve God for ever and ever without defection and revolt at all times and to the end Doct. Constancy and Perseverance in Obedience is the Commendation of it When David promiseth to obey he saith he would do it continually for ever and ever This is the Obedience God longs for 5 Deut. 29. O that there were such an heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my Commandments always Here we find all things which are requisite to Gods service the Sincerity of it that they had a heart the gracious Principle which works in Obedience a heart to fear me the Universality of it to keep all my Commands and the Perpetuity of it to keep them always They are in a good mood now as if God had said O that they had a heart to do it always Christ redeemed us to this end 1 Luke 74 75. Delivered us out of the hands of our Enemies that we might serve him without fear in Holiness and Righteousness before him not for a while only but all the days of our Life I shall distinguish of a double Constancy and Perseverance and under each Branch give some Reasons with their Applications 1. A Perseverance without Intermission 2. Without Defection Both are necessary 1. Branch First a Perseverance without Intermission We should at all times and in all places serve God and not by Fits and Starts as it is said of the twelve Tribes 26 Acts 12. They served God instantly day and night alone and in company in all Conditions adverse and prosperous in all Actions common and sacred God must be served and obeyed Let me give some Considerations to enforce it to serve God continually 1. The Law of God doth universally bind and the Obligation thereof never ceaseth so as there can be no truce with Sin for a while nor any intermission of Grace for a moment Prov. 6. 21 22. O my Son keep thy Fathers Commandments and forsake not the Law of thy Mother Bind them continually upon thine heart and tye them about thy Neck The Commandments of God he calls them the Law of the Father and Mother for Solomon speaks as to young ones and Children as those that had been trained up by their Parents Now these must be looked upon as having a perpetual Obligation to direct us and keep us sleeping and waking we must have them always in our sight Every motion and every Operation of ours is under a Law our thoughts and words are under a Law and our actions are under a Law all that we speak and all that we do it is still under a Rule The Law of God is of perpetual use to shew us what we must do and what we must leave undone O how exact should we be if we did regard this and were mindful of the perpetual Obligation of the Law 2. Grace planted in the heart should be always working The Fire on the Altar was never to go out and so Grace should be always working and influence all our actions civil and sacred 1 Pet. 1. 15. Be ye holy as he that hath called you is holy in all manner of Conversation There is no part of a Christians Conversation which should not savor of Holiness not only his Religious but his common and civil Actions The Pots in Ierusalem and the Horse-Bells were to bear Gods Impress as well as the Vessels and Utensils of the Temple 14 Zech. As the Sun is placed in the middle of the Heavens to diffuse his Influence and scatter his Beams up and down the world and nothing is hid from his Light so is Grace planted in the Heart to diffuse its influence into every part of his Conversation and therefore Grace where it is true it is always at work There are some parts of the Body that are never out of Action as the Heart and Lungs wherever a man goes and whatever he goes about yet they always do their Office So some Graces are of continual Exercise as the Fear of God Prov. 23. 7. Be thou in the fear of God all the day long A Christian doth not only pray in the fear of God but Eat Drink and Trade in the Fear of God So the Love of God in referring all things to his Glory whether they be Acts of Worship or Acts of Charity or of our Callings or Recreations Grace hath an influence upon these and is still to be at work upon these 1 Cor. 10. 31. And so Faith is always at work in
Word to vow our Duty but lifting up the Hand in all these Sences is to God Therefore 4. Here it meaneth no more but I will apply my self to the keeping of them or set vigorously about it put my hands to the practising of thy Law with all earnestness endeavouring to do what therein is enjoyned Two Points 1 Doct. That it is not enough to approve or commend the Commandments of God but we must carefully set our selves to the observance of them 2 Doct. Whosoever would do so must use great Study and Meditation 1 Doct. That it is not enough to approve or commend the Commandments of God but we must carefully set our selves to the practice of them 1. Hearing without Doing is disapproved Deut. 4. 5. I have taught you good statutes and judgments that ye might do so Deut. 5. 1. Hear O Israel the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day that ye may learn them and do them Otherwise we deceive our own Souls Iames 1. 22. But be ye doers of the word and not hearers onely deceiving your own souls We put a Paralogism on our selves build on a sandy Foundation Mat. 2. 26. Every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man that built his house upon the sand 2. Knowledge without Practice is not right Luke 12. 47 48. He that knoweth his masters will and prepareth not himself to do it shall be beaten with many stripes Better never known if not done for then they do but aggravate our Guilt and encrease our Punishment 3. Our Love is not right unless it endeth in Practice A Christians Love to whatever Object it be directed must be an unfeigned Love If God if the Brethren if the Word of God those words must ever sound in our ears 1 Iohn 3. 18. My little children love not in word and tongue but in deed and in truth Do you love the Word of God Do it not in word and in tongue but in deed and in truth 4. Our Delight is not right the Pleasure is but an airy idle and speculative Delight unless it set us about the practice of all holy Obedience unto God making it the design and business of our Lives to exercise our selves unto Godliness That sheweth the reality of your Delight when you come under the power of the Truth and are absolutely governed by it for then you delight in them aright as Mysteries of Godliness The Lord complaineth of them that had a delight in the Prophet his voice was as pleasing to them as a minstrel they hear the words and do them not Ezek. 33. 32. They may delight in sublime strains of Doctrine or flourishes of Wit Demosthenes had made a plausible Speech to the Athenians Phocion told them That the Cypress-tree is goodly and fair but beareth no Fruit. There may be flourishes of Wit but no food for hungry Consciences 5. Our Commendation is not right unless it endeth in Practice Many may discourse of the Ways of God never speak of them but with Commendation but they do not lift their hands to this blessed Work They shew some love to God's Commandments but when it cometh to action their hands are remiss and faint Christ refuseth that respect of bare naked Commendation Luke 11. 27 28. Blessed is the womb that bare thee and the paps that thou hast sucked 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yea rather blessed is he that heareth the word of God and keepeth it We are Disciples of that Master that did both teach and do Acts 1. 1. The former Treatise have I made O Theophilus of all that Iesus began both to do and teach Of the Pharisees it is said They say and do not Mat. 23. 2 3. But in Christians there must be saying and doing Iames 2. 12. So speak and so do as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty We shall be rewarded not for speaking well but for doing hands lifted up Well then nothing remains but practising Duties that are pressed upon you on the first opportunity Not he that heareth understandeth loveth delighteth commendeth but he that keepeth instruction it is is in the way of life Prov. 10. 17. He that submitteth himself to be guided by God's Word he is going the right way to Eternal Life and Happiness But to set home this Point more fully I shall 1. Inquire What kind of Observance we must address our selves unto 2. Why we must thus lift up our hands or address our selves to our Duty 1. How for the manner must we lift up our hands or what doing is necessary 1. It must be universal Herod did many things Mark 6. 20. Partial Reformation in outward things will not serve the turn In sundry particulars Men may yield to the Word of God but in others deny their Obedience as in some cheap Observances or such Duties as cross not our Lusts But David would lift up his hands to the Commandments without distinction and limitation Many this they will do and that they will do and so do not obey God's Will but their own Psal. 119. 6. Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy commandments Luke 1. 6. And they were both righteous before God walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless 2. This Doing must be serious and diligent Every Christian must bend the powers of his Soul and lay out the first of his Care and Labour in his Obedience unto God Phil. 2. 12. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling This is not a Work to be done by the bye but with the greatest care and sollicitude 3. This must be our settled and our ordinary Practice To lift up our hands now and then is not enough to do a good thing once or rarely No we must make Religion our business The lifting of the hands to God's Commandments is not a thing done accidentally occasionally or in a fit of Zeal but our trade and course of Life Acts 24. 16. I exercise my self in this to have a conscience void of offence both towards God and men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This was the Employment of his Life 4. We must persevere or continue with patience in well-doing notwithstanding discouragements Heb. 12. 12. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees There must be no fainting whatever discouragements happen As there was a great deal of doe to hold up Moses's hands in Israels conflict with Amalek Exod. 17. 11 12. As long as he held up the rod of God Israel prevailed but Moses hands were heavy a sign of many Infirmities not able long to endure in spiritual exercise for though the spirit be willing yet the flesh is weak But Faith should still hold up our hands 5. This lifting up the hands or alacrious diligence should flow from a right Principle and that is Faith and Love 1. Faith or a sound Persuasion of God's Love to
Deceivers by some yet owned by others as Faithfull Dispensers of the Truth of God not esteemed and looked on by some by others owned and valued thus God dispenseth the lot of his Servants 8. A Christian should be satisfied in the Approbation of God and the Honour He puts upon him Iohn 5. 44. How can ye believe that receive honour one of another and seek not the honour that cometh from God onely If God hath taken him into his Family and hath put his Image upon him and admitted him into present Communion with him and giveth him the Testimony of his Spirit to assure him of his Adoption here and will hereafter receive him into Eternal Glory this is enough and more then enough to counterballance all the Scorn of the World and the disgrace they would put upon us If God approve us should we be dejected at the Scorn of a Fool is the Approbation of the Eternal God so small in our Eyes that every thing can weigh it down and cast the ballance with us Alas their scorning and dishonouring is nothing to the honour which God puts upon us 9. There is a time when the promised Crown shall be set upon our Heads and who will be ashamed then the Scoffer or the Serious Worshipper of Christ God is resolved to honour Christ's Faithfull Servants Iohn 12. 26. He that honoureth me him shall my Father honour He will honour us at Death that is our private entrance into Heaven but he will much more honour us more publickly at the day of Judgment when we shall be owned Rev. 3. 5. I will confess his name before my Father and before his Angels and Christ shall be admired for the glory he puts upon a poor Worm 2 Thess. 1. 10. when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe The Wicked shall be reckoned with called to an account by Christ Iude 14 15. The Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints to execute Iudgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodlily committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against them yea judged by the Saints 1 Cor. 6. 2. Do ye not know that the Saints shall judge the world Psal. 49. 14. The upright shall have Dominion over them in the morning That is in the Morning of the Resurrection the Saints shall be assumed by God to assist in Judicature and shall arise in a glorious manner when the Earth shall give up her dead If this be not enough for us to counterballance the Scorn of the World we are not Christians Use. It is to perswade us to hold on our Course notwithstanding all the Scorns and Reproaches which are cast upon the despised wayes of God Now to this end I shall give you some Directions 1. Be sure that you are in God's Way and that you have his Law to justify your Practice and that you do not make his Religion ridiculous by putting his glorious Name upon any foolish Fancies of your own A man that differs from the rest of Christians had need of a very clear Light that he may honour so much of Christianity as is owned and may be able to vindicate his own particular way wherein he is ingaged The World is loth to own any thing of God and needless dissents justify their Prejudice I know a Christian is not infallible besides his general godly Course he may have his particular Slips and Errours yet because the World is apt to take Prejudice we should not but upon the constraining evidence of Conscience enter upon any wayes of Dissent or Contest lest we justify their general hatred of Godliness by our particular Errour 2. Take up the Ways of God without a Bias and look straight forward in a Course of Godliness Prov. 4. 25. Let thine eyes look right on and thine eye-lids straight before thee That is look not asquint upon any Secular incouragements but have thine Eye to the end of the Journey make God as thy Witness so thy Master and Judge 3. Take heed of the first Declinings God's Saints may decline somewhat in an hour of Temptation and yet be sincere in the main Now Evil is best stopped in the beginning Heb. 12. 3. Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners lest ye be weary and faint in your mind Weariness is a lesser and Fainting an higher degree of Deficiency I am weary before I faint before the vital power retireth and leaveth the outward part senseless 4. Since the Proud scoff encounter Pride with Humility Mocking is far more grievous to the Proud who stand upon their Honour then to the Lowly and Humble Therefore be not too desirous of the applause of Men especially of the blind and ungodly World make no great matter of their Contempt and Scorn or Slander SERMON LVIII PSAL. CXIX 52. I have remembred thy Iudgments of old O Lord and have comforted my self THE Man of God had complained in the former Verse that the Proud had him greatly in Derision his help against that Temptation is recorded in this Verse where observe 1. David 's Practice I have remembred thy Iudgments of old 2. The Effect of that Meditation and have comforted my self The Explication will be by answering two Questions 1. What is meant by Mishphatim Iudgments The word is used in Scripture either for Laws enacted or Judgments executed according to those Laws The one may be called the Judgments of his Mouth as Psam 105. 5. Remember the marvellous works that he hath done his wonders and the Iudgments of his Mouth the other the Judgments of his Hand As both will bear the name of Judgments so both may be said to be of old His Decrees and Statutes which have an eternal equity in them and were graven upon the heart of Man in Innocency may well be said to be of old and because from the beginning of the World God hath been punishing the Wicked and delivering the Godly in due time his Judiciary Dispensations may be said to be so also The matter is not much whether we interpret it of either his Statutes or Decrees for they both contain matter of Comfort and we may see the ruine of the Wicked in the Word if we see it not in Providence Yet I rather interpret it of those Righteous Acts recorded in Scripture which God as a just Judge hath executed in all Ages according to the Promises and Threatnings annexed to his Laws Onely in that sense I must note to you Judgments imply his Mercies in the Deliverance of his Righteous Servants as well as his Punishments on the Wicked The seasonable interpositions of his Relief for the one in their greatest Distresses as well as his just Vengeance on the other notwithstanding their highest Prosperities 2. What is meant by Comfort Comfort is the strengthening the Heart against Evil when either 1. Faith is
But Christians here is your Comfort the Word of God that hath been your Rule is now your Comfort and Cordial and stands by you to the very last Use 2. Is to perswade us to observe the difference between the wayes of God and the wayes of Sin When a Man cometh to cast up his account on the one side and on the other oh what a difference is there Certainly there will a time come when you must cast up your account and use this recollection either when your Eyes are opened by grace in Conversion or when your Eyes are opened by Punishment On Sins side consider when you look back to what is past the Lord grant you may make this reflection Rom. 6. 21. What fruit had you in those things whereof you are now ashamed you cannot look back withou horrour of Conscience As the unclean person when he looketh back and considereth that his Flesh and Body is consumed by Sin Prov. 5. 11 12 13. he speaketh there of some noysome Disease that hath gotten into his Body But then on the other side the side of Godliness This I had because I kept thy Precepts Oh what peace what serenity of mind what hopes of Eternal Life what comfortable Entertainment shall you have in Heaven determine beforehand what it will come to Thus you see the difference between a sinfull and godly Course SERMON LXIV PSAL. CXIX 57. Thou art my Portion O Lord I have said that I would keep thy Words DAVID doth in this place make out his Right and Title Thou art my Portion O Lord c. Here is 1. David's Protestation Thou art my Portion O Lord. 2. David's Resolution I have said that I would keep thy Words In the first of these in David's Protestation you may take notice of his Claim and of the Sincerity of it 1. Of his Claim to God Thou art my Portion A Part or Portion in the original use of the word signifies a less quantity taken from a greater a part is used in opposition to the whole But with respect to the matter in hand it is not used in such a sense but for our lot and happiness not sensu mathematico not with reference to a whole but politico forensi with respect to Choice Interest and Possession and the Allusion is taken either from the distribution of the Land of Canaan where every one had his Portion appointed to him by Lot and measured to him by Rod and Lines therefore it is said The Lines are fallen to me in pleasant places yea I have a goodly heritage Or else it is an Allusion to the partage of an ordinary Estate where every Child hath his Portion assigned him to live upon Thus he lays Claim to God himself 2. The Sincerity of this Claim may be gathered because he speaks by way of address to God He doth not say barely He is my Portion but challengeth God to his face Lord Thou art my Portion Elsewhere it is said Lam. 3. 24. The Lord is my Portion saith my Soul there he doth not speak it by way of address to God but he adds my Soul saith But here to God himself who knows the secrets of the heart To speak thus of God to God argues our sincerity when to God's face we avow our trust and choice as Peter Iohn 21. 7. Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love Thee he appeals to God's Omnisciency such an appeal is there to God for the truth of this assertion As in that other place when the believing Soul laies claim to God the integrity of that claim is also asserted not onely by the Lips or Mouth but also my Soul There is Oratio mentalis vocalis vitalis There is the speech of the Heart in the real inclination of it and the speech of the Tongue in outward profession and the speech of the Life by answerable practice All three must be joyn'd together what the Tongue utters the Heart and Life must consent to All will say God is their Portion But it is not what the Tongue says but what the Heart saith and what the Heart saith will appear in the course of your actions there is the real Proof and Evidence of it Thus much for David's Protestation Thou art my Portion O Lord he speaks to God Himself 2. Take notice of David's Resolution I have said that I would keep thy Word It is good to see what kind of Inference the Saints draw from this Principle that God is their Portion sometimes they inferr thence Dependance upon God sometimes Subjection and Obedience to Him for this Principle doth not onely establish our Comfort but our Duty Sometimes to establish Dependance Lam. 3. 24. The Lord is my Portion saith my Soul therefore will I hope in Him I will look for all from him live upon Him as a man doth upon his Portion But here David inferrs Duty and Obedience I have said that I would keep thy Words In this Resolution we may observe 1. The formality or manner of making I have said it is by way of Practical Decree 2. The matter of it I will keep thy Words 1. For the formality or manner of it I have said I decreed within my self I have fully concluded Here was not a light or inconsiderate purpose but such as was deliberate fixt a practical Decree upon a debate Whoever would enter upon a strict course displeasing to Flesh and Blood must seriously consider and then fixedly determine Deliberation and Determination are both necessary There must be Consultation or Deliberation that he may sit down and count the charges otherwise if profession of Godliness be lightly taken up it will be as lightly left Then there must be Determination or binding the heart by firm purpose and if we joyn the next verse Supplication or begging God's strength then all is done Now this firm purpose I have said will help against unconstancy or against backwardness or unreadiness of Heart Against Unconstancy many good Motions we start but they dye away for want of coming to a Resolution or issuing forth a practical decree for God Iames 1. 8. a double minded Man is unstable in all his wayes But David when he had considered all things then I have said that I will keep thy words he was fully resolved Then it will help against Laziness Listlesness and Backwardness of Heart David when he was grown shy of God and his Heart hung off from him some great distemper was upon his Soul and He was loth to look God in the face what course did he take then He issues forth a practical Decree Psalm 32. 7. I said I will confess my sins unto the Lord. He thrusts himself forward and charges himself to goe to God I am resolved I will break off silence and open my case to God Thus we must excite our Selves by renewing a Decree in the Soul determine I will doe thus and thus for God whatever comes of it 2. For the Matter I will keep
Idolatry or cured of that but by Grace Covetousness is Idolatry because it draws off our Love Fear Trust from God and his Service to Riches and so proves a snare to the Soul Idolatry in our affections is more dangerous than gross Idolatry in our opinions and outward worship when our affections carry us out to another Good 5. Again out of Gratitude when God doth all for us can we deny him any thing Dost thou love God as the chiefest Good and wilt not thou fear to offend him Who ever chooseth God for his Portion will have David's disposition I have said I will keep thy Words he will be exact and punctual to keep in with God SERMON LXV PSAL. CXIX 58. I Intreated thy Favour with my whole Heart be mercifull unto me according to thy Word IN the former Verse I took notice of two Parts David's Protestation Thou art my Portion and his Resolution I will keep thy Words To either of the Branches this Verse may be supposed to have Respect To the former thus as a second Evidence if we make God our Portion this will necessarily follow we shall desire his favour above all things else Our Portion is that Good which we choose renouncing all things else therefore when our hearts are set upon it whom have I in Heaven but Thee Psal. 73. 25. When you entreat his Favour with your whole heart that 's the Evidence God is your Portion Or you may referr it to the latter Clause thus I said I will keep thy Words therefore I intreat thy Favour We cannot carry on a good purpose without God's Favour unless He assist us therein When we are most resolved we must expect opposition and assaults both from within and without The Devil will seek all he can to oppose you and to shake your Resolutions and your Lusts will rage a new upon a severe restraint Therefore those that resolve to enter into a strict course must seek Relief from God's Favour and Mercy as David here I intreated thy Favour with my whole Heart In the Words we have an account of David's Practice upon a Choice and Resolution he betook himself to Prayer Here you have 1. The Object or Principle thing sought Gods Favour 2. The manner with my whole Heart with a sincere Affection He doth not say with his Lips onely but his Heart and not with his Heart onely but with his whole Heart 3. The summ of his request or the Fountain of all that he expected from God be Mercifull to me 4. The rule or ground of his Expectation according to thy Word The meaning is that God according to his promise would graciously help him I. For the first I intreated thy Favour or as it is in the Hebrew I painfully sought thy Face meaning that he did with importunate and humble suit beg the smile of Gods councountenance by Face is meant Favour Prov. 29. 26. Many seek the Rulers Favour it is the Rulers face that he may look chearfully upon them and I painfully sought so the Word signifies it notes such importunity as is necessary for so great a Blessing The note is this Doct. Gods People those that have made him their Portion they earnestly and constantly above all things desire his Favour 1. This God calls for Psal. 105. 4. Seek the Lord seek his Face evermore None have such Communion with God but they need seek more Psal. 27. 8. Thou saidst seek my Face Thy Face Lord will I seek Thou saidst it is that which God speaks in all his Ordinances the whole drift of the Word is to press us to get and keep the sense of God's love ever fresh in our Hearts 2. The Nature of the Saints carries them to it This is the difference between them and carnal men Psal. 4. 6 7. The light of his Countenance is spoken of either with Allusion to the Sun whose Light displaid chears the Plants or with Allusion to the smiles of a Friend one good look from God the Children of God preferr above all the World All earthly things cannot please them so much as a smile from God nor put such gladness in their Hearts But more especially do they seek it most painfully 1. When they have never as yet attained any sense of it but lye under doubts fears and auxious uncertainty then if God will but look upon them make out his Love to their Consciences what a comfort will that be to them A man may want assurance and have Grace but he cannot slight assurance and have Grace He that is without it may be one of Gods Children but he that doth not look after it and is satisfied without it certainly is none of that number Therefore this is the desire and earnest prayer of all Gods People in common that God would cause his Face to shine upon them Psal. 80. 17. Thou that dwellest between the Cherubims shine forth that is that sittest upon the Mercy Seat O that he would be good to them in Christ for between the Cherubims there was the Mercy Seat where God sate the meaning is that he would a little dart in Beams of Comfort to their Consciences 2. They thus painfully intreat the Favour of God when they have lost it by sin for then they are afflicted with a double evil want of so great a comfort and a sense of their own folly A sense of Gods favour may be with-held out of meer Soveraignty yet even then God's Children will be earnest but when it is withdrawn out of Justice as a correction for our folly and careless walking there is greater cause of earnestness that we may redeem and recover our loss again Then we are to be more earnest Turn us again Lord God of Hosts and cause thine anger towards us to cease Psal. 80. 7. By their former experience they know the sweetness of God's favour and by their present loss the bitterness of the want of it Basil hath a notable Comparison he saith if an Object be too bright it must be set at a distance from the Eye that we may see better so worldly things must be set at a distance from us therefore God seems to be at a distance hides his Face that his People might know by the loss and want of it how to value their Blessings How far do they discover their earnestness 1. In that they seek it above all other things above Corn Wine and Oil. This is not their painful desire to be made great rich high honourable happy in the World All the World doth them no good without the favour of God As all the Stars though they shine together do not dispel the darkness of the Night so no Creatures can comfort us sufficiently when God hides his Face from them Psal. 30. 1. Thou didst hide thy Face and I was troubled They cannot finde God as they were wont As at Funeral Feasts dear Friends have little comfort when they miss their old Friend that was wont to bid them
welcome at the House so when God is gone what comfort can they take in their Portion Many will say why are you pensive and sad you have a great many Friends a great Estate O you doe not know the wound of a gracious Heart and how little these things are in comparison of the Favour of God 2. They manifest it in this their contentedness with Him though they are kept low and bare in outward things Psal. 17. 15. As for me I will behold thy Face in Righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness It 's enough for them to have the Face of God though they do not flourish in worldly plenty as others do when in the exercise of Grace they can finde God propitious behold his Face in Righteousness If they have not the Candle they have the Sun If they goe to God they are welcome upon all occasions If the World frown upon them God doth not so they are beloved of him and in Favour with him and that satisfieth them What may be the reasons why the Children of God so prize his Favour 1. The worth of the thing it self Psal. 63. 3. Thy Favour is better than Life better than all Comforts better in its Self for this is that which we are never weary of A man may be weary of all outward Comforts Dayes may come wherein there is no pleasure Eccl. 12. At that time the soul abhors dainty Food Job 33. Pleasure nay Life it self may be a burden but none ever was weary of the Love of God that cannot be a burden This doth not fatiate and cloy us Again the Love of God cannot be supplied and recompensed by other things when a man looseth other things it may be made up in better If a man be poor in this World God hath chosen him to be rich in Faith If afflicted and destitute of outward Provisions yet they have inward Comforts and Graces and they will supply and make up this loss But the loss of Gods Favour cannot be supplied when that departs from you and a man looseth the hope he seemeth to have what a sorry comfort is it having forfeited the Love of God to seek our amends in the Creature Then this is a more durable than the present life Other Comforts fail but the Love of God never fails This is the Original of all other Comforts Psal. 30. 7. By thy Favour thou hast made my Mountain to stand strong and Psal. 44. 3. Their own Arm did not save them but the light of thy Countenance because thou hadst a Favour unto them Sure it is better to drink of the Fountain than of the Stream all is from the Favour of God In short it is the Vitality and the cause of Life and the cause of all Comfort This is better than Life 2. They are affected with that which is their true Misery therefore they most importunately begg the Favour of God Every man prays according to the sense that he hath according to that which he counts his Misery He that hath a sense of no other Calamity but to be poor scorned or exposed to contempt or the absence of the Creature prays accordingly sometimes he houls like a dogg in pain or Beasts that want Food Hos. 7. 14. But he that hath a deeper sense of his greatest necessities he is affected with sin which is the cause of all trouble therefore he must have the Favour of God and the Grace of God A godly and a carnal Man differ as a Child and a Man in their Apprehensions about pain and trouble A Child is sick and would be eased of its present smart and pain looks to nothing but that but an understanding Man knows the cause must be taken away a Child speaks according to the sense and apprehension it hath take away his aking head or burning heat but the understanding Man looks not onely after present ease but health that the root of the Distemper may be removed So a worldly Man would have affliction gone and looks no further but a godly Man hath a deeper sense he must have the Favour of God therefore his heart works painfully within him till this be obtained 3. They intreat the Favour of God with all their hearts because their business lies mainly with God Their work is to walk closely with God and keep up a strict Communion with him A carnal Man's business lies with God sometimes in his Trouble but when he licks himself whole and is at ease he can live without it But a godly Mans business is always with God for God is always with him in Trouble and out of Trouble Therefore that 's a notable Speech Psal. 91. 9. Because thou hast made the Lord which is my refuge even the most High thy habitation A Refuge that 's a place of retreat in time of War A Habitation there 's our residence in time of Peace when every one sits under his own Vine and Fig-tree Now a godly Man makes God not onely his Refuge but his Habitation therefore it concerns him to prize the Favour of God and keep in with him for he is otherwise at an utter loss therefore he must study to get all clear if God be angry with him his business is at a stand and he cannot walk chearfully with him from whom he expects all Use 1. To reprove those that are indifferent whether they enjoy God's Favour yea or no so they may enjoy the Creature they are satisfied Surely God is not these Mens Portion for their onely care is what they shall eat how they may be cloathed how to live well in the World but were never acquainted with this kind of trouble about God's Favour Psal. 10. 4. It is said The Wicked through the pride of his Countenance will not seek after God God is not in all his thoughts He never troubles himself how to keep in with God it never goes to his Heart He is such an one as can bring to pass whatever he projecteth and desireth without troubling himself with the Fetters of Religion and the care of a strict Duty he can live at large and yet obtain his Hearts desire and thinketh them the onely Wise men fit for his imitation that can increase in worldly Injoyments without troubling themselves with such niceties as perplex others he scorneth to trouble himself with Prayer and the observances which are necessary to waiting upon God Again it reproves those that lie stupid and senseless under God's active Displeasure These are not as gross as the former but make some profession of respect to God but have not yet a tender sense of God's accesses and recesses his comings and goings when the Lord hides himself from their Prayers and doth not give out the wonted influences of his Grace and Comfort they mind it not do not with earnestness seek to recover it again If you did make this your business without interruption when you have not the smiles of God the want of this
withall Christ is infinitely to be valued as more precious than all the Wealth in the World 3. A Well-grounded Resolution in the Truth 1 Thess. 5. 2. Prove all things hold fast that which is good When we take up the Ways of God upon fashion or half Conviction or probable Reasons and do not resolve upon sound evidence we are in danger to be shaken when it is a costly thing to be a sincere Christian but when Conscience is soundly informed then all things give way to Conscience If the Wicked spoile us of our goods they should not spoile us of our best Treasure which is a good Conscience Whatever power they have by Gods permission over our outward Estates they have no power over our Consciences that is the best Friend or the worst Enemy No Bird singeth so sweetly as the Bird in our Bosoms here Heaven or Hell is begun and the solaces of the outward Life are nothing to this 4. A Contempt of the World our earthly Affections must be mortified and that upon a twofold account 1. One that they may freely part with them For if they be over-valued our Affliction will be according to the degree of our Affection Mark 10. 26. He was sad at that saying and went away grieved for he had great possessions We cannot so freely resign them to God and leave all for Treasure in Heaven 2. That we may more intirely depend upon God Heb. 13. 5. Let your Conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as ye have for he hath said I will never leave you nor forsake you Till the Heart be purged from carnal Affections the Promises of God have little force and respect with us A little satisfieth a contented and a weaned mind and he can the better cast himself upon God's Providence 5. A sound Belief of God's Providence this hath a great influence upon a free parting with our Estates for our Conscience sake Heb. 11. 8. By Faith Abraham left his Country Kindred Possessions and blindfold trusted himself with God's Providence This Principle was made use of when the King was troubled about the hundred Talents 2 Chron. 25. 9. saith the man of God the Lord is able to give thee much more than this God's Providence is enough for a gracious Heart Indeed it is hard to maintain such a Faith in Providence when exposed to great injuries we are apt to doubt of it Godliness seemeth to be neglected by him Psal. 73. 13. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency doth God know but a Christian must believe in hope against hope 2. Remedies by way of Consideration 1. They cannot rob us of spiritual and eternal Riches of the Fear of God Love of God Treasures in Heaven are out of their reach Matth. 6. 19 20. Lay not up for your selves Treasures upon Earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where Thieves break through and steal But lay up for your selves Treasures in Heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where Thieves do not break through or steal Your joy shall no man take from you John 16. 22. heavenly Things can never be taken from their owners 2. If they cannot take away our God and Christ we shall be certainly happy All things in the World depend on God and Christ The favour of the Lord maketh rich Prov. 10. 22. without his Blessing nothing prospereth All Judgment is in the hands of Christ Iohn 5. 22. He hath the Government of the World or Dominion over all things which may conduce to help or hinder his Peoples Happiness Things are not left to their arbitrement or uncertain contingency but are under the government of a supream Providence in the hand of him that loves us 3. Tryed Friendship is most valuable Iames 1. 12. Blessed is the man that endureth Temptation for when he is tried he shall receive the Crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him 4. If we suffer with Christ we shall also be glorified with him Rom. 8. 17. If so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together SERMON LXX PSAL. CXIX 62. At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto Thee because of thy righteous Iudgments IN these words observe three things 1. David's holy Imployment or the Duty promised giving thanks to God 2. His Earnestness and Fervency implied in the time mentioned at midnight I will rise rather interrupt his sleep and rest than God should want his praise 3. The Cause or Matter of his Thanksgiving because of thy righteous Iudgments Whereby he meaneth the Dispensations of his Providence in delivering the Godly and punishing the Wicked according to his Word Where observe 1. The Term by which these Dispensations are expressed Iudgments 2. The Adjunct righteous Iudgments 1. For the Term Iudgments they are so called partly because they are God's judicial acts belonging to his Government of the World partly because they are dispensed according to his Word the sentences of which are also called Judgments There are the Judgments of his Mouth and of his Hand Psalm 119. 13. With my lips have I declared all the Iudgments of thy mouth 2. The Adjunct righteous or the Judgments of thy Righteousness so called because they are all holy just and full of equity 1 Doct. One special duty wherein the people of God should be much exercised is Thanks giving 2 Doct. That God's Providence rightly considered we shall in the worst times find much more cause to give thanks than to complain 3 Doct. That an heart deeply affected with God's Providence will take all occasions to praise God and give thanks to his name both in season and out of season 1 Doct. One special duty wherein the people of God should be much exercised is Thanksgiving This Duty is often pressed upon us Heb. 13. 15. Let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually which is the fruit of our lips giving thanks unto his Name There are two words there used Praise and Thanksgiving generally taken they are the same strictly taken Thanksgiving differeth from Praise They agree that we use our voice in Thanksgiving as we doe also in Praise for they are both said to be the fruit of our lips what is in the Prophet Hosea chap. 14. 2. calves of our lips is in the Septuagint the fruit of our lips and they both agree that they are a sacrifice offered to our supream Benefactour or that they belong to the Thanks-offerings of the Gospel but they differ that Thanksgiving belongeth to Benefits bestowed on our selves or others but in relation to us Praise to any Excellency whatsoever Thanksgiving may be in Word or Deed Praise in Words onely Well then Thanksgiving is a sensible acknowledgment of Favours received or an expression of our sense of them by Word and Work to the praise of the bestower The Object of it is the Works of God as beneficial unto us or to those who
kindness as coming according to his Word So do the Servants of God observe his accomplishing Promises Ioshua 23. 14. And behold this day I am going the way of all the Earth and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you all hath come to pass unto you not one thing hath failed thereof So Solomon 1 Kings 8. 56. Blessed be God that giveth rest to his people Israel according to all that he promised there hath not failed one word of all his good promise which he promised by the hand of Moses his Servant Thus Ioshua and Solomon observe how his Word was made good to a tittle and in the rigor of the letter he hath not left undone any thing but accomplished all to the full A great deal of benefit will come by it 1. For your selves 1. Your own Faith will be confirmed by it when you see that God is as good as his Word and bestoweth upon us the utmost that any Promise of his giveth us to hope for it is dictum factum with God he is no more liberal in Word than in Deed. Look as it confirmeth our Faith in the truth of the Threatnings when we are punished as our Congregation hath heard Hosea 7. 12. they that would not believe their danger are made to feel it So our Faith in the Promise God sheweth what he will be to his Servants and after a little waiting they find it to be so Wait but a little while and you shall find the effect of the Promises Psalm 56. 8. In God I will praise his word in the Lord I will praise his word That is I have great cause to take notice of the promise to a Believer it is as good as Performance So Psalm 19. 9. The Iudgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether Former experience begets confidence for the time to come The Lord doth not deceive us with vain Words there is an effect in them I shall find it what God saith he doth 2. Your Comfort is increased receiving things in a way of Promise sweeteneth a Blessing It is good to see whence things come to us from the Bounty of common Providence or from the Promises of the Covenant There is a Providential right and a Covenant right Devils hold their Beings by a Providential right but the Saints their Blessings by Covenant The Promise is made to God's Servants and the Mercy conveyed by the Promise is sanctified 1 Cor. 3. 23. All are yours and ye are Christs and Christ is Gods 1 Tim. 4. 3. They are to be received with thanksgiving of them that believe and know the truth Believers are called Heirs of Promise Some Blessings the very Nature of them sheweth whence they come but in others as the deliverances and comforts of this Life the Tenour of them is more comfortable than the Mercies themselves to have them not onely from God's Hand but Heart Wicked men have them as their Portion you as Helps to your better Portion Heirs of Promise is an honourable Title and Relation Such Blessings are from Love and for our good 2. As to others you will invite encourage and strengthen them in believing You are Witnesses of his Fidelity Psalm 18. 30. As for God his way is perfect the word of the Lord is tryed I can assure you I have found more than Letters and Syllables in a Promise it is a tryed Word I can tell you what God hath done for my Soul Use. Let us look to the accomplishment of these Promises and trust God the more for the future Make much of Promises Heb. 11. 13. These all died in Faith not having received the Promises but having seen them afar off and were perswaded of them and embraced them They are sure Declarations of the purposes of God God's Purposes are immutable but Promises declared lay an obligation upon him to keep them Rejoyce in them till performance cometh Take heed of setting Sense against them Rom. 4. 18 19 20 21. Who against Hope believed in Hope that he might become the Father of many according to that which was spoken So shall thy seed be And being not weak in Faith he considered not his own Body now dead when he was about an hundred years old neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb He staggered not at the Promise through unbelief but was strong in Faith giving glory to God And being fully perswaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform Naturally Men are all for having before them take heed of hast Psalm 116. 11. I said in my hast all men are liars Psalm 31. 22. I said in my hast I am cut off from before thine eyes SERMON LXXIV PSAL. CXIX 66. Teach me good Iudgment and Knowledge for I have believed thy Commandments THE Man of God had acknowledged that God had done good for him now he beggeth the continuance of his Goodness God that hath shewed mercy will shew mercy his Treasure is not spent by giving nor hath he the less for communicating to the Creature Man will say I have given you already why do you trouble me any more but God upbraideth no man the more frequent our Suites are for Grace the more welcome we are Thou hast done good for thy Servant and now again Teach me good Iudgment and Knowledge for I have believed thy Commandments In the words observe 1. The Blessing asked Teach me good Iudgment and Knowledge 2. The Reason urged for I have believed thy Commandments I begin with the Prayer or Blessing asked Teach me good Iudgment and Knowledge Let us consider a little the different Translation of this Clause the Septuagint hath three words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Goodness Discipline and Knowledge others Bonitatem gustus scientioe doce me teach me Goodness of Tast and Knowledge Vatablus bonitatem sensus Ainsworth learn me Goodness of Reason and Knowledge In the Original Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Hebrew word signifieth Tast or Savour so it is translated Psalm 34. 8. Oh tast and see that the Lord is good The word also signifieth Behaviour as Psalm 34. Title A Psalm of David when he changed his Behaviour before Abimelech For a man is tasted by his carriage and some think it may mean goodness of inclination or manners I think we fitly translate it Judgment it being coupled with a word that signifieth Knowledge Tast by a Metaphor from the bodily sense being applyed to the Mind as Meats are discerned by the Tast so things by the Judgment and so that which David beggeth here is a good or exact Judgment or the faculty of judging well Doct. That a judicious sound mind is a great Blessing and should earnestly be sought of God by all that would please him The Man of God renewing this request so often and his calling it here good Judgment and Knowledge will warrant this Observation and
higher points when taught unto them they discern and know the differences of things to be understood God's Blessing doth accompany use and frequent exercise and make it effectual to this end by degrees we come to a solidness 5. Sense and Experience doth much increase judgment when smarted for our folly tasted the sweetness of conversing with God in Christ 1 Pet. 2. 3. If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious Optima demonstratio est à sensibus Col. 1. 6. Which bringeth forth fruit as it doth also in you since the day you heard of it and knew the grace of God in truth God is not taught by experience to whose Knowledge all things are present and at all times and before all times but we are God is fain to teach us by Bryars and Thorns as Gideon taught the men of Succoth 6. Avoid the Enemies to it or hindrances of it I shall name two 1. A passionate or wilfull addictedness to any Carnal things Most men live by Sense Will and Passion whereby they enthrall that Wisdome which they have and keep it in unrighteousness Perit omne judicium cùm res transit in affectum Truth is a Prisoner to their sinfull Passions and Affections rejecting all thoughts of their future Happiness A man cannot be wise to Salvation and passionately addicted to any temporal Interest 2. Pride that maketh us either rash or presumptuous either not using a due consideration or not humble enough to subject our Minds to it Besides we cast off God's Assistance The humble and meek will he guide in Iudgment the meek will he teach his way Psal. 25. 9. Men that lean on their own understandings reject him Prov. 3. 5 6. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding In all thy ways acknowledg him and he shall direct thy paths SERMON LXXV PSAL. CXIX 66. For I have believed thy Commandments THIS latter Clause may be considered absolutely or relatively in it self or as it containeth a Reason of the foregoing Petition First Absolutely These words deserve a little consideration because Believing is here suited with an unusual Object had it been for I have believed thy Promises or obeyed thy Commandments the sense of the Clause had been more obvious to every vulgar Apprehension to believe Commandments sounds as harsh to a common Ear as to see with the Ear and hear with the Eye But for all this the Commandments are the Object and of them he saith not I have obeyed but I have believed To take off the seeming asperity of the Phrase some Interpreters conceive that Commandments is put for the Word in general and so Promises are included yea they think principally intended those Promises which encouraged him to hope for God's help in all necessary things such as good Judgment and Knowledge are But this Interpretation would divert us from the weight and force of these significant words Therefore 1. Certainly there is a Faith in the Commandments as well as in the Promises as I shall fully prove by and by 2. The one is as necessary as the other for as the Promises are not esteemed embraced and improved unless they are believed to be of God so neither are the Precepts they do not sway the Conscience as the other do nor incline the Affections but as they are believed to be Divine 3. The Faith of the one must be as lively as the other as the Promises are not believed with a lively Faith unless they draw off the heart from Carnal vanities to seek that Happiness which they offer to us so the Precepts are not believed rightly unless we be fully resolved to acquiesce in them as the onely Rule to guide us in the obtaining that Happiness and to adhere to them and obey them As the Kings Laws are not kept as soon as they are believed to be the Kings Laws unless also upon the consideration of his Authority and Power we subject our selves to them So this believing noteth a ready alacrity to hear God's Voice and obey it and to govern our Hearts and Actions according to his Counsel and Direction in the Word Doct. That the Commandments of God must be believed as well as his Promises Or The Precepts of Sanctity and Holiness bind the Conscience to obey God as well as the Promises bind us to trust in God 1. What we must believe concerning the Commandments 2. The Necessity of believing them if we would be happy 3. The Utility and Profit I. What we must believe concerning the Commandments 1. That they have God for their Authour that we may take our Duty immediately out of his hand that these Commands are his Commands The expressions of his commanding and legislative Will whereby our Duty is determined and bound upon us that is a matter of Faith not a matter of Sense We were not present at the giving of the Law as being past but we ought to be affected with it as if we were present or had heard the Thundrings of mount Sinai or had them now delivered to us by Oracle or immediate Voice from Heaven God doth once for all give the World sensible and sufficient satisfaction and then he requireth Faith See Heb. 2. 2 3 4. For if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience obtained a just recompence of reward How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will The Apostle compareth the first promulgation of the Law and the first publication of the Gospel After ages did not hear the sounding of the dreadfull Trumpet nor see the flaming smoaking Mountain were not conscious to all those Circumstances of Terrour and Majesty with which the Law was given yet it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a stedfast Word God owned it in his Providence the Punishment of Transgressors is proof of God's authorizing the Doctrine So we were not present when the Miracles by which the Gospel-law was confirmed were wrought yet there is a constant evidence that these things were once done and God still owneth it in his Providence therefore we must receive the Gospel-law as the Sovereign will and pleasure of our Law-giver as if we had seen him in person doing these Wonders heard him with our own Ears It is not onely those that were present at Mount Sinai that were bound but all their Posterity God giveth arguments of Sense once for all This belief is the more required of us as to Precepts and Commandments because they are more evident by natural Light Rom. 2. 14 15. For when the Gentiles which have not the Law do by nature the things contained in the Law these having not the Law are a Law unto themselves Which shew the
some renewed evidences of God's favour ask him then is it good to be afflicted Oh yes I had else been vain neglectfull of God wanted such an experience of the Lord's Grace Faith should determine the case when we feel it not Secondly That according to these Measures you will find it Good to be Afflicted 1. 'T is Good as 't is Minus Malum it keepeth us from greater evils Afflictions to the Righteous are either cures of or preservatives from spiritual Evils which would occasion greater Troubles and Crosses They prevent sin 2 Cor. 12. 7. And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of Revelation there was given me a Thorn in the Flesh the Messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure They purge out Sin Isa. 27. 9. By this shall the Iniquity of Iacob be purged out We are apt to abuse prosperity to Self-confidence Psalm 30. 6 7. In my prosperity I said I shall never be moved Lord by thy Favour thou hast made my Mountain to stand strong And Luxury Deut. 32. 15. But Iesurun waxed fat and kicked thou art waxen fat thou art grown thick thou art covered with fatness then he forsook God that made him and lightly esteemed the rock of his Salvation The Godly have evil Natures as well as others which cannot be beaten down but by Afflictions We are froward in our Relations Hagar was proud in Abraham's house Gen. 16. 4. her Mistriss was despised in her Eyes but very humble in the Desart Gen. 21. 16. David's heart was tender and smote him when he cut off the lap of Saul's garment 1 Sam. 24. 5. but how stupid and senseless was he when he lived at ease in Ierusalem 2 Sam. 12. His Conscience was benum'd till Nathan roused him Before we are chastened we are Rebellious Frail Fickle Mutable apt to degenerate without this continual discipline we are very negligent and drowsy till the Rod awakeneth us God's Children have strange failings and negligences and sometimes are guilty of more hainous sins 'T is a great Curse for a man to be left to his own ways Hos. 4. 17. Let him alone So Psalm 81. 12. I gave them up to their own hearts Lust Men must needs perish when left to their selves without this wholesome profitable discipline of the Cross. 2. 'T is Good because the Evil in it is counterpoised by a more abundant Good 't is Evil as it doth deprive us of our natural comforts Pleasure Gain Honour but 't is Good as these may be recompensed with better Pleasures richer Gain and greater Honour There is more Pleasure in Holiness than there can be Pain and Trouble in Affliction Heb. 12. 11. No Affliction for the present seemeth Ioyous but Grievous but afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of Righteousness more gain than Affliction can bring loss Heb. 12 10. But he for our profit that we might be partakers of his Holiness more honour than Affliction can bring shame surely then 't is good There is a threefold Profit we get by Affliction 1. The time of Affliction is a serious thinking time Eccles. 7. 14. In the day of Adversity consider 1 Kings 8. 47. Yet if they bethink themselves in the Land whither they are carried Captive We have more liberty to retire into our selves being freed from the attractive allurements of Worldly vanities and the delights of the Flesh. Adversity maketh men serious the Prodigal came to himself when he began to be in want Luke 15. 17. Sad objects make a deep impression upon our Souls they help us to consider our own ways and God's righteous dealings that we may behave our selves wisely and suitably to the dispensation Micah 6. 9. The man of wisdome will hear the Rod. 2. 'T is a special hearing time in the Text That I might learn thy statutes and 't is said of Christ Heb. 5. 8. that He learned obedience from the things that he suffered he did experimentally understand what obedience was in hard and difficult cases and so could the better pitty poor Sinners in Affliction we have an experimental knowledge of that of which we had but a notional knowledge before We come by experience to see how false and changeable the World is how comfortable an interest in God is what a burden Sin is what sweetness there is in the Promises what a reality in the Word Luther said qui tribulantur c. The Afflicted see more in the Scripture than others do the secure and fortunate read them as they do Ovid's Verses Certainly when the Soul is humble and when we are refined and raised above the degrees of Sense we are more tractable and teachable our understandings are clearer our Affections more melting our spiritual learning is a blessing that cannot be valued if God write his law upon our Hearts by his stripes on our backs so light a trouble should not be grudged at 3. 'T is an awakening quickening time 1. Some are awakened out of the sleep of Death and are first wrought upon by Afflictions this is one powerfull means to bring in Souls to God and to open their Ears to Discipline God began with them in their Afflictions and the time of their Sorrows was the time of Loves The hot Furnace is Christ's Workhouse the most excellent Vessels of honour and praise have been formed there Isa. 48. 10. I have chosen thee in the Furnace of Affliction Manasses Paul the Jaylor were all chosen in the Fire God puts them into the furnace and chuseth them there melts them and stamps them with the Image of Christ. The Hogs Trough was a good School to the Prodigal Well then doth God do you any harm by Affliction when he saves you by it If we use violence to a man that is ready to be drowned and in pulling him out of the waters should break an Arm or a Leg would he not be thankfull it you have broken my Arm you have saved my life So God's Children 't is good that I had such an Affliction felt the sharpness of such a Cross. Oh Blessed Providence I had been a witless Fool and gone on still in a course of Sin and Vanity if God had not awakened me 2. It quickeneth others to be more carefull of their Duty more watchfull against Sin and doth exercise and improve us in heavenly Vertues and Graces of the Spirit which lay dormant in us through neglect since pleasing Objects which deaden the Heart are removed Even God's best Children when they have gotten a carnal Pillow under their Heads are apt to sleep their Prayers are dead Thoughts of Heaven cold or none little Zeal for God or delight in him Isa. 26. 16. Lord in trouble they have visited thee they pour out a Prayer when thy Chastening is upon them Hosea 5. 15. In their Afflictions they will seek me early Because they do not stir up themselves God stirreth them up by a smart Rod. The Husbandman pruneth the Vine left it run
another thing to the Saints if they are advanced their Hearts are inlarged to God if afflicted they grow more humble watchfull serious all things work together for the worst to the Wicked if God make Saul a King Iudas an Apostle Balaam a Prophet their Preferment shall be their Ruine Human's Honour Achitophel's Wit and Herod's Applause turned to their hurt If in Prosperity they contemn God if in Adversity they deny and blaspheme him Prov. 1. 32. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them As the salt Sea turneth all into salt water so a man is in the Constitution of his Soul all things are converted to that use Use 3. Is to perswade us to make this acknowledgment that Affliction is good There needs many Graces before we can thus determine 1. Faith 't is not present but it must be believed hoped and waited for 'T is not fit all should be done in a day and as early as we would in the Lord's time the Fruit will appear The Word doth not work by and by so not the Rod. Faith can see good in that in which Sense onely can find smart Phil. 1. 19. I know this shall turn to my Salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Iesus Christ. And we know that all things shall work together for good Rom. 8. 28. Though it doth not appear yet we know 2. Love The Children of God out of their Love to God and present submission to God do count whatsoever he doth to be good Psalm 73. 1. Tet God is good to Israel though he seemeth to deale with his People hardly yet Love pronounceth the Dispensation to be good it can see a great deal of love in pain and smart and chastenings I have read once and again of such a Rabbin that when told of an Affliction would say this is good because it cometh from God 3. Spiritual Wisdome and Choice to esteem things according to their intrinsick worth an high value of Holiness profiting in Sanctification is more than enough to recompence all the trouble we are put to in learning it This will make us yield to be lessened in our worldly Comforts for the increase of spiritual Grace as Paul would cheerfully part with his Health that he might have more Experience of Christ 2 Cor. 12. 10. I will take pleasure in infirmities necessities and distresses for Christ's sake Surely the loss of outward things should trouble us the less and we should be the sooner satisfied in God's Dispensation if he will take away our earthly Comforts and make us more mindfull of that which is heavenly if by an aking Head God will give you a better Heart by the death of Friends promote the life of Grace 4. Diligence and Heedfulness 1. To observe Afflictions 2. To improve 1. To observe what falleth out from what hand it cometh to what issue it tendeth otherwise if we observe it not how can we acknowledge it give God the glory of his Wisdome and Goodness In Heaven when we shall know as we are known 't will be a great part of our lauding of God to look back on his Providence conducting us through troubles as 't is pleasant for Travellers in their Inn to discourse of the deepness and danger of the Ways and now when we rather are known than know Gal. 4. 9. 't is usefull and comfortable to take notice of God's dealing with us Oh what a deal of Wisdome Faithfulness and Truth may we see in the Conduct of his Providence Gen. 32. 10. I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies and of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy Servant for with my staff I passed over this Iordan and now I am become two bands Psal. 119. 75. I know O Lord that thy Iudgments are right and that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me What necessity of his Chastisement to prevent our Pride Security Negligence with what Wisdome was our Cross chosen how did God strike in the right Vein you were running on apace in some neglect of God till he awakened you this observation will help us to love God who is vigilant and carefull of our welfare it will allay all the hard thoughts that we have of the seeming severity of his Dispensations 2. Diligence to improve it for the bringing about of this good We must not be idle Spectatours but active under God we must more stir up our selves and exercise our selves to Godliness The Affliction of it self is a dead thing there must be help Phil. 1. 19. For I know this shall turn to my Salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Iesus Christ 2 Cor. 1. 11. Ye also helping together by prayer for us 'T is not the nature of the Cross nor the power of inherent Grace without the actual influence of the Spirit that makes Troubles profitable We must excite our selves also for the Saints are not onely passive Objects but active Instruments of Providence We are not merely to be passive Heb. 12. 11. It yieldeth the pleasant fruit of Righteousness to them that are exercised thereby God exerciseth us with the Rod and we must exercise our selves under the Rod. We are ingaged to use all holy Means to this end searching praying rowsing up our selves learning our proper Lessons then we will come and make our acknowledgment It is good for me that I have been afflicted SERMON LXXX PSAL. CXIX 72. The Law of thy Mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver THESE words may be conceived as a reason of what was said in the foregoing Verse David hath told us there that it was good for him that he was afflicted because of the Benefit obtained by his Afflictions he had learned God's Statutes knew more of his Duty and had an heart to keep closer to it now this gain was more to him than his loss by Affliction for he doth not value his Happiness by his temporal Interests so much as by his thriving in Godliness all the Wealth in the World was not so much to him as the spiritual Benefit which he got by his sore Troubles For the Law of thy Mouth c. The Text is a profession of his respect to the Word a profession which containeth in it the very spirit of Godliness a speech that becometh onely such a man's mouth as David was one that is sincerely godly Many will be ready to make this profession but other things do not suit the profession of their Mouths is contradicted by the disposition of their Hearts and the course and tenour of their Lives Observe here two things 1. The things compared 2. The value and preference of the one above the other 1. The things compared on the one side there is the Law of God's Mouth on the other thousands of gold and silver 2. The value and preference of the one above the other 't is better to me 't is
Life 1 Pet. 1. 23. He hath begotten us not by corruptible but incorruptible Seed c. Iames 1. 18. He hath begotten us by the word of Truth 2 Pet. 1. 4. To us are given great and precious Promises that we might be made partakers of the divine Nature John 17. 17. Sanctify them through thy Truth thy Word is Truth All this is said of the Word 't is the means to sanctify us the immortal Seed the beginning of the New life the divine Nature to make us live after a God-like manner therefore 't is better than thousands of gold and silver A Child of God findeth a greater Treasure in one Chapter of the Bible than worldly Men in all their Lands and Honours and large Revenues A poor Christian meeteth with more true Gain in a Sermon than others can in their Trades while they live God begetteth him at first by the Word of Truth and giveth him there the supply of the Spirit therefore be swift to hear much in reading and meditation day and night Oh there is the true Treasure the Pearl of price there their Souls become acquainted with God 2. It directeth us and keepeth us from being carried away with every deceit of Sin Psalm 119. 105. Thy word is a light unto my path and a lamp unto my feet Here are Directions for all Cases here is a general Direction 't is a light to our path and sheweth us what to doe in particular Actions 't is a lamp to our feet So 133 verse Order my steps in thy word and let no iniquity have dominion over me 'T is the Word prevents the reign of any one Sin To have a sure Rule to walk by in the midst of so many Snares and Temptations is a greater favour than to injoy the greatest affluence of worldly Felicity 3. It supporteth us in all our Afflictions and Extremities All the Wealth in the World composed and put together cannot yield us that true Contentment and Satisfaction which the Word of God doth to the obedient Soul Wealth cannot allay a grieved Mind nor appease a wounded Conscience The Word directeth us where we may find rest for our Souls Ier. 6. 16 Goe ask for the good old way and you shall find rest for your Souls We lose our selves in a maze of Uncertainties till we come to the Word of God Mat. 11. 28. Come unto me all you that are weary and heavy laden and you shall find rest for your Souls here is ease for the great wound and maim of Nature The great maim of Nature is Sin now where shall we have a Plaister for this Sore but onely in the Word of God So for particular Afflictions Rom. 15. 4. That ye through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope Comfort is the strengthening of the Mind or the fortifying the Mind when 't is vexed and weakened with doubts fears and sorrows I had fainted in my Affliction unless thy word had quickened me Psalm 119. 50. The Comforts of the World appear and vanish in a moment cannot firmly stay and revive the Heart every blast of Temptation scattereth them Philosophy and natural Reason cannot give us true ground of Comfort that was it they aimed at how to fortify the Soul and keep it quiet notwithstanding Troubles in the Flesh but as they never understood the true ground of Misery which is Sin so neither the true ground of Comfort which is Christ. That which Man offereth cannot come with such power and authority upon the Conscience as that which God offereth and bare Reason cannot have such an efficacy as divine Testimony and the Law of God's Mouth This Moonlight rotteth before it ripeneth Fruits but the Word acquainteth us with Christ who is the Foundation of Comfort with the Spirit who is the efficient cause of Comfort with the promise of Heaven which is the true matter of Comfort with Faith the great Instrument to receive it 3. Let us look to the Duration there is a vanity and uncertainty in all these outward things they soon take the wing and leave us in sorrow If they continue with us till death then they have done all their work Wealth may bring you to the Grave but it can stead you no farther then Wealth is gone but Horrour doth continue Luke 16. 24. Son in thy life time thou enjoyedst thy good things these good things are onely commensurate with Life Sometimes they do not last so long but when we must leave the World and lanch out to those unknown Regions Iob 27. 8. how miserable shall we be Worldly Comforts will fail us when we have most need of them as Ionah's Gourd when the Sun scorched him So in the hour of Death what will Bags of Gold doe then but now on the other side Wisdome is better than Gold and Silver because with her are durable Riches and Righteousness Prov. 8. 18 19. therefore my fruit is better than gold yea than fine gold and my revenue than choise silver If a man would labour for any thing labour for that which is Eternal Iohn 6. 27. No Treasure can be compared to eternal Life and this the Word assureth us of II. Let us now come to examine why the Children of God value it so 1. Because they are enlightned by the Spirit when others have their Eyes dazzled with an external splendour and their Judgment is corrupted by their Senses 'T is not Ignorance undoes the World so much as want of spiritual Prudence spiritual and heavenly Things can onely be seen in the light of the Spirit without which we can neither discern the truth or worth of them in order to choice 1 Cor. 2. 14. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit and therefore till we have this illuminating and sanctifying Light of the Spirit we shall not make a good Choise for our selves Eph. 1. 17 18. The Apostle prayeth That the Lord would give you the spirit of Wisdome and Revelation The eyes of your Understanding being inlightened that ye may know what is the hope of his Calling and the riches of the glory of his Inheritance in the Saints That saving Knowledge of divine Mysteries which causeth us to prefer and choose them above other things comes from the spirit of Wisdome and Revelation otherwise in seeing we see not There is a perfect contradiction many times between speculative and practical Knowledge the common Wisdome and Knowledge of divine Mysteries is a Gift that cometh from the Spirit much more this spiritual discerning 2. They are affected with their true Necessities Our real Necessities are the Necessities of the Soul bodily wants are more urging and pressing upon us but these are more dangerous therefore Gold and Silver which supplieth our bodily Necessities is not so welcome to them as the Law of God's Mouth which provideth a remedy for their Soul defects How to be justified how sanctified is more than what shall we eat and drink and wherewith shall we be cloathed
Storm but no Deluge When all is Wrath to a poor Soul let it come to him in the Covenant of Noah 3. It will be of use in pleading for Grace for your Children who are as yet it may be graceless and disobedient Thy hands have made and fashioned them desire him to renew his Image upon them by the Spirit of Grace In short the sum of all is here is incouragement God is good to all his Creatures especially to Man most especially to Man seeking after him and seeking after him for Grace that we and ours may obey him and doe him better service than ever yet we have done SERMON LXXXII PSAL. CXIX 74. They that fear thee will be glad when they see me because I have hoped in thy Word THIS Verse containeth two things 1. The Respect of the Faithfull to David They that fear thee will be glad when they see me 2. The Reason of this Respect because I have hoped in thy Word First The Respect of God's faithfull Servants to David and there take notice of the Character by which God's Servants are described They that fear thee then their Respect to David they will be glad when they see me which may bear a double sense 1. How comfortable 't is for the Heirs of Promise to see one another or meet together Aspectus boni viri delectat the very look of a good Man is delightfull 't is a pleasure to converse with those that are carefull to please God and awefull to offend him 2. How much affected they are with one another's Mercies they will be glad to see me who have obtained an Event answerable to my Hope they shall come and look upon me as a Monument and Spectacle of the Mercy and Truth of God this sense I prefer though not excluding the other But what Mercy had he received the Context seemeth to carry it for Grace to obey God's Commandments that was the Prayer immediately preceeding to be instructed and taught in God's Law vers 73. Now they will rejoyce to see my holy Behaviour how I have profited and glorified God in that behalf The Hebrew Writers render the reason because then I shall be able to instruct them in those Statutes when they shall see me their King study the Law of God It may be expounded of any other Blessing or Benefit God had given according to his Hope and I rather understand it thus they will be glad to see him sustained supported and born out in his Troubles and Sufferings they will be glad when they shall see in me a notable Example of the fruit of hoping in thy Grace and this Hope leaveth not ashamed Secondly The Reason is because I hoped in thy Word and there compare this with the first Clause God's Children are described to be those that fear God and David is described to be one that hopes in his Word both together make up a good Character and Description of the Lord's People they are such as fear God and hope in his Word they are elsewhere coupled Psal. 33. 18. Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him that hope in his mercy And Psal. 147. 11. The Lord takes pleasure in them that fear him that hope in his mercy A sincere Christian is known by both these a fear of God or a constant obedience to his Commands and an affiance trust and dependance upon his Mercies Oh how sweetly are both these coupled an uniform sincere Obedience to him and an unshaken constant reliance on his Mercy and Goodness The whole perfection of the Christian Life is comprized in these two believing God and fearing him trusting in his Mercy and fearing his Name the one maketh us carefull in avoiding Sin the other diligent to follow after Righteousness the one is a bridle from Sin and Temptations the other a spur to our Duties Fear is our curb and Hope our motive and incouragement the one respects our Duty the other our Comfort the one allayeth the other God is so to be feared as also to be trusted so to be trusted as also to be feared And as we must not suffer our Fear to degenerate into legal Bondage but hope in his Mercy so our Trust must not degenerate to carnal Sloath and Wantonness but so hope in his Word as to fear his Name Well then such as both believe in God and fear to offend him are the onely men who are acceptable to God and his People God will take pleasure in them and they take pleasure in one another They that fear thee will be glad when they see me The first part of the Character They that fear thee the Fear of God is an excellent Grace a strong bridle to hold the Soul from Sin not that servile but filial and Child-like Fear that is afraid to sin against God or break his Laws Prov. 28. 14. Blessed is the man that feareth always this Grace should always bear rule in our Hearts 1 Pet. 1. 17. Pass the time of your sojourning in fear our whole course must be carried on under the conduct of this Grace Look as the Fear of Man is a Bridle upon the Beasts to keep them from hurting Man Gen. 9. 2. The fear and dread of you shall be upon every Beast of the Earth so when the Fear of God is rooted in our Hearts we are kept from disobeying and dishonouring God Ioseph is an instance of the power of this holy Fear Gen. 39. 9. How shall I doe this great wickedness and sin against God Secondly the other Character I hope in thy Word a Christian liveth by Faith whereas the bruitish Worldling liveth by Sense the one liveth by Bread onely the other by the Word of God the one is a higher sort of Beast the other is a kind of an earthly Angel for he liveth with God and dwelleth with God and expecteth all out of God's hands Psal. 130. 5. I wait for the Lord my Soul doth wait and in his Word do I hope there is his Charter and Inheritance and his Solace and Support he fetcheth all from the Word Both these Graces as they are very acceptable unto God so are they most lovely and beautifull to behold by Men to be among the Company of them that fear God and hope in his Word is the most pleasant thing to a gracious Heart that can be for while others are taken up about Toyes and Trifles they are taken up about the onely serious Matters If Balaam was constrained to say of God's People How goodly are thy Tents O Iacob and thy Tabernacles O Israel Oh how pleasant is it much more to the People of God to see one another to come among them that fear God and are loth to offend him and also that hope in his Word They can speak of the life of Faith and Blessedness to come and take off the Vaile of the Creature and are mainly taken up with another world their business is not to offend God here and hope fully
together and find their own perswasions of the love power mercy and wisdome of God backed with the experience and testimony of others 't is a mutual strength and support to us and therefore the Apostle saith Rom. 1. 12. That I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith of you and me When we converse with them that can speak not by hearsay onely but experience of the power of the blood of Christ in purifying their Consciences and his Spirit to sanctifie their hearts 't is a mighty prop 2 Cor. 1. 4. And that we may comfort others with the comforts wherewith we are comforted of God Report of a report is a cold thing not valued but a report of what we witness and experience our selves comes warmly upon our hearts Nay many times it may fall out that people of less knowledge but more feeling experience may abundantly confim the more knowing and excite them to a greater mindfulness of God and heavenly things But alas the meetings of carnal Persons what is it to this It may be they will fill your ears with stories of Hawking and Hunting the best Wine and delicious meats of Honours and Purchases in the World all which tend but to increase the gust of the flesh and the carnal favour which is banefull to us or else with idle stories the clatter of vanity which are impertinent to our great end or else about the World thriving in the World nothing about those high and excellent and necessary things of the grace of God in Christ and the truth of the promises and the glory of the world to come Psal. 37. 30 31. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom and his tongue talketh of judgment the Law of God is in his heart none of his steps shall slide and the mouth of the righteous is as choice silver they have a sense of better things but alas from others you hear nothing but unsavory vanity which is as different from the discourse of the Children of God as the melody of a Bird from the grunting of a Hog or Swine SERMON LXXXIII PSAL. CXIX 75. I know O Lord that thy Iudgments are right and that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me WE have need all to prepare for afflictions for we are to take up our Cross daily now to help you to a right Carriage under them these words well considered will be of some use to you they are the confession of an humble Soul abundantly satisfied with Gods dispensations In them observe 1. A general truth or point of Doctrine concerning the equity of Gods Judgments thy Iudgments O Lord are right 2. A particular application or accommodation of this truth to Davids case and person in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me 3. His sure and firm perswasion of both I know Let us explain these branches and parts of the Text as they are laid forth 1. The generall truth the Lords Judgments are right In which proposition there is the Subject and the Predicate The Subject or things spoken are the Lords Judgments The word is often put in this Psalm and elsewhere for Gods Statutes or precepts or righteous Laws and in this sense some take it here and make out the sense thus Lord I know that thy Iudgments viz. thy Precepts are holy just and good and this perswasion is not lessened in me though thou hast sharply afflicted me I have as great a value and esteem for thy Word as ever But rather by the Lords Judgments are meant the passages of his Providence as the latter clause sheweth those judiciall dispensations whereby he doth punish the wicked or correct his Children And let it not seem strange that the troubles and afflictions of the Godly should be called Judgments for though there be no vindictive wrath in them yet they are called so upon a double reason partly because they are acts of Gods holy Justice correcting and humbling his people for sin according to the Sentence of his word thus it is said 1 Pet. 4. 17. That Iudgment shall begin at the house of God where the Trials and Troubles of the Godly are plainly called Judgments And partly because the Lord judiciously measureth and directeth them as the state of his Children requireth and their strength will bear so 't is said Ier. 10. 24. Correct me but in Iudgment The first Notion implyeth Gods Justice the second his Wisdome And mark 't is said distinctly in the Text thy Iudgments O Lord his enemies might unjustly persecute him but thy Iudgments so far as the Lord hath a hand in it all was just and right this is the Subject or thing spoken of Secondly Here is the predicate or what is said of it are right the Heb. Tsedec the Sept. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are righteousness it self thy dispensations are wholly made up of perfect Justice how smart soever they be they are right as to the Cause right as to the measure right as to the end The first of these respects concerneth Gods Justice the two other his Wisdome First right as to the Cause they never exceed the value of their Impulsive Iob 34. 23. He will not lay upon man more than is right that he should enter into judgment with him God never afflicteth his People above their desert nor gives any just occasion to commence a Sute against his Providence Secondly right as to the Measure not above the strength of the Patient In his own Peoples Afflictions it is so Isa. 27. 8. In measure when it shouteth forth thou wilt debate it he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind God dealeth with his own with much moderation meting out their Sufferings in due proportion So Ier. 30. 11. I will correct thee in measure Thirdly right as to their end and use God knoweth how to strike in the right Vein and to suit his Providence to the purpose for which it is appointed the kind of the Affliction is to be considered as well as the Measure the Lord chuseth that Rod which is most likely to doe his work Paul had a Thorn in the Flesh that he might not be exalted above measure 2 Cor. 12. 7. he was a man inured to dangers and troubles from without these were familiar to him therefore he could the better bear them but God would humble him by some pain in the Flesh which should sit near and close 2. The particular Accommodation of it to David in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me Pray mark in the general Case he observeth Justice in his own faithfulness The Book called Midrash Tillim referreth these words to David's flight from Absalom when he went to Mount Olivet weeping 't was an ill time then with David he had no security then for his Life being driven from his house and home He went up Mount Olivet going and weeping 2 Sam. 15. 30. then when so great and â—…sore trouble was upon him then he saith I know that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me Mark
the Emphasis he doth not barely acknowledge that God was faithfull though or notwithstanding he had afflicted him but faithfull in sending them Affliction and Trouble are not onely consistent with God's Love plighted in the Covenant of Grace but they are parts and branches of the New Covenant-Administration God is not onely faithfull notwithstanding Afflictions but faithfull in sending them There is a difference between these two the one is like an exception to the Rule quoe firmat regulam in non exceptis the other makes it a part of the Rule God cannot be faithfull without doing all things that tend to our good and eternal Welfare the conduct of his Providence is one part of the Covenant-Ingagement as to pardon our sins and sanctify us and give us glory at the last so to suit his Providence as our need and profit requireth in the way to Heaven 'T is an act of his Sovereign Mercy which he hath promised to his People to use such discipline as conduceth to their safety In short the Cross is not onely an exception to the grace of the Covenant but a part of the grace of the Covenant The meaning is God is obliged in point of fidelity to send sharp Afflictions Psal. 89. 32. I will visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes Sharp Rods and sore Stripes not onely may stand and be reconciled with God's loving kindness and truth but they are effects and expressions of it 't is a part of that transaction viz. his Covenant-Love 3. The third thing to be explained is his sense of these Truths I know Knowing implies clearness of apprehension and firmness of perswasion so that I know is I fully understand or else I am confident or well assured of this truth But from whence had David his Knowledge how knew he all God's Judgments to be right not from the Flesh or from natural Sense no the Flesh is importunate to be pleased will perswade us the contrary If we consult onely with natural Sense we shall never believe that when God is hacking and hewing at us he intendeth our good and benefit and that when sore Judgments are upon us his end is not to destroy but to save to mortify the Sin and save the Person Sense will teach us no such thing but will surely misinterpret and misexpound the Lord's dealings For the Peace of God is a riddle to a natural Heart Phil. 4. 7. Whence then had David his Knowledge partly from the Word of God and partly from his own observation and particular experience 1. From the Word of God for 't is a maxime of Faith that God can doe no wrong That he is righteous in all his ways and just in all his works Psal. 145. 17. And again Deut. 32. 4. He is the rock his work is perfect for all his ways are judgment and truth and without iniquity just and right is he These are undeniable Truths revealed in the Word of God and must satisfy us whatsoever Sense saith to the contrary the causes and ends of God's particular Judgments are sometimes secret but they are always just Psal. 97. 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him but righteousness and truth are the habitation of his throne Therefore when we see not the reason of God's particular Dispensations we must believe the righteousness and goodness of them 2. David knew by his own observation and particular experience he had much studied his own Heart and considered his own ill deservings and Soul distempers and therefore saw the Lord's Discipline was necessary for him We should better understand God's work and sooner justify him both in point of justice and faithfulness if we did use more observation and did consider what need and profit there is of Affliction Tribulation worketh experience Rom. 5. 4 5. We see what need there was of Affliction and how seasonable the Lord's work was This is a more sensible way of knowledg than the former Faith is a surer ground but spiritual Observation hath its benefit Natural Conscience doth represent our guilt but experience sheweth God's faithfulness how seasonably God took us in our Month and suited his Providence to our present Condition Doct. That it would much quiet the minds of the people of God about all the sad dispensations of his Providence if they would seriously consider the justice and faithfulness of them So did David silence all his murmurings when the hand of God was sore upon him so should we silence all our murmuring all our suspicions of God's dealing when we are under the Cross. I know the Lord doth nothing unjust but is faithfull he will not retract his Covenant-Love and I know his Covenant-Love binds him to lay on us seasonable Affliction and Correction I shall doe two things First Illustrate the Point by some Considerations Secondly Shew that there is much of justice and faithfulness in all the Troubles and Afflictions of God's People Consider 1. We are not onely to grant in the general that God's Judgments are right but that he hath in faithfulness afflicted us So doth David when the stroke of God was heavy upon himself Many will assert the Righteousness of God when they speak to others in their Afflictions but do not indeed justify him in the Afflictions that come upon themselves We are hasty to censure but backward to humble our own Souls before God they will give him the praise of his Justice when he chasteneth others but think God dealeth harshly and rigorously with them when his Scourge is upon their own backs Such a difference is there between Knowledge speculative and experimental between that Conscience which we have in others Concernments and that Knowledge which self-love giveth us in our own David here doth not onely own the general Truth but sees God's faithfulness when the stroke lighted upon himself So Iob 4. 3 4 5. you shall see this was objected to Iob that he could comfort others but now the hand of God was upon him his Soul fainted They that stand upon the shore may easily say to those that are in the midst of the Waves and conflicting for life or death Sail thus When we are well we give Counsel to the sick but if we were so how would we take it our selves So can we say patiently all is just and keep silence to God Consider 2. We must not onely grant this truth that God is faithfull when at ease but when under the sharpest and smartest Discipline We use to praise God in prosperity but we should bless him also when he seemeth to deal hardly with us speak good of God when under the Rod. When we view a Cross at a distance or in the doctrinal contemplation of this Truth we say that God may exercise us with the greatest evil and that we need these methods to bring us to Heaven but when Afflictions come thick and near and close and we are deprived of our nearest and dearest Comforts Credit Liberty Health Life
Luke 6. 36. Had it not been for this mercy the World had been long since reduced into its ancient Chaos and the frame of Nature dissolved 2. There is a special mercy which he sheweth to his People Pardoning their Sins sanctifying their Hearts accepting their Persons So of his mercy hath he saved us Tit. 3. 4 5. Quickned us Eph. 2. 4 5. God who is rich in mercy for his great Love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in Sins hath quickened us together with Christ. This sheweth God hath more mercy foâ—…â—…is People than for others Now this is a great incouragement he that took pity upon us in our lost Estate and did then pardon our Sins freely will he not take pity upon us now we are in the state of Grace and have our sins pardoned Surely he will shew mercy unto us still in forbearing the punishment due unto us or in mitigating his corrections or sweetning them with his Love What matter is it who hateth us when the Almighty pityeth us and is so tender over us 2. The satisfying effect which is comfort Here I shall shew 1. What is comfort 2. That Consolation is the gift and proper work of God to be asked of him 1. What is comfort 'T is sometimes put for the object or thing comfortable Sometimes for the disposition of the subject or that sense and apprehension that we have of it 1. The object or thing comfortable and so comfort may note 1. Deliverance and temporall Blessings these things are comfortable to the senses and in a moderate proportion and with submission they may be asked of God That comfort is put for deliverance many Scriptures witness Take these for a tast Psal. 71. 21. After deep and sore troubles thou shalt increase my greatness and comfort me on every side So Psal. 81. 17. Shew me a token for good that they which hate me may see it and be ashamed because thou Lord hast holpen me and comforted me So Isa. 12. 1. In that day thou shalt say O Lord I will praise thee though thou wast angry with me thine anger was turned away and thou comfortedst me In all these places comfort is put for temporal deliverance which is an effect of Gods mercy and may be an object of the Saints Prayers 'T is lawfull to deprecate afflictions There are but few of the best of Gods Children that can hold out under long troubles without murmuring or fainting 2. An other object of comfort is the pardon of Sins or a sense of Gods special love in Christ wrought on our hearts This is matter of comfort indeed This is the principal effect of Gods mercifull kindness in this life and the great consolation of the Saints as offering a remedy against our greatest evil which is trouble that ariseth from guilt and sin This obtained filleth them with joy and peace Psalm 4. 6 7. puts gladness into our hearts To feel Gods love in the Soul Rom. 55. is the Heaven upon Earth which a believer enjoyeth which allayeth the bitterness of all his troubles Heaven above is nothing but comfort and the comforts of the Spirit are Heaven below God keepeth not all for the life to come 3. An other object of comfort is our happy estate in Heaven which puts an end to all our miseries Rev. 7. 19. God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes Rev. 21. 4. There shall be no more death nor sorrow nor crying nor any pain Luke 16. 19. In thy life time thou receivedst thy good things and Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented We have not our full comfort till we come to Heaven In the world there still is Day and Night Summer and Winter Here is a mixture of Mourning and Joy but there all comfort Matth. 5. 4. Fourthly The highest and chiefest object of our comfort is the Lord himself 1 Sam. 30. 6. David comforted himself in the Lord his God Though all things else fail this should satisfie us Though we have little health no friends no outward supports to rejoyce in yet thou hast God whose favour is Life and who is the Fountain of Happiness and the centre of the Souls rest The prophet when reduced not onely to some streights but great exigencies Hab. 3. 18. Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation The joy of sense is in the Creature the joy of Faith is in God Thus we may consider comfort objectively All that I shall say farther is this that we should take heed what we make to be the object of our solid comfort Luke 10. 24. They are carnall men that wholly place their comfort in earthly things in the pleasures and honours and profits of the world Luke 6. 24. Woe to you that are rich for ye have received your consolation They have all here and can look for no more and if disappointed here they are utterly miserable There are consolations arising from good things exhibited but more in good things promised Everlalasting Consolations 2 Thes. 2. 16. 2. Let us consider it subjectively Comfort 't is the strengthening of the mind when it is apt to be weakened by doubts fears and sorrows as by patience we are kept from murmuring so by comfort we are kept from fainting 'T is the strength stay and support of the heart against any grievance whereby it is likely to be overcome There are three words by which that delightfull sense of Gods favour as a stay and strengthening to the heart is expressed Comfort Peace and Ioy. Comfort is that sense of his love by which the sorrows that arise from the sense of sin and the sears of Gods Justice are not altogether removed and taken away yet so mitigated and allayed that the Soul is not overwhelmed by them but hope doth more prevail This is the nature of Comfort that it doth not altogether remove the Evil but so alleviate and asswage it that we are able to bear it with some alacrity and chearfulness and this is the common state of Believers answerable to the ordinary measure of Faith which God giveth his Children Though they are assaulted with Sorrows Doubts and Fears yet they have that true and solid ground of Comfort in the Promises which begets some hope and expectation towards God and when the conslict groweth grievous God of his mercy allayeth the storm by the working of his comforting Spirit 2. There is Peace which is another Notion which implyeth Comfort but withall a more full degree of it for Peace doth so settle and calm the Conscience that they are assaulted either with none or very light Fears It may be explained by external Peace External Peace is that state of things which is not troubled with Wars from abroad or intestine Tumults and Confusions at home for some long space of time A Truce is a shorter respite but a Peace is a long calm and quiet So when we are not assaulted with Doubts
upon me that I may once more see good and comfortable days in the World for a life spent in sorrow is as no life Or 2. He putteth life for some comfortable sense of Gods Mercy or assurance of his love to him Most Interpreters both Antient and Modern goe this way 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Theodoret he counted himself but as a dead man without the sense of Gods favour and good will to him but it would be as a new life or resurrection from the dead if God would shew him Mercy and cast a favourable aspect upon him This sense suiteth well with the context for David was for the present deprived of the tokens and effects of Gods tender Mercy why else should he so earnestly beg for that to come to him which he had already and it suiteth well with a gracious spirit such as David had The points 1. That Gods tender Mercy is the fountain of his Peoples comfort and happiness 2. That 't is not enough to hear somewhat of the Mercy of God but we should by all means seek that it may come unto us 3. That 't is life to a believer to have a sense of God's Mercy and Love in Christ and death to be without it 4. Such as would tast or have a sense of Gods ' mercy must delight in his law This was Davids plea. The two last propositions I shall insist upon the other being handled elsewhere and so much consideration of them as is necessary for the opening and improving of this Verse will occur in one or both of these Points That 't is life to a believer to have a sense of Gods mercy and love in Christ and death to be without it David was a dead man because he felt not Gods mercy as formerly he did eat and drink and sleep and transact his business as others did but he counted this as no life because he felt not the wonted sense of Gods love Gracious Spirits cannot live without Divine comforts they take no joy in the world unless God favourably look upon them Let me Illustrate this note with these observations 1. Observe he seeketh all his comfort from mercy and tender mercy so in the former so in the present Verse I shall shew you the necessity and utility of so doing First the necessity of it the best of Gods Children have no other claim For a Publican to come and say God be mercifull to me a sinner Luke 18. 13. is no such wonder but for a David to use the same plea that should be noted From first to last the Children of God have no other claim 't is meer mercy that took us into a state of Grace at first and meer mercy that keepeth us in it and furnisheth us with all the supplies that are necessary to keep it up in vigour and comfort and mercy that giveth us the final consummation and accomplishment of it at last Our first entrance into the state of Grace is always ascribed to meer mercy Nothing moved the Lord to bestow life upon dead and graceless sinners but his meer pity and tender compassion 1 Pet. 1. 3. Of his abundant mercy he hath begotten us to a lively hope Eph. 2. 4. God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he hath loved us while we were yet dead in trespasses and sins yet quickened us Titus 3. 5. Of his mercy he hath saved us by washing us in the laver of regeneration Mercy was then exercised not onely without our Desert but against our Desert God was not moved to bestow his Grace by any goodness which he did foresee or find in us but meerly by his own pity Misery offered the occasion but mercy was the cause of all the good done unto us After Conversion all our supports and supplies are given us of his tender mercy Gal. 6. 16. As many as walk according to this rule peace and mercy be upon them New Creatures and the most accurate walkers are not so free from sin but they still stand in need of mercy All their receipts come to them not in the way of Merit but undeserved mercy Our peace and comfort when we walk most according to rule is the fruit of mercy The Elect are called Vessels of mercy Rom. 9. 23. because from first to last they are filled up with mercy and supplied by the free favour and love of God in Iesus Christ. Our final consummation is from mercy the same mercy that laies the first stone in this building doth also finish the work Iude 21. verse looking for the mercy of our Lord Iesus Christ to Eternal Life We take Glory out of the hands of mercy and 't is mercy that sets the Crown upon our heads after we have done and suffered the will of God here upon Earth We can merit no more after grace than before 2. The utility of it this giveth boldness and more hopefull expectation that will appear if we consider what mercy is 't is Gods Propension and Inclination to doe good to the sinfull and miserable so far as his wisdome seeth convenient As mercy is a perfection in the Divine nature so God is necessarily mercifull as well as just but the exercise of it is I confess free and arbitrary 't is not necessarily exercised but according to his will and good pleasure to some more to some less as his Wisedom thinketh fit yet this advantage we have by it that mercy rather seeketh a fit occasion to discover it self than a well qualified object as Justice doth For it doth not consider what is due or deserved but what is needed Therefore First the needy and miserable have some hope for misery as misery is the object of mercy and therefore when our afflictions are pressing and sore our miseries and streights are some kind of argument which we may plead to God Psalm 79. 8. Let thy tender Mercies speedily prevent us for we are brought very low they plead their miserable condition Mercy relents towards a sinfull people when they are a wasted People he heareth the moans of the Beasts and therefore certainly he will not shut up his Bowels against the cries of his People their very misery pleadeth for them Secondly the broken hearted that have a sense of their misery have a greater advantage than others and are more capable of God's mercy because they are not onely miserable but miserable in their own feeling especially if this feeling be deep and spiritual they are sensible of the true misery and they are more troubled about sin than temporal inconvenience Matth. 9. 13. Go learn what that meaneth I will have mercy and not sacrifice 3. When we flee to his mercy and seek it in the appointed way of repentance towards God and Faith in our Lord Iesus Christ the Lord will not utterly destroy a sinner fleeing to his Mercy he hath ingaged his word and oath Heb. 6. 18. and this comfort we may make use of Partly When the sense of guilt sits
their inclinations to the pleasures honours and profits thereof unbroken and unsubdued as Simon Magus cherisheth the same corruptions under his new Faith that he did under his old Sorceries Acts 8. still he did desire to be thought some great one among the people you must not think that he altogether dissembled but he had some sense upon him for he believed and beheld the miracles and wondered but the same inclinations remained with him Evermore some temporal interest or worldly advantage is laid closer to the heart and hath a deeper rooting therein than the word of promise and this in time prevaileth over the interest of God And therefore whatever good affections we have till we get a command over our base and carnal delights our hearts can never be sound with God 2dly Positively What the sound heart is not or to what it is opposed we have seen You may from hence easily gather what it is 't is such a receiving of the Word into the heart that it is rooted there and diffuseth its influence for the seasoning of every affection and beareth an universal sovereignty over us sometimes 't is described by its radication and sometimes by its sovereign prevailing efficacy 1. Sometimes 't is described by its radication and so 't is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the ingrafted word that is able to save our souls Jam. 1. 21. The root of the matter is within 't is not tyed on but ingrafted so in that promise of God Heb. 8. 10. I will put my law into their minds and write it upon their hearts There is something written I will write my law and there are Tables and they are the hearts and minds of men that is the understanding and the will or the rational appetite and this with God's own finger I will write upon their hearts and minds There where is the Spring and Original of all Moral Operations of all Thoughts Affections and inward Motions there is the Law of God written in those parts of the Soul where the directive counsel and the imperial commanding power of all humane actions lieth there doth God write his Laws and engrave them in lively and legible characters And what is the effect of this but that a man becometh a Law to himself he carrieth his rule about with him and as ready and as willing a mind to obey it So Psal. 37. 31. The law of God is in his heart none of his steps shall slide The truth is rooted in him and his heart is suited and inclined to it He knoweth and loveth what is commanded of God and hateth what is forbidden of him thus a man becometh a Bible to himself Indeed this planting and ingrafting the Law upon our hearts 't is sometimes made our work because we use the means God doth not write his Law upon our hearts by Enthusiasm Rapture and Inspiration as he wrote in the hearts of the Apostles and Prophets but maketh use of our Reason and Reading Hearing Meditation Conference and Prayer 't is made our work because we work under God Psal. 119. 11. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee And Prov. 6. 21 22. Bind his commandments upon thy heart tie them upon thy neck When we look for the deep implanting of the Word in our hearts this is the sound heart here described 2. The efficacy of this Word so radicated and the power and dominion it hath over the soul to subdue it to the will of God and that is when the heart is transformed into the nature of God Rom. 6. 11. Ye have obeyed from the heart the form of sound doctrine that was delivered unto you When the form of the Word is delivered to him he delivereth up himself to be moulded and assimilated to the nature of it as that which is cast into the fire is changed into the colour heat and properties of fire Thus where the Word is incorporated and rooted in us the heart is assimilated to the object seen and discerned therein the image of God is stamped and impressed upon us 2 Pet. 1. 4. Having these great and precious promises that we might be partakers of the divine nature And 2 Cor. 3. 18. We are changed into his image or likeness from glory to glory by the Spirit of our God Well then you see what the sound heart is But yet more distinctly if you would have me unfold what this sound heart is there is required these four things First An inlightned understanding that is the directive part of the soul and 't is sound when 't is kept free from the leaven and contagion of Error Prov. 15. 21. A man of understanding walketh uprightly A sound mind is a good help to a sound heart Light breedeth an awe of God and mindeth us of our duty upon all occasions 1 Chron. 28. 9. And thou Solomon my son know thou the God of thy fathers and serve him with a perfect heart and a willing â—…nd First know him and then serve him He can never shoot right that taketh his aim contrary The understanding doth direct all the inferior powers of the Soul if that be infected with Error the affections must necessarily move out of order A blind Horse may be full of mettle but is ever and anon apt to stumble and therefore Without knowledge the heart is not good Prov. 19. 2. Secondly There is required an awakened Conscience that warneth us of our duty and riseth up in dislike of sin upon all occasions Prov. 6. 22. When thou goest it shall lead thee when thou sleepest it shall keep thee when thou walkest it shall talk with thee To have a constant Monitor in our bosoms to put us in mind of God when our reins preach to us in the night season Psal. 16. 7. there is a secret Spy in our bosomes that observes all that we do and think and speak a domestical Divine that is always preaching to us his heart is his Bible Such an awaken'd Conscience is a Bridle before Sin to keep us from doing things contrary to God and a Whip after Sin if we keep it tender so it will do Indeed 't is easily offended but 't is not easily pleased as the Eye the least dust soon offends it but 't is not so easily got out again Till men have benummed their Consciences and brought a brawn and deadness upon their hearts their Conscience according to its light will warn them of their danger and mind them of their duty 't is a great mercy to have a speaking stirring Conscience otherwise 't is stupid and sensless Thirdly There is required a rightly disposed Will or a stedfast purpose to walk with God in all conditions and to do what is good and acceptable in his sight Acts 11. 23. He exhorted them with full purpose of heart to cleave to the Lord. Many have light inclinations or wavering resolutions but their hearts are not fixedly habitually bent to please God therein chiefly lieth
on the back of the righteous Psal. 125. 3. Therefore rouze up your selves and say as David Psal. 42. 5. Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him c. Let us not always pore on our grievous miseries Observe the season when apt to be corrupted with ease and prosperity and to carry it negligently to God and proudly and oppressingly to Men There may come a change So when apt to faint seek out arguments of encouragement and hope that God will be good to us Psal. 56. 3. At what time I am afraid I will trust in thee That 's our business at such a time to strengthen our dependance for still we must oppose the prevailing corruption 2. Better Things That 's the true Christian Spirit that mainly looks after the world to come that hope is freest from snares An earthly hope maketh Men carnal often enticeth them to use ill means to get it accomplished Desires and hopes of temporal happiness that the world may smile upon us doth not breed so good a spirit This hope goeth upon surer grounds meeteth with fewer disappointments Well then hope for these things We shall hear of few in whom the former part of the Text is verified if understood of eternal salvation My soul fainteth for thy salvation This temper is very rare and few that have such a spirit as Paul had Phil. 1. 23. I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ c. But all Christians should hope for eternal life and prepare for it and make this the great cordial and solace of their souls God's People do too much please themselves with thoughts of temporal happiness this is no good spirit The appetite of temporal honor wealth and peace is natural to us we should be at a greater indifferency about these things as not to be very solicitous about them V. DOCT. This Hope is bred or nourished in us by the Word of God 1. Because that is the Law of Commerce between us and God in the promissory part it sheweth what salvation and deliverance we may expect from him And in the mandatory part upon what terms and who are the persons qualified to receive this deliverance and without heeding of these things hope is a groundless presumption As if we expect things not promised or not in the way wherein they are promised We must have an eye both on the promises and the precepts The one to encourage us the other to direct us It sheweth our hope is of the right constitution Psal. 119. 166. I have hoped for thy salvation and done thy commandments Psal. 147. 11. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him in those that hope in his mercy And Psal. 33. 18. Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him upon them that hope in his mercy As a Man that consulteth with his Charter and Conveyance is more assured of his Right and Title The Scripture is cast into the nature of a Covenant or a mutual Indenture drawn up between us and God There we find God hath deeply and strongly engaged himself to us and we to him This we have to shew under his hand 2. We should give such credit to the Word of God as to believe it when to sense there is no likelihood of the performance of it For what is impossible to appearance is not impossible to God and the certainty of the Promises doth not depend upon the probabilities of sense but the all-sufficiency of God Firmia dicta tanti existimantur quantus est ipse qui diceret If God promise any thing who is Almighty and who is Faithful it will be accomplished and we may rest upon it in the greatest Extremities Perplexities and seeming Impossibilities We must not confine God within the bounds of created power 3. God's Word should be as good as Deed For his Word and the beck of his Will doth all things Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly Micah 2. 7. Not say good but do good when 't is said it may be accounted done the performance is so certain 4. The best hold-fast we can have upon God is by his Word Whatever his dispensations be though he with-hold comfort and deliverance from us yet it will do well in time Therefore whether he smileth or frowneth his Word should be our support His Dispensations vary but his Word is firm USE Let the Promises of God strengthen and revive our hearts If God hath said any thing his People should believe him His Word is a Word of Truth Heb. 11. 11. Sarah's Faith was built upon this She judged him faithful who had promised His Word is a Word of Power for he is a God of all Power and Might Heb. 11. 17 18 19. so Abraham's Faith By faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac and he that had received the promises offered up his onely begotten son Of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called Accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead His Power as is his Being is infinite Therefore having his Word this should give us rest and contentment of Soul though there be no appearance of performance the Promise is Yea and Amen continueth in one invariable tenour Let not Faith dye SERMON XC PSAL. CXIX VER 82. Mine eyes fail for thy word saying When wilt thou comfort me IN this Verse the Man of God expresseth 1. His earnest expectation of the comfort of the Promises 2. His longing desire after it as Hope is wont to vent it self by serious thoughts intermixed with strong desires of the Blessing promised His earnest expectation is expressed in the first Clause Mine eyes fail for thy word His longing and strong desire in the following words Saying When wilt thou comfort me His earnest Hope and Expectation is first to be considered And here his Hope is described 1 By the effect his looking after the accomplishment of the Promise as Iudges 5. 28. when Sisera's Mother expected him She looked out at a window and cried thorow the lattesse Why is his charet so long in coming why tarry the wheels of his charets And Rom. 8. 19. The earnest expectation of the creature waiteth c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the lifting up or stretching out of the head as we use to do when we look for any thing to see if we can spy it a coming 2 By the incident weakness because of the delay of help Mine eyes fail for thy word He had looked and looked long till he was weary of looking what he said before of the soul here he speaketh of his eyes There the object was salvation here the word Observe first That Hope keepeth the eye of the Soul so fixed upon the Promise that it is ever looking for deliverance and salvation Hezekiah useth almost the same manner of speech Isa. 38. 14. Mine eyes fail with looking
upward that is to God for ease and relief as when we expect any bodies coming we send our eyes towards the place from whence he cometh Reasons 1. The Children of God make more of a Promise than others do and that upon a double account Partly because they value the Blessing promised Partly because they are satisfied with the assurance given by God's Word so that whereas others pass by these things with a careless eye their souls are lifted up to the constant and earnest expectation of the Blessing promised 'T is said of the Hireling that he must have his wages before the Sun go down Deut. 24. 15. Because he is poor and hath set his heart upon it Or as it is in the Hebrew lifted up his soul to it meaning thereby both his desire and hope He esteemeth his wages for it is the solace of his labors and the maintenance of his life and he assuredly expecteth it upon the promise and covenant of him who setteth him awork So it is with the Children of God they esteem the Blessings promised and God's Word giveth them good assurance that they do not wait upon him in vain 1 Tim 4. 10. Therefore we both labour and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God who is the saviour of all men especially of those that believe They know God is good to all much more to his Covenant servants They value his salvation and venture their All upon his salvation and the truth of his Word and therefore lift up their souls to him in the midst of their pressures and difficulties 2. It is some satisfaction to enjoy the Blessing in Idea and contemplation before we have it indeed Hope causeth a kind of anticipation and preunion of our souls with the blessedness expected as Heirs live upon their Lands before they have them And that 's the reason why Joy is made to be the fruit of Hope though it be proper to fruition and enjoyment Rom. 12. 12. Rejoycing in hope of the glory of God It refresheth them in their Pilgrimage and affecteth them in some measure as if it were in hand So Rom. 15. 13. The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope through the power of the holy Ghost While believing waiting hoping while conflicting with difficulties They carry themselves as if they had already obtained the thing promised for by eying the Promise they are cheared and revived Hope giveth a foretaste especially when the comforting Spirit addeth his impression thereunto 3. The opening of the eye of Faith argueth a closing of the eye of Sense which giveth a double benefit First That we are not withdrawn with vain Objects Secondly Not discouraged with contrary Appearances First That we are not withdrawn by vain Objects Nothing doth quench Zeal and Holiness and Joy in the Lord nor cast water upon that sacred fire which should be kindled and kept ever burning in our bosoms so much as keeping the eye of Sense always open to behold the lustre and beauty of worldly vanities Alas then hope of Heaven and salvation from God is a cold heartless thing we think of it carelesly desire and press after it very weakly But now when the eye of Sense is shut and the eye of Faith kept always open then Hope advanceth it self with life and vigor and present things seem less and things to come more great and glorious in our eyes 1 Pet. 1. 13. Be sober and hope to the end c. Sobriety is the moderation of our affections in the pursuit and â—…se of earthly things The delights of the present life burden the Soul glue it to the earth and to base and inferior objects But when our Souls are kept in the fresh lively and serious expectation of better things all the things of the world appear more contemptible 'T is not for Eagles to catch Flies nor for the Heirs of Promise to be captivated by the delights of Sense so that every day our Hope is more certain and powerful our pursuit more earnest The mind is not darkned with the fumes of lust nor diverted from those noble objects Secondly The eye of Sense being shut we are not discouraged with contrary appearances nor with fears and troubles and the tryals of the present life because Hope seeth Sun-shine behind the back of the Storm We have a notable Emblem of the eye of Faith and the eye of Sense in the Prophet and the Prophet's man 2 Kings 6. 15 16 17. When the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth behold an host compassed the city both with horses and charets and his servant said to him Alas my master how shall we do And he answered Fear not for they that be with us are moe than they that be with them And Elisha prayed and said Lord I pray thee open his eyes that he may see And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw and behold the mountain was full of horses and charets of fire round about Elisha's man is afrighted with the dreadful appearance of Enemies encompassing them round about and is at his wits end What shall we do But his Master Elisha had the eye of Faith and could see great preparations which God had sent for their defence which the servant could not see therefore encourageth him and in a Prophetical Vision sheweth not only more horses and charets but charets of fire which were no other than the Angels of God come together in the manner of an Host to rescue the Prophet of God What was represented to him in a Prophetical Vision is always evident to Faith and to the eyes of a believing Soul They see God and his holy Angels set for their deliverance When God openeth the eyes of the mind they can see the glory and power of the other world and then though troubled on every side yet not distressed though perplexed yet not in despair though persecuted yet not forsaken though cast down yet not destroyed 2 Cor. 4. 8 9. Though wrestling with difficulties yea brought to some extremities yet this invisible assistance supporteth them and though they have little humane means yet God carrieth them on to their expected end and issue 1. USE To reprove us for poring so much upon present things and neglecting those to come especially the great recompence of reward Alas Men have either none or cold thoughts of that blessed estate which is offered in the Promises Our thoughts flie up and down like dust in the wind they may sometimes light upon good things but they vanish and abide not We may have some cold ineffectual glances upon Heaven and heavenly things which flie away and never leave the Soul better This argueth Hope is very weak if there be any at all for Hope is always longing and looking out for the blessing Sending Spies into the Land of Promise to bring it tydings thence it will discover its self
do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly God delighteth not in dealing harshly with his People The Rod is not that he taketh pleasure in if our case doth not call for it Lam. 3. 33. He afflicts not willingly We provoke him to it And shall we grow weary of his service because we suffer justly for our sins There is reason indeed why we should grow weary of sin Ier. 2. 19. we find the bitterness of it But no reason why we should grow weary of Duty Sin less and suffer less Provoke not God and nothing will proceed from him but what is good and comfortable he doth not punish or chasten men for holiness and well-doing no 't is for want of holiness Shall the Physician be blamed for the trouble of Physic when the Patient hath contracted a Surfeit that makes it necessary 'T was sin in general brought us into a state of suffering and particular errors that actually bring it on Secondly The benefits and fruit of Afflictions should allay and abundantly recompence the trouble of them that they should not be an hinderance or a snare but an help to Godliness They prevent our surfeit of wordly Prosperity which would cost us dearer than all the troubles of the Flesh which we meet with Alas what sad work doth Honour and Wealth and Power make in the world Blessed be God that he keepeth us under low humble and contemned like bottles in the smoke Shall a little affliction which saveth us from these opportunities of discovering our corruption be so resented by us as that we should wax weary of God and forget his Precepts Great and long Prosperity would be a sorer temptation to us than sharp and tedious Affliction the one keepeth us modest and humble whereas the other would make us vain and proud and wanton When Iesurun waxed fat he kicked Deut. 32. 15. He forsook God that made him and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation Slighted God and grew cold in duty ready to sin As a rank Soil breedeth weeds a pleasant Estate doth but fill us with vanity and folly Thirdly God in good time will send help and deliverance If we remember to plead the Promise God will remember to fulfil the Promise And those who are not unmindful of their duty God will not be unmindful of their safety Mal. 3. 16. The Lord hearkned and heard and a book of remembrance was written before him for those that feared the Lord and thought upon his Name You see there that God will not forget those that forget not his Word Those that keep their feet in the worst times when others reel and stagger God hath a great care of them Every word you speak for God every inconvenience you suffer for him every duty you perform to him 't is all upon Record Fourthly We may with the more confidence recommend our case to God Psal. 119. 153. Consider mine affliction and deliver me for I do not forget thy law They that do not make haste to deliver themselves God will deliver them The same God that requireth duty doth assure them of comfort SERMON XCII On the Fifth of November 1668. PSAL. CXIX VER 85. The proud have digged pits for me which are not after thy law THis Verse containeth a Complaint against his Enemies whereas most of the other Verses express his affection to the Law of God Yea this Verse strongly implieth it for he censureth and condemneth his Enemies mainly upon this ground because they did what they please without any regard to that Law which he himself took to be the Rule of his Duty and the Charter of his Hopes and Happiness Observe three things 1. The Character of David's Enemies The Proud 2. Their Practice or subtile and treacherous dealing with him They have digged pits for me 3. David's Censure of that Practice or their manifest Iniquity Which are not after thy law Let us Explain the Words The Proud In the Scripture it signifieth 1 either the Wicked in general Psal. 119. 21. Thou hast rebuked the proud which are cursed which do err from thy commandments 'T is an horrible arrogancy to oppose God's Laws and Interests in the World 2 more particularly such as are puffed up with worldly happiness and success and so either Saul's or Absolom's Counsellors may be intended Have digged pits for me A metaphorical Phrase usual in Scripture to represent the secret Plots and treacherous dealings of wicked Enemies an Allusion to them who digged Pits to take wild Beasts In the Greek 't is They have told me Tales Though this rendring was occasioned by a mistake of the word yet it agreeth well enough with the sense for this digging of Pits by false pretences and ensnaring counsels Prov. 16. 27. An ungodly man diggeth up evil and in his lips there is as a burning fire But let us keep to the Translation we have The manner of Toyls among the Iews was digging Pits and covering them over and hiding snares in them That as the Beast prest the clod and fell therein he might be caught and kept from getting out again Therefore David saith Psal. 35. 7. Without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit which without cause they have digged for my soul. Which are not after thy law Hebr. Not after thy law It may refer to the Men or the Practice who walk not according to thy Law or which fraudulent practices of theirs are not agreeable to thy Law The Law of God condemned Pits for tame Beasts Exod. 21. 33 34. If a man open a pit or dig a pit and not cover it and an ox or ass fall therein The owner of the pit shall make it good and give money to the owners of them Though it was lawful for Hunters to take wild Beasts yet they were to take heed that a tame Beast fell not therein at their peril Yet not for Men innocent and holy Men. But there is a Litotes in the words That is said not to be good or well done which is extremely evil very contrary to thy Law Thus we are wont to speak of a thing horrid in terms of extenuation As when we speak of a Fact it is not very commendable when we mean it is extremely abominable So crafty and subtile dealing consenteth not with the truth of God's Word that is it is extremely opposite to it This is produced by David as a ground of his confidence why he hoped he should not be taken in these Pits These practices were not only injurious to himself but contemptuous of the Law of God He layeth forth his Enemies carriage before God Note I. That secret Plottings against the Interests of God and his People in the world are an ancient practice II. That these Plots usually begin in Pride III. That God can when he will and usually doth protect his People against the Plots of the Proud or the Fraud as well as the Violence of Enemies IV. That God's Law forbiddeth all
Wretches who are in that everlasting estate would give if they might be trusted with a little time again that they might provide for Eternity how happy would they think themselves if God would but try them once more if careless Creatures would but anticipate the thoughts of another world how soon would they discern their mistake how miserably will you bewail your selves when you have lost Eternity for poor temporal Trifles What comfort will it be to you that you have been merry here lived in pomp and ease when you must endure the wrath of God for evermore and wish for any allay of your torments Luke 16. 24. Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame 'T is better to believe than try provide against it than try 6. If you be Christians indeed you have not the spirit of this world Christianity as 't is acted by us is but the exercise of Faith Hope and Love Now the eternal fruition of God is the matter that all these graces are conversant about Faith believeth that there is an Eternal Being and that our happiness lieth in the fruition of him Heb. 11. 6. Love is that which levelleth and directeth all our actions to this blessed end that we may see God and enjoy him as our portion and felicity Psal. 73. 25. Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none upon earth I desire beside thee Our desires are after him our delights in him 't is our work to please him our happiness to enjoy him The truth of his eternal Being is the object of our Faith so the apprehension of him as our chief good and felicity is the object of our love so as he is capable of being enjoyed and our participated Eternity is the object of our Faith this is the end of all our desires and labors and the expectation of this fortifieth us against all the difficulties of our pilgrimage and so directeth us what to mind be and do 2 Cor. 5. 9. Therefore we labor that whether present or absent we may be accepted of the Lord. Directions What shall we do Direct 1. Meditate often and seriously of Eternity There is a great deal of profit gotten by this Meditation nothing doth more promote the great ends of the Gospel than this Meditat on 1. For Christ nothing makes Christ precious but serious thoughts of Eternity he being the onely means to deliver us from wrath to come which is the great evil of the other state and procure for us the eternal enjoyment of God which is the good of that estate Psal. 84. 11. He is a sun and a shield and no good thing will he with-hold from them that live uprightly You can make a shift without Christ in this world you are by ordinary means well provided against the evils of this life and well fortified with the good things thereof but in death Christ will be to thee gain and advantage 2. It would promote the great change What will make a proud man humble a vain man serious a covetous worldling heavenly a wicked man a good man let him think of Eternity where only the humble the heavenly are favoured and accepted 2 Cor. 3. 11. 3. What would check Temptations either from the Pleasures Riches or Honors of the world these are not eternal Riches nor eternal Pleasures nor eternal Honors transitory things are not our business nor our scope Heb. 11. 25. 4. What would quicken diligence and put life into our endeavors but the meditation of Eternity Every thing should be laboured for that hath an everlastingness in it the travel of your souls should be laid out upon those things Isa. 55. 2. Wherefore do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfies not So John 6. 27. Labour not for the meat that perisheth but that which endureth to life everlasting Surely serious diligence is necessary Shall I trifle away that time which I am to improve for Eternity Direct 2. Let the enjoyment of an Eternal God be your end and scope 2 Cor. 4. 18. While we look not to things which are seen but to things that are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal When you have set eternal things before you then make your choice on the one side there are eternal joys on the other eternal torments Now vain pleasures lead to the one solid godliness to the other By the neglect of God you run the hazard of a miserable Eternity By the choice of God for your Lord and portion you get an interest in a blessed Eternity only let me warn you 1. To chuse End and Means together Mat. 7. 13 14. Enter ye in at the strait gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be that go in thereat Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth to life and few there be that find it They must be coupled both quicken each other the intention of the end quickens to a diligent pursuit and an earnest use of means and the use of means will sooner give you to understand what your condition will be than a bare reflection upon the End 2. Do not confound principal and subordinate Means so as one should justle out the other The primary means of going to the Father is Christ. John 14. 6. Iesus saith unto him I am the Way and the Truth and the Life no man cometh to the Father but by me The secondary means is holiness Heb. 12. 24. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. Direct 3. Be resolvedly true to your End which is the enjoyment of God and that will quicken you the more and direct you for the End is both our measure and our motive In short do all things from eternal Principles to eternal Ends the eternal Principle is the grace of the Spirit the eternal End is the pleasing glorifying and enjoying of God Philip. 1. 11. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Iesus Christ unto the praise and glory of God Actions carried on from eternal Principles according to an eternal Rule for an eternal End cannot miscarry SERMON XCIV PSAL. CXIX VER 89. Latter Clause Thy word is setled in heaven THis will bear two senses 1. Relating to God's Decree made in Heaven 2. That an Emblem of its Constancy is in Heaven 1. It may be referred to God's Decree Thy word is setled in Heaven in thy Mind and Will The words of temporal Kings are on Earth and therefore their Laws and Edicts are subject to many changes and are often revoked and altered either by themselves or by their Successors but the Word of God is above all changes and alterations as being decreed in Heaven 'T is preached on earth believed on earth
raise our Bodies after eaten out by Worms and turned into dust Matters of Faith being chiefly or mainly future and to come and difficult to be performed therefore an express belief of God's Power is necessary To convert such an obstinate and to sanctifie such a sinful creature and to raise the dead are no slight things 2. The Emblem of this immutable constancy 't is setled in the Heavens it is not measured by the sloating estate of things here upon Earth but by the perfection of the Heavens which are free from all changes and chances 1. They are fit Emblems of the stability of the Word for they continue to be what his Word once made them to be There is no justling among the Stars but all obey God's Word and Law Psal. 148. 4 5 6. Praise him ye heavens of heavens and waters that be above the heavens Let them praise the Name of the Lord for he commanded and they were created He hath also established them for ever and ever he hath made a decree which shall not pass So that when a Believer looketh up to Heaven there he seeth the Book of the Creatures opened wherein he beholdeth God's constancy and certainty written in indelible characters God's powerful voice did first separate the waters from the waters and those celestial Bodies move in that order wherein God hath set them Now is not this an help to us when we open the Book of Scriptures and compare the one with the other how the stated course of Nature and the stated course of Grace agree with his Power For as long as you trust God's Word you can never fail for both Heaven and Earth are sustained by it Heb. 1. 3. He upholdeth all things by the word of his power All is easie to God for he preserveth the Heavens in that estate wherein they are governed and can preserve his people in the most difficult cases 2. God's Constancy and Truth doth appear in the Heavens also there is a witness there of his Eternal Truth for when he had once said Let there be Heavens c. they presently were and ever since have kept one constant tenour and course yea Heaven shall sooner fail than God's Word fail he will not retract what he hath once said and therefore his Word is more firm and stable than the Frame of Heaven and Earth Mat. 5. 18. Till heaven and earth pass not one jot or tittle shall pass from the law till all be fulfilled Mat. 24. 30. Heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away So that God's Word is more stable than Heaven and Earth 3. The profit of this Meditation 1. That we may set the sureness of this Word against the diffidence and distrustfulness of our own hearts Luk. 24. 25. Slow of heart to believe Though God hath so firmly bound himself to the Creature by his own Word yet the Promise to us seemeth doubtful and uncertain especially when men are clouded with Troubles and Temptations for we look only to present sense and would not be put on any tryal Now it is comfortable to remember that the order and course of Nature is not so setled as the Grace of the Covenant is Let it have its course resolved and patient obedience will at length end in eternal happiness and therefore we should build surely upon a firm foundation that we may not stagger through unbelief but give glory to God Rom. 4. 20. 2. To comfort us when our hopes are delayed in due time the promise cannot want the effect Heb. 6. 12. There will be day and night summer and winter in their season therefore as in the night we wait for day and in the winter for summer so must we wait for our eternal consolation 3. To support us against the various changes in the state of worldly things Many things fall out in this world that breed trouble in us therefore if we should only look to the present state of things our hearts would float up and down but we must look to the immutable constancy of God's Word that 's a sure Rock for the anchor of hope to take hold on There is a sure Rule to walk by sure Promises to build upon if we would be everlastingly happy There are the sure mercies of David Isa. 55 3. The changes of this world perplex our Faith therefore we should not look to the instability of things below wherein there are continual vicissitudes but to the sure Covenant 4. Not only when our hopes are delayed and obscured by the changes and chances of this world but contradicted by contrary appearances God seemeth to cast us off to have no pleasure in us Now to bear up our Faith in the hardest condition that we may say Iob 13. 15. Though he slay me yet will I trust in him and believe in hope against hope we should remember the setledness and constancy of his Word The Promises stand firm in Heaven when they seem to fail on Earth God may cover himself with frowns and his dispensations may seem contrary to his intention as Ioseph spake roughly to his Brethren when he meant to discover himself to them or as Christ dealt with the woman of Canaan Mat. 15. But when there seemeth to be such a contradiction between the word and works of God when his voice is sweet like Iacob's and his hand rough like Esau's we must remember that the smart Rod is consistent with Covenant love Psal. 89. 32. And we must not interpret the Promise of God by his providential dealing with us but rather his dealing by his promises his promise being as the light part of the Cloud and his dealing as the dark part of it God is fulfilling promises by hard dispensations and sharp afflictions belong to his faithfulness Psal. 119. 75. Many times that is best for us not what we think best but what God thinks best The buffetings of Satan and oppositions of the world may be most wholsom to us though not most pleasing to the flesh 5. To wean us from the fading vanities of the world Isa. 40. 8. and 1 Pet. 1. 24. There is nothing firm and lasting in this world till we lift up our eyes to Heaven and seek an happiness in the promises 1 Iohn 2. 17. Our happiness lieth not in the present life but in the everlasting enjoyment of God In the Covenant all is setled and sure but in the world all is unstable and uncertain God's Covenant provideth for us eternal joy and bliss USE 1. To shew what contrary and different Conclusions the Carnal and Spiritual will draw from the same principles The Scoffers said 2 Pet. 3. 4. Where is the promise of his coming for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning â—…f the Creation Because the whole Frame of Nature had kept one constant tenour and course they plead for the Eternity of the World and the Falshood of the Promises Now David reasoneth
Arms of an Almighty God whom he hath made his refuge our tryals are many and grace received is small in the best but our God is great he that made all things and sustaineth all things and governeth all things and possesseth all things is our God surely his grace is sufficient for us 2 Cor. 12. 9. and his arms can bear us up Deut. 33. 27. The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms He can recover us from our falls and lift us over all our difficulties if we could but rest upon his Word and lean upon his Power why should we be discouraged Oh let us rejoice then not only in the goodness but greatness of that God whom we have chosen for our portion 2. We see here that God is an unchangeable God in goodness They continue this day according to thine Ordinance The stability of his works sheweth how stable the workman is Heaven and Earth continue by vertue of his word That man may have the use and benefit of it from generation to generation that the continual vicissitudes of day and night may be continued that man may have light to his labour and darkness drawn about him as a covering for his rest and also that there might be a constant succession of Summer and Winter to prepare and ripen the fruits of the Earth Now if God forsake not the World will he forsake his people for the benefit of Mankind he preserveth the courses of Nature and keepeth all things in their proper place for their proper end and use and will he not keep one way with his children Shall there be a failure in the Covenant when there is not a failure in common Providence as if he would satisfie the expectation of Heathens that look for a constant succession of day and night and Summer and Winter and would not satisfie the expectation of his children when they look for a blessed morning after a dark night of trouble and conflict and the light of his countenance after the storms of temptation Secondly For Subjection which I made to be double 1. Submission to his disposing Will God's appointment giveth Laws to all there is not the least thing done among us without his Prescience Providence and wise disposal to which all things in the World are subjected The Lord's Will and Pleasure is the onely Rule of his extending his Omnipotency and is the sovereign and absolute cause of all his working for all is done in Heaven or in Earth according to his Ordinance and no creature can resist his Will therefore let us submit to this Will of God if God take any thing from us let us bless the Name of the Lord he doth but make use of his own 'T is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good 1 Sam. 3. 18. 'T is none of ours but Gods and let him do with his own as it pleaseth him God is the disposer of man as well as other creatures and must chuse their condition and determine of all events wherein they are concerned We usually dislike God's disposal of us though it be so wise and gracious but consider his Sovereignty you cannot deliver your selves from the Will of God and get the reins into your own hands And alas we are unfit to be disposers either of the World or our selves as an Idiot is to be the Pilot of a Ship therefore let God govern all according to his own pleasure say Lord not my Will but thine be done We are safer by far in God's hands than our own 2. Obedience to his commanding Will. All creatures do serve God as his Word hath ordained so should we do we have Law and Ordinances too Shall man only be eccentric and exorbitant and transgress his bounds Winds and Sea serve him onely Man made after his Image disobeyeth him They serve God for our benefit the Heavens continue their motion to convey light heat and influence to us and the Air to give us breath and motion and the Earth to be a sure fixed dwelling place When all things are created and continued for our use shall not we serve our bountiful Creator We are sensible of the disturbance of the course of nature when these Confederances are dissolv'd when the Floods increase or Rains fall in abundance Oh! bemoan rather thy own irregular actions which are a greater deformation of the beauty of the Universe In short No creatures are sui juris they are subject to God by whose word and commandment they must rule their actions surely none of us are too great or too good to submit to God Angels enjoy Immunities yet are not exempted from service The creatures have acted contrary to their common Nature for God's honour let us obey God though contrary to our own wills and inclinations SERMON XCVII PSAL. CXIX VER 92. Unless thy law had been my delights I should then have perished in mine affliction IN the Verses before the Text David meditateth upon the constancy of the course of Nature whereby is represented God's constant fidelity in performing all his promises to his people Now he produceth his own experience and sheweth That all this had been matter of most pleasant meditation to support him under his afflictions when all other comforts failed he found sufficient consolation in the Word of God Unless thy Law had been c. In which words observe 1. David's Condition he was afflicted 2. His bitter sense of that Condition he was ready to perish in his Affliction 3. His Remedy the Word of God 4. The way of Application it was his delights 1. For his Condition Though he was a man after God's own heart yet he had his troubles Psal. 132. 1. Remember David Lord and all his afflictions 2. For his sense and apprehension I should then have perished Then that is long since if you suppose him now under trouble probably he should have sunk under the weight of it or if out of trouble he remembreth from experience what did comfort him when he was ready to perish But how perished It may be understood 1. Either as given over to the will of his Enemies if he had not confided in God for all humane help and comfort was cut off and then did divine help appear 2. Dyed for sorrow for worldly sorrow worketh death 2 Cor. 7. 10. We are apt to despond and despair in great and sore Troubles Affliction worketh heaviness 1 Pet. 1. 6. and heaviness dryeth the bones and wasteth our strength What kept him 3. His Remedy was the Word of God for he saith Unless thy Law had been my delights Some take the word Law strictly for the Precepts of the Law which keepeth us from sin which doth involve us in danger But rather it is taken for the whole Word of God and chiefly for the promises of support and deliverance I had despaired if I had not consulted with thy Word He doth not here speak of direction but of support elsewhere he found
nothing but sorrow but in the Word of God joy and comfort 4. The way of Application my delights the word is plural and increaseth the sense in what way soever it be interpreted Now it may be interpreted passively or actively 1. Passively That the Word of God refreshed him and afforded him matter of delight and so renewed his strength David had many sorrows but here he found delights as many comforts as troubles The Word of God yieldeth comfort for every state of life if there be many sorrows there are many delights but with advantage heavenly comforts for earthly afflictions eternal comforts for temporal sorrows 2. Actively He delighted in the Word of God yea counted it his delights it increaseth the sense 1. It was his chief delight Other things might be thankfully accepted and acknowledged but this was the solace and delight of his Soul 2. His continual delight and comfort to which he retreated upon all occasions 3. His whole or onely delight When deprived of all other things this was in stead of all delights to him all which shew his high esteem of the Word DOCT. That the afflicted mans true consolation is in the Word of God I will pursue the Point in the method that I have laid forth in the parts of the Text. 1. A Man after God's own heart such as David was may be afflicted why First Because God hath chosen another way of expressing his love to his people than by outward things for he will govern the spiritual part of the world by Faith and not by Sense therefore none shall know love and hatred by things that are before him Eccles. 9. 1. that is by meer outward events or things obvious to outward sense the significations of his love are more hidden Prov. 3. 31 32. Solomon supposeth that the Oppressor may be in a flourishing condition yet all this while the Lord hates him his secret is with the righteous we know his fatherly love to us not by things without us but things within us Rom. 8. 16. 1 John 3. 4. Hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us Gal. 4. 6. He hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts Outward things would soon be overvalued and we should take them as our whole felicity and portion if besides their sutableness to our present needs and appetites they should come to us as special evidences of God's love 2dly Afflictions are necessary to the best Certain it is God will conduct his people to glory not only by his internal but external Providence Now to humble us to wean us from the world there is need of afflictions 1 Pet. 1. 6. Te are in heaviness for a season if need be We are wanton vain neglectful of God unmindful of heavenly things if God did not put us under the Discipline of the Cross our minds and hearts would be more alienated from God and heavenly things Psal. 119. 67. Before I was afflicted I went astray Now since the best need it God will not be wanting in any part or point of necessary government to them 3dly That they may know the worth and benefit of God's Word and the comfort of it may be seen and felt by experience how able it is to support us and to uphold a sinking heart under any trouble whatsoever Rom. 15. 4. In full prosperity when we seem to live upon the creature we know not the benefit of God's promise nor how to live by Faith as the use of Bladders in swimming is not known while we are upon firm land The Word of God provideth comforts for the obedient not only at the end of the journey but for their support at present while they are in the way These comforts would be useless if never put upon the tryal therefore none of God's children must look to be exâ—…pted 1 Pet. 5. 9. All these afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world Our condition is no harder than the rest of the Saints of God that have passed thorow the world 2. David was ready to sink under his burden and so are other the people of God ready to perish when they look to the bare afflictions This may come First From the grievousness of the affliction which staggereth and amaseth them Psal. 60. 3. Thou hast shewed thy people hard things thou hast made us to drink of the wine of astonishment Their thoughts are confounded as a man that has taken a poysonous Potion They know not to what hand to turn are wholly dispirited and put out of all comfort 2dly It comes from the weakness of the Saints There is some weakness and imbecility in the best more than they are aware of as when David was ready to faint under the Cross before troubles came We are like unto Peter we think we can walk upon the Sea but some boistrous wind or other assaults our confidence and then we cry out Help Master we perish Mat. 14. 30. We reckon only upon the Sea but do not think of the wind and so our weakness is made evident by proof whence cometh this weakness 1. Partly because we look more to the Creature than to God and to our dangers than to the power that is to carry us through them Isa. 51. 12 13. I even I am he that comforteth thee who art thou that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall dye and of the son of man that shall be made as grass And forgettest the Lord thy Maker that hath stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor as if he were ready to destroy and where is the fury of the oppressor We that have the immortal and almighty God to be our Protector and Saviour why should we be afraid of a frail mortal man 2. If they look to God yet God doth not seem to look to them If a thin Curtain be drawn between God and us we are presently dismayed as if he were wholly gone and because of our hardships question the love of God Psal. 77. 9. Hath God forgotten to be gracious hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies Isa. 49. 14. Zion hath said the Lord hath forsaken me my God hath forgotten me though our condition be every way consistent with the fatherly love of God Heb. 12. 5. Have you forgotten the Exhortation which speaketh to you as children We are children though under discipline and God is a Father though he frowneth as well as smileth 3. Impatiency of delay if we question not his love yet cannot tarry his leisure Certainly it is very good to wait God's leisure though he seemeth asleep he will awake for our help Faith makes us like people that dig the Pit and wait for the rain to come down and fill it To lay the Cloth though we know not whence the Provision will be sent But the people of God
have not always the strength of Faith and therefore faint and are ready to perish I said in my haste I am cut off Psal. 31. 22. 4. Religion itself intendereth the heart a Father's anger is no slight thing to a gracious soul. When we are afflicted and God is angry the trouble is the more grievous and it is hard to steer right between the two Rocks of slighting and fainting well then pity poor creatures under their burden and help them but censure them not 3. His Remedy God's Word there is the Paradise of delights and the onely Requies to allay the bitter sense of all our troubles why First As to the main blessings there is represented to us the true Fountain of all comfort who is God the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort 2 Cor. 1. 13. who distributeth comfort when and where and to whom he pleaseth 2dly There is discovered to us the meritorious and procuring cause who is Jesus Christ Who hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace 2 Thess. 2. 16. 3dly The Spirit who is the applier of all comfort therefore called the Comforter and he giveth us peace and joy in believing Rom. 15. 13. 4thly The true instrument means or condition whereby we receive comfort and that is Faith Iohn 14. 1. 5thly The true matter of comfort and that is pardon and life 1. Pardon and Reconciliation with God Rom. 5. 10. no solid cause of rejoycing till then when reconciled to God then true peace and peace that passeth all understanding which will guard both heart and mind Phil. 4. 7. then all miseries are unstinged Solid pâ—…e of Conscience is your best support and comfort under afflictions the intrinsic evil of afflictions is then taken away Lam. 3. 39. Wherefore doth a living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins While sin remaineth unpardoned the thorn still remaineth in the sore 2. The promise of eternal life Rom. 5. 2. There is the Crown set against the Cross heavenly comforts against earthly afflictions the afflictions of God's children comparatively are light and short 2 Cor. 4. 17. This light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory Nothing should be grievous to them that know a world to come where all tears shall be wiped from our eyes and we shall enjoy fulness of joy and pleasure for evermore 6thly It sheweth us who are the Parties capable the renewed or sanctified Ps. 32. 11. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice ye righteous and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart To all Christ's sincere faithful and obedient servants these promises are matter of abundant joy As to particular comforts concerning afflictions it is endless to instance in all but take a few instances 1. The Word of God teaches us not only how to bear them but how to improve them as it teaches us how to bear them it breedeth quietness and submission but as it teaches us how to improve them it breedeth peace and joy To bear Micah 7. 9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him until he plead my cause and execute judgment for me he will bring me forth to the light and I shall behold his righteousness To improve them Heb. 12. 11. Righteousness brings peace along with it The fruit is better than the deliverance as we get spiritual advantage by them as they promote Repentance purge out Sin bring us home to God They rid us of the matter of our trouble and bring us to the center of our rest 2. The Word teaches to depend upon God for the moderating of them and deliverance from them 1 Cor. 10. 13. Before he giveth a passage out of our pressures he vouchsafeth present support to us and will not permit his servants to be tempted beyond what they are able to bear 3. His people have most experience of God under the Cross they have a more peculiar allowance from God for sufferings than for ordinary services Paul was most strong when weak 2 Cor. 12. 9 10. The greater pressures the more sensible the divine assistance And when ordinary means fail and they are pressed above their own strength the more visible the proof of God's help When they are most apt to have jealousies of God's love they have had the highest manifestations of it never more liberty than in the house of bondage Most of God's smiles when all things seem to frown upon them In short have had more understanding not only of God's Word but his Love 4. God's governing all things for the benefit of his people Rom 8. 28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God sure then afflictions Now they submitting and being exercised under sharp dispensations may find it verified to them many things seem for our hurt intendedly many thought so by our selves but God knoweth how to bring good out of them Cant. 4. 16. 4. David saith my delights They that seek their solace and delight in the Word shall find it there It is an excellent frame of heart to be satisfied with the comforts which the Word offereth every one cannot be thus affected to raise this delight 1. Faith is necessary for the comforts of the Word are received and improved by Faith unless we expect the sure accomplishment of God's promises how can we be supported by them Psal. 27. 13. I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living That is without a full assent to the promises which God had made him of his Restauration for he had particular assurance of the Kingdom as we have of the Kingdom of Heaven so for the consent as well as assent to take the happiness contained in the promises as our whole felicity Psal. 119. 111. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever they are the rejoicing of my heart There is heritage and portion rich enough in God's promises and this breedeth joy in all afflictions 2. Meditation is necessary for thereby the sweetness of the Word is perceived and tasted and the promises laid before us it is the fruit of delight Psal. 1. 2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night And it is the cause of it Psal. 104. 34. My meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord. They who delight in a thing will often view it and consider it and thereby their delight is increased the most lively truths work not on us for want of serious consideration 3. There must be Mortification and Self-denial or prizing spiritual Favors before temporal Benefits The Cross will not be grievous to a mortified spirit when they compare their gain with their loss 2 Cor. 4. 16. To others we speak in vain whose hearts are set upon worldly advantages but they
make it stick make it to be peace comfort and quickning to our souls It is said 1 Tim. 6. 13. That he that quickneth all things is God The quickning of life natural or life spiritual is to be ascribed to God alone Let me evidence this by three Considerations 1. The life of grace is begun and carried on in a constant way of dependance upon God he will not trust us with a stock of grace in our own hands but our life is in Christ's hands 1 Iohn 5. 12. He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life He hath it in his own hands and he gives and conveys it to us And Gal. 2. 20. I livâ—… yet not I but Christ liveth in me Christ made the purchase and therefore it pleased the Father that the parchased Treasure should be put into his hands and not immediately into ours We have so foully miscarried already that God will trust his Honour in our hands no more as at first he did We have nothing but what we have daily from Christ and in Christ he must influence us and without him we can do nothing Iohn 15. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apart from him we can do nothing therefore we cannot quicken our selves for God hath reserved this life of grace and kept it in his own hands that we may have our daily supplies from Christ. 2. The vitality or liveliness of Grace is not dispensed by a certain Law but according to the sovereign will and good pleasure of God God gives life to his People but the activity of it is only from his good pleasure Phil. 2. 13. For it is God that worketh in you to will and to do of or according to his good pleasure He gives out comfort and he gives degrees of quickning as he pleaseth to some more to some less and not always in the same degree to the same persons therefore we must look up unto God if we would have this life and quickning it is very necessary to our well-being but it is a favor he worketh in us according to his good pleasure 3. The Means cannot work without the principal Agent As the Word could not convert us at first but by the power of God or as his Grace works by it quickning a dead soul purifying a defiled heart humbling a proud mind so when the Conscience grows sleepâ—… you need quickning excitations to duty The same Grace which caused a spiritual life doth give us spiritual strength and maintain that life by inclining the mind and will by stirring up the affections by longing desires after Christ and Glory so the soul is still kept alive in the same way as it was begotten by God at first 1 Cor. 3. 7. Paul may plant and Apollo may water but it is God that giveth the increase All is of God who hath only the supreme power over mens hearts to enlighten the mind incline the will and enlarge the affections Though we use the means and we sin if we do not yet it is God that quickneth us he hath the supreme power over the heart of man IV. Fourthly These powerful Experiences in this kind will be and should be recorded and remembred by us for saith David I will never forget thy precepts 1 They will be remembred if we have met with any powerful Experiences of the Lord's quickning and awakening the heart 1. We will remember what most concerns us 2. We will remember all those things which make notable impressions upon our souls 1. Things that do concern us will be remembred by us Every ones memory is as his affections are Let a Child read the Scripture that Chapter wherein mention is made of Ioseph's parti-coloured Coat that will stick in his mind more than better things because it suits with his childish fancy and his desires that his Parents should make such a Garment for himself And 't is usually observed that Youth is most taken with the Histories of the Bible because of their desire to know things past And if oncâ—… they come to manly age they are more taken with the Doctrines of the Bible because when they grow men they begin to form their Opinions of Religion And elder persons are taken with Psalms and holy devotional strains in Scripture because then as they grow in age it is time to address themselves to God Persons in doubts and fears by reason of Sin they will be most affected with tenders of Grace as suiting best with their condition Persons in affliction with the consolations appointed for the afflicted Persons in conflict with any Sin with those passages which afford most direct help against them Still that which more especially concerns us that should and will be most observed and remembred by us for there it speaks to our very hearts Now saith the Soul in such a Point in such Extremity the Word of God did my heart good I shall remember it as long as I live When a seasonable word is spoken to their case their judgment was not past over by the Lord I was dead and it revived me disconsolate and it comforted me ready to stray and it reduced me under such a temptation and it relieved me I should transcribe the whole Scripture especially the Psalms if I should tell you how often David takes notice what the Word of God did to him in such and such a condition for still things that nearly concern us they will affect us and be remembred by us 2. Those things will be remembred that make any notable impression that leave a lively sense upon the heart they impress a notice of themselves and will not be forgotten Luke 24. 32. Did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened to us the Scriptures If opening of the Scriptures causeth any burning of heart or any strange workings of soul when the heat is gone and past yet the burning cannot be forgotten they remembred Christ still and can speak of the actings of the Spirit not only when they are on but when they are over and past Christ was vanished out of sight and gone yet they cannot forget the warmness of heart they felt while he opened the Scriptures to them Cant. 5. 4. He put in his hand by the hole of the door and my bowels were moved for him And ver 6. My soul failed when he spake O if we be soundly humbled or soundly comforted or be effectually moved and stirred to the remembrance of God then heavenly things that occasion this will not be forgotten 2 These things should be remembred to confirm our Faith to increase our Love 1. To confirm our Faith Faith is taken either for a general assent to the Word or for a dependence upon God for some blessing that we want or stand in need of Now if we take it for a general assent to the Word why these notable quicknings and experiences of the convincing or comforting or
them under sadness and horror Iudas threw away his 30 pieces of Silver when his guilt star'd him in the face I have sinned in betraying innocent blood Mat. 27. 4. When God is angry the creatures cannot pacifie him and make you Friends as when a man is going to Execution with a drooping and heavy heart bring him a Posie of Flowers bid him smell of them and comfort himself with them he will think you upbraid his misery so in troubles of Conscience what good will it be to tell a man of Riches and Honours the remedy must be according to the grief so that if outward things could satisfie the heart they cannot satisfie the Conscience our sore will run among all the creatures and there 's no salve for it Secondly They will not stead us at the hour of Death when a Man must launch out into Eternity and set Sail for an unknown World Can a Man comfort himself then with outward things that a Man is great rich and honourable beautiful or strong or that he hath wallowed in all manner of sensualities If Men would look to the end of things they would sooner discern their mistake Deut. 32. 29. Oh that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end So Ier. 17. 9. At his latter end he shall be a fool He was a Fool before all his life-long but now he is so in the account of his own heart So Iob 27. 8. What hope hath the hypocrite though he hath gained when God cometh to take away his soul The poor Man would fain keep his soul a little longer no but God will take it now and he doth not resign it but God takes it by force And 1 Cor. 15. 56. The sting of death is sin The dolors and horrors of a guilty Conscience are revived by death and then the weakness of worldly things doth best appear our wealth and honour and pleasure will leave us in the dirt when the soul is to be turned out of doors our vain conceits are blown away and we begin to be sensible of our ill choice if Conscience did not do its office before death will undeceive them When a man dyeth he shall carry nothing away with him his glory shall not descend after him Psal. 49. 17. He shall be eaten out by Worms as others are when he cometh to go the way of all the Earth then for one Evidence for Heaven one dram of the favor of God as Severus the Emperor cryed out I have been all things but now it profits me nothing 4. 'T is of no use to you in the world to come Gold and Silver the great Instruments of Commerce in this world are of no value there all civil distinctions last but to the Grave some are high and others low some are rich and others poor these distinctions will last but awhile but the distinction of good and bad lasts for ever their works follow them but not their wealth outward things cannot save your souls or bring you to Heaven 5. In this World it will not prevent a Sickness or remove it The honorable and the rich have their diseases as well as the poor yea more they are bred upon them by their intemperance All your Houses and Lands and Honors and Estates cannot ease you of a Fit of the Gout or Stone nor an aking Tooth nor keep off Judgments when they are Epidemical There were Frogs in Pharaoh's Bed chamber as well as among the meaner Egyptians and all the King's Guard could not keep them out Well then all these things shew 't is of a limited use indeed they serve to make our Pilgrimage comfortable and to support us during our service that 's the best use we can put them to but the use the most put them to is to satisfie a sensual appetite or please a fleshly mind Psal. 17. 14. The utmost that these things can procure is a back well cloathed and a belly well filled This is but a sorry happiness to feed a little better than others to provide a richer Feast for the Worms yea a Prey for Hell Take all created perfections not as subordinate to grace but separate from it it serveth but to please the appetite or the fancy make the most or best of it Secondly By their time and period as to continuance All these things perish in the using like Flowers they wither in our hands while we smell to them The fashion of this world passeth away 1 Cor. 7. 31. And whosoever liveth here for awhile must look for changes and reckon to act several parts in the World Whatsoever was wonderful in former Ages 't is lost and past with age things that now are are not what they once were Psal. 102. 26 28. They shall perish but thou shalt endure for ever saith the Psalmist speaking to God Yea all of them shall wax old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed but thou art the same and thy years have no end Christ he hath no end but Men will soon see the end of all perfection The World and all things were made ea lege ut aliquando pereant that they might at length fail and come to an end That which you now have you cannot say it shall be yours this time twelve month or it may be a month hence we hold all things by an uncertain tenure God may take away these things from us for Man is compared to Grass and the glory of Man to the flower of Grass 1 Pet. 1. 24. What is the glory of Man Riches Wisdom Strength Beauty Credit all these things are called the Flower now the Flower fadeth before the Grass and withers the neglected stalk remaineth when the leaves of the Flower are shed you may be gone and they gone if they continue with you till death then you must take your final farewell of all your comforts Thus you see all perfection will have an end Fourthly Here is the confirmation from Sense I have seen Consider it 1. As 't is matter of sense or experience 2. As 't is an observation upon experience First The vanity of the Creature is matter of sense and plain experience We have seen and others have seen all outward things come to their final period goodly Cities levied with the Earth mighty Empires destroyed worldly Glory blasted Honours vanished Credit and Esteem shrunk into nothing Beauty shrivelled with Age or defaced by Sickness yea all manner of greatness laid in the dust We trample upon the Graves of others and within a little while others will do the same over ours All things have their times and turns their rise and ruine there 's no man that converseth with the world but he will soon see the vanity of it David found it not only by clear reason but by his own experience I have seen saith he and so will you say too within awhile these things will fail when you have most need
mind a sense of his misery Therefore Gods witnesses are said to torment them that dwell on the earth Rev. 11. 10 God's word is a torment to them To come to the word and study the word of God and consider his mind revealed therein this nothing but increaseth fears It 's a vexation to them when they would sleep securely to have their consciences rubbing up and reviving their fears Therefore they are not in a capacity to delight in the word of God 3. Direc 3dly If you would delight in the word of God you must get an esteem of spiritual enjoyments why are wicked men so greedily carried out after worldly comforts These are the only things which they value But until a man learns to value knowledge and spiritual comforts and subjection to God and conversion of his heart to God he will not love the word which is the instrument of all these benefits When he counts these as the greatest blessings then his heart will be carried on to them for the word only hath a subserviency to these things Poor low creatures value themselves by plentifulness of worldly accommodations they will not be so much longing after them But when they value instruction above silver and knowledge more than their gold as Prov. 8. 10. when the heart is set upon spiritual things then they love the word by which they might be made partakers of it 4. Direction Fourthly Let a man live in awe of the word and make it his business to maintain Communion with God for this will will shew him the necessity of his word for to comfort and for to strengthen him upon all occasions A lively Christian that in good earnest minds his work must have the word by him for his strength and support as he that labours must have his meals otherwise he will faint Painted fire needs no fuel and when we content our selves with a loose and careless profession then we will not so delight our selves in Gods book and in his statutes and run to those things for the support of our souls But when we make it our business then naturally we will be carried out in love to the word Use 3. For tryal Have we this love to Gods word Gods people love his word exceedingly There are many do not hate it do not oppose it or have some cold affections this way but have you that order of affection which the Children of God do express 1. If you have a true Love to the word of God you will much exercise your selves therein in reading hearing praying conferring and meditating these will be constant exercises of your souls You will be much in reading the word as the Eunuch returning from publique worship was reading a portion of Scripture Acts 8. 28. It is good to see with our own eyes and drink out of the fountain not barely to attend upon deductions from the word and discourses built thereupon but to read the book itself and if it seem dark God will send you an Interpreter Then you will be delighted in hearing the word Certainly the Saints will take all meet occasions for this If he hath begotten you by the word of truth you will be swift to hear Iames 1. 9. They which have experimented the power of it there needs not much adoe to press them to come and wait upon the dispensation of the word Psal 1. 22. 1. I was glad when they said unto me let us go up unto the house of the Lord. You should be glad of these occasions of hearing Gods word Look as in heaven all our comforts and all grace comes in there by vision by sight so now it comes in here in the Church by hearing hearing is the sense exercised in the Church and therefore Gods Children will be much in hearing the word Then much in conferring of it What a man delights in he will be talking of and so should you at home and abroad Deut. 6. 7. Thou shalt be talking of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest in the way and when thou liest down and when thou risest up When you are at home you should be conferring of these holy things and abroad seasoning your journey and business with gracious conference 2. If you have this Love to the word of God you will delight to get it into your hearts There 's the great business of a Christian that it may not only be in the Bible but may be imprest on the heart and exprest by a sincere uniform impartial obedience when we study conformity thereto in heart and life Hypocrites may delight in the speculation but a Child of God is delighted in the obedience and in conformity to his word Psal. 119. 14. I have rejoyced in the way of thy Testimonies as much as in all riches Not only in the testimonies themselves in the naked contemplation of these blessed truths reconciliation with God and the way to true happiness but in the way and practice of these things He that loves his rule will study an exact conformity thereunto The Love a child of God hath to the word it differs from the Love of an hypocrite or a temporary believer thus by this similitude In a rare piece of painting an ordinary beholder takes a great deal of comfort when he seeth it or looks upon it but this is nothing to that contentment which an Artist takes in imitating and copying it out in expressing it when he can by his own pensil copy it out to the life So that which a child of God delights in is when he can copy out this word of God get it into his heart and hold it forth in his Conversation for the Scripture speaks of both Of the word got into the heart Iames 1. 21. Receive with meekness the ingrafted word When it is not only an external rule but an ingrafted word So Psal. 37. 31. The Law of God is in his heart and Psal. 40. 8. Thy Law is in my heart Here 's the great Testimony of our love to God's Law when we strive to have it imprest on the heart and exprest in the conversation Phil. 3. 16. Let us walk by the same Rule This is a double contentment when it comes to that not only to the view of truth but when the heart is a ready transcript of the word of God when these things are not only revealed to him but revealed in him Gal. 1. 16. It pleased God to reveal his Son in me There is a revealing things to us and a revealing things in us Now when this is our business that all this may be revealed in us and we may be cast into the mould of this Doctrine then indeed do we love the Law of God Rom. 6. 17. Ye have obeyed from the heart that form of Doctrine which was delivered unto you or whereto ye were delivered 3. They which love the word of God love the whole word even that which thwarts their natural desires and discovers their
this kind of wisdom 1 Cor. 3. 18. 2. You may look upon them as corrupt and sinful In those days of Saul the Teachers might be corrupt as vvell as other ranks and orders of Men and then it only implies this That God gives greater understanding to his People than to their corrupt Guides Luk. 11. 52. Wo unto you lawyers for ye have taken away the key of knowledge ye entred not in your selves and them that were entring in ye hindred The Expounders of the Lavv vvere corrupt and hindred others from entring into the Kingdom of God it is a great evil vvhen the Church of God is given up to such kind of Guides But novv in such a case they that make conscience of God's Ordinances use private means vvith diligence have more understanding than their Teachers Mat. 23. 2 3. The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses seat Whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and do but do not ye after their works for they say and do not Though they were naught and corrupt themselves yet if they bring God's message it should not be slighted because of the office and lawful authority with which they are invested though not every way qualifi'd for their station and in this sense a Child of God may be wiser than his Teachers 3. We may look upon them as contenting themselves with the naked Theory of God's Law without making conscience of practice that they were such kind of Guides that never tasted themselves what they commended to others or practised what they taught then I have more understanding than my Teachers He that excels in practice he hath the best understanding Practical knowledge is to be prefer'd before speculative as much as the end is to be prefer'd before the means the end is more noble than the means now speculative knowledge is the means to the end Psal. 111. 10. A good understanding have all they that do his commandments Not only know what is to be done but do what is to be known as for others whatever light they seem to have they have not wisdom and understanding Ier. 8. 9. Lo they have rejected the Word of the Lord and what wisdom is in them They were boasting of the knowledge of the Law yet there was no wisdom in them A mean Christian that fears God is a Man of more understanding than he that hath a great deal of head-light and in this sense may it be well said The Children of God are wiser than their Teachers Many times those that are unlearn'd rise up and take Heaven by violence when others by all their literal and speculative knowledge are thrust down to Hell Suppose it spoken no way in diminution to these Teachers but that they did their duty 4. Some comment thus That David had more understanding than all his Teachers which taught him the first Rudimens of Religion that he transcended them by far by God's blessing in making further progress in this kind of knowledge If this were the sense it would teach us not always to keep to our milk and to the first principles of Religion but to wade further and further into these mysteries Heb. 5. 12 13. We should go on still and grow up to a greater fulness in knowledge according as we have more means and advantages But this is not the sense for he saith than all my Teachers Why then 2dly take it for his godly Teachers that were every way qualifi'd and it is no new thing for a Scholar to exceed his Master and Christians of a private station many times to excel those that are in office Look as in secular things among the Heathens Aristotle was wiser than Plato his Master and oppos'd him in many things therefore is call'd an Asses Colt that as soon as he was full with the Dams milk kicks her he forgot that he was his Father We should if we can exceed our Teachers but not despise them and Daniel chap. 1. 20. was wiser in civil Arts than all his Teachers so also 't is true as to holy things Iesus Christ at twelve years of age puzled the Doctors Eli brought up Samuel in the fear of God but he proved wiser than Eli Paul brought up at the feet of Gamaliel Acts 22. 3. prov'd a more notable instrument of God's glory And Austin was taught by Ambrose but grew afterwards more eminent than he Thus David was wiser than his Teachers and yet they might be faithful and holy Now he mentions this partly to commend the Lord's grace Thou hast made me wiser than my Teachers and partly to commend meditation in the Word the means by which he got it not to boast of his own attainments but to commend grace and commend the means of grace to others What may we observe from this Assertion of David I am wiser than my Teachers 1 Obser. First The freeness of Gods grace in making a difference between men and men as to measures and degrees of knowledge 1 Cor. 4. 7. Who made thee to differ from another And what hast thou that thou hast not received Some have more and some less understanding and all is as God gives out There is not only a difference between men and men as to their great distinction of Election and Reprobation but within the sphere of Election as to measures of grace God manifests himself to some more than to others they are admitted to this favor to see more than others into the mind of God though they have the same Teacher God's Spirit the same Rule and Direction God's Word the same Principles of Grace yet they have greater measures of knowledge the reasons lie in God's bosom and grace Now this should be noted that those which excel should be kept humble as being more indebted to grace than others are and surely none should be proud because more in debt and that those who are excelled might submit and be contented to be out-shined Iohn 3. 30. He must increase but I must decrease It should be a rejoicing to them that God is likely to be glorifi'd more by others especially Teachers should rejoice that God should give such a blessing to the Ministry that they which seem to be under them should see more than they when those two quarrelling Pronouns meum tuum mine and thine have no more use as in Heaven then we shall fully rejoice in one anothers gifts and graces and what they enjoy it will be our comfort as in a Quire of Voices one sings the Treble another the Bass they are refreshed and every one delights not only in his own part and performance but in the part of each other all concurs to the harmony so one hath this measure of grace another another and all concur to the glory of God 2 Obser. Secondly Not only the freeness of God's grace in giving wisdom to one more than to another but observe also the Soveraignty of God's distribution the treasures of grace are at his free disposing and
his mouth and walk in the way that is pointed out by his Word and Spirit you shall have enough to direct you in all your ways 2. It doth warn us of all our dangers It doth not only in the general call upon us to watch Mat. 13. 37. and walk circumspectly Eph. 5. 15. but it discovers all those deceits particularly whereby we may be surprized diverted and turned out of the way There are snares in Prosperity snares in Adversity Temptations you meet with in praying trading eating drinking in your publick undertakings and in your private converse it shews your danger in all your ways before you feel the smart of them therefore give up your selves to God's direction reading hearing meditating believing and practising read hear it often then the deceits of Satan will be laid open and the snares of your own hearts Christians an exact Rule is of little use if you do not consult it Gal. 6. 16. Peace and mercy be upon all them that walk according to this Rule That order their conversations exactly the word signifies that try their work as a Carpenter doth by his square they examine their actions by the Word of God what they are now a doing therefore consult with it often then meditate of it ponder it seriously 2 Tim. 2. 7. Consider what I say and the Lord give thee understanding in all things If we would have understanding by the Word there must be consideration Man hath a discursive faculty to debate things with himself Why this is my duty what would become of me if I slep out of God's way here 's danger and a snare What if I should run into it now it is laid before me And then believe it surely Heb. 4. 2. The Word profited not not being mixed with faith in them that heard it Believe God upon his Word without making tryal You hear much of living by sense and by saith living by faith is when we bear up upon the bare Word of God and encourage our selves in the Lord but living by sense is a trying whether it be so or no as they that will not believe Hell shall feel Hell and they that will not believe the Word of God shall smart for it Heb 11. 7. Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear prepared an Ark. It may be there were no preparations to the accomplishment of the Curse and Judgment the Word threatned it 's a thing not seen yet he prepared an Ark. When a man is walking in an unjust course all things prosper for awhile the misery the Word threatens is unseen Ay but if you would grow wiser by the Word than men can by Experience you must look to the end of things Psal. 73. 17. I went into the sanctuary of God then understood I their end And then practise it diligently A young Practiser hath more understanding than an ancient Notionallist Psal. 111. 10. A good understanding have all they that do his commandments It is not they that are able to speak of things and savor what the Word requires but they that do what they hear and discourse of Gregory saith We know no more than we practise and we practise as we know these two always go together The Word doth us no good unless there be a ready obedience therefore this is wisdom when we give up our selves to God's direction whatever it cost us in the world Doct. 2. That young ones may have many times more of this wisdom than those that are ancient Divers instances there are Ioseph was very young sold into Egypt about 17 years of age and when he was in Egypt Psal. 105. 22. He taught his Senators wisdom speaking of the Senators of Egypt With how much modesty did he carry himself when his Mistriss laid that snare Isaac was young and permitted himself to be offered to God as a Sacrifice Samuel was wise betimes 1 Sam. 2. 26. It is said The child Samuel grew on and was in favor both with the Lord and also with men From his Infancy he was dedicated to God and God gives him wisdom to walk so that he was in favor with God and men yea God reveals himself to Samuel when he did not to Eli. David when he was but 15 years of age fought with the Lion and Bear and somewhile after that with Goliah when he was a ruddy youth Iosiah when he was but eight years old administred the Kingdom before he was twelve sets upon serious Reformation Ieremiah was sanctified from the womb Ier. 1. 5. And Iohn the Baptist leapt in his Mother's womb Luke 1. 35. In the 32d of Iâ—…b the Ancients Iob's Friends are spoken of pleading their Cause wise young Elihu brings wiser words and better arguments than those that came to comfort Iob. Solomon asked wisdom of God when he was young Daniel and his Companions those four children as they are called Dan. 1. 17 18. it is said The Lord filled them with wisdom above all the ancient Chaldeans And Timothy the Apostle speaks of his youth and bids him flee youthful lusts he was young yet very knowing and set over the Church of God Our Lord Iesus at 12 years old puzled the Doctors In Ecclesiastical Stories we read of one at 15 years of age dyed with great constancy for Religion in the midst of sundry tortures Ignatius pleads the cause of the Bishop when he was but a very youth but a man powerful in doctrine and of great wisdom and therefore he saith He would have them not look to his appearing youth but to the age of his mind to his wisdom before God And he saith There are many that have nothing to shew for their age but wrinckles and gray hairs So there are many young ones in whom there is an excellent spirit and in all Ages there are instances given of youth of whom it may be said That they are wise beyond their years For the Reasons why many times young ones may have more wisdom than those that are aged God doth so 1. That he might shew the freedom and sovereignty of his grace He is not bound to years nor to the ordinary course of nature but can work according to his own pleasure and give a greater measure of knowledge and understanding to those that are young and otherwise green than he will to those that are of great age and more experience in the world You have this reason rendred Iob 32. 7 8 9. I said days should speak and multitude of years should teach wisdom There 's the ordinary course But there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding Great men are not always wise neither do the aged understand judgment Though all men have reason and a spirit yet the Spirit of God is a wind that blows where he lists Those that exceed others in time may come behind them in grace He gives a greater measure many times of grace and knowledge to shew his
That I might keep thy Word 6 This refraining must be from every sinful course The grace of Justification will teach this and the grace of Sanctification the grace of Justification that pardoneth all sin will teach us to deny all Tit. 2. 12. And the grace of Sanctification will teach us to deny not one but all for that introduceth a setled hatred against sin in the soul Now hatred is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the whole kind he that hates one sin as sin hates all sin As Haman thought scorn to lay his hands upon Mordecai alone but sought to destroy all the seed of the Iews Esther 3. 6. So this hatred 't is universally carried out against all sin Indeed they do not mortifie any sin that do not mortifie every sin one lust remaining unmortifi'd it keeps the Devil's interest afoot in the soul. Pharaoh when the Israelites would have gone would fain have a pawn of their return their Flocks their Herds or their Children that they might be sure to come back again So Satan if a Man be touched in conscience and will bethink himself and look after Religion if he can get but a pawn a corner of the heart one sin he knows his interest is still kept Herod did many things but he had his Herodias and that held him fast and sure to Satan The young man had a sense of eternal life upon him Mat. 19. 22. and he did many things All these have I kept from my youth but he was worldly There are certain tender parts in the soul that are loth to be touched but now if we would be sincere with God we must refrain from every evil way Any one man entertained besides the Husband it breaks the Marriage Covenant any one sin allowed in the soul be it never so small it forfeits our priviledges by grace But now because particulars are more affective and do strike upon the soul with the more smart blow than generals briefly consider 1. We must refrain from every evil way not only notorious sins but those that are plausible and of more reputation in the world that are not so ranck in the nostrils of men and expose us to such disgrace and dishonor There are open sins that are found hateful that have a turpitude in them and bring shame Gal. 5. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The works of the flesh are manifest such as Murder Adultery gross oppression these are ranck weeds of an ill savor that stink in nature's nostrils and are accompanied with shame and disgrace To refrain from these is little thanks Luke 18. 11. The Pharisee wipes his hand of these I am not an Adulterer c. Ay but he was proud censorious and covetous there 's Pride Censoriousness Covetousness and Worldliness cloaked sins that are not of such disgrace in the world all these should be hated by you Many times those sins that are majoris infamioe of greater infamy they are not always majoris reatus they do not leave the greatest guilt upon you Unbelief it is not infamous in the World neglect of the Gospel of grace want of love to Christ Jesus these are great sins and therefore you must not only abstain from notorious sins but those which are more plausible and are not of such ill fame in the world 2. You must abstain from sins outward and inward Isa. 55. 7. The Sinner must not only forsake his way but his thought by his way is meant his outward course and practice but he must make conscience of his thoughts and secret workings of heart Practices may be over-rul'd by by-ends but thoughts and desires these are the genuine immediate motions and issues of the soul that do come immediately out of the Fountain and are restrained only by grace 3. Sin 's profitable and pleasant as well as those that have no such allurement and blandishment in them There are many sins that have nothing of allurement in them that are entertained only upon sin's account and evil custom as rash swearing blasphemy malice and the like But there are other sins that allure and entice the soul by the promise of profit and pleasure these two bastard goods that do make us often quit the good of honesty and duty Now you are to deny all ungodliness and worldly Lusts Tit. 2. 12. worldly Lusts what ever would endanger the soul all inordinate inclinations that carry you out to these things of pleasing the flesh and gratifying worldly interests 4. In refraining the feet from every evil way that is from sins against either table Rom. 1. 18. Mark God hath owned both tables not only revealed his wrath against ungodliness breaches of the first table but against unrighteousness breaches of the second table Many they indeed will not be unjust intemperate unkind to their neighbours I but they express no affection to God by worshipping him in their hearts by faith fear and love or in their houses by constant prayer morning and evening and secret and familiar in closet converses with God they are guilty of ungodliness though not of unrighteousness And there are many that would be much in worship in praying fasting and hearing but they forget their neighbours they are unrighteous they do not make Conscience in their dealings with men and in the duties of their relations are unfaithful many times to the great dishonour of God they do things Heathens would boggle at 5. There are great sins and small sins Many make not Conscience of small offences count these venial certainly he that would have a tender regard to God's Law no sin should seem little to him that is an offence to the great God It is Satan's custom by small sins to draw us to greater as the little sticks do set the great ones on fire and a wisp of straw enkindles a block of wood and by small sins we are enticed by Satan the the least sin allowed of is of a deadly and dangerous consequence Matth. 5. 19. Whosoever shall break the least of these commandments and teach men so It is treason to coin a penny as well as a pound To break the least of God's Commandements to make no Conscience of them because it is a small thing it argues a naughty heart Bodkins may wound and stab as well as swords Look as we read of the Prophet he was devoured of Lyons so we read of Herod he was eaten up by lice Small sins may be a very great mischief to the soul. Little sins are often the mother of great sins and the grand mother of great punishments and of plagues from God and therefore these lesser sins we must refrain from I kept my self from every evil way 6. We must not commit any thing that is evil out of a good intention if it be an evil but stand at a distance from it Do not turn aside to any crooked path upon any pretence soever Some have a good action but a bad aim now these do as it were make God serve the
teaching and is always at hand to guide us and give counsel to us which is cause of our standing We need this continual teaching to keep us mindful that we may not forget things known The Spirit puts us in remembrance because of the decay of fervency and dulness of spirit that groweth upon us therefore are truths revived to keep us fresh and lively that we may not neglect our duty because of incogitancy and heedlesness we mistake our way and are apt to run into sin in the time of trial and temptation Therefore we need a Monitor on all occasions Isa. 30. 31. that we may not be carried away with the corrupt bent of our own hearts Well then this abiding in us is the cause of perseverance 1 Iohn 2. 27. Use. To shew the reason of mens fickleness and unconstancy both in opinion and practice He that is led by man unto man both as to opinion and practice may be led off by man again when we take up Truth upon Tradition and Humane Recommendation Oh seek it of God! Isa 48. 17. I am the Lord your God that teacheth you to profit Not our own ability but the light of the Holy Ghost wait upon God learn something of him every day and give God all the glory SERMON CIX PSAL. CXIX VER 103. How sweet are thy words unto my taste yea sweeter than honey to my mouth IN this Verse you have another evidence of David's affection to the Word and that is the incomparable delight which he found therein as being suitable to his taste and spiritual appetite This pleasure and delight he found in the Word is propounded 1 By way of Interrogation or Admiration How sweet are thy words unto my taste As if he had said so sweet that I am not able to express it 2 By way of Comparison Yea sweeter than honey to my mouth To external sense nothing is sweeter than honey honey is not so sweet to the mouth and palat as the Word of God is to the soul. It is usual to express the affections of the mind by words proper to the bodily senses as taste is put here for delight and elsewhere eating is put for believing and digesting the truth Thy Word was sweet and I did eat it Jer. 15. 8. Again in all kind of Writers both prophane and sacred it is usual to compare the Excellency of Speech to Honey The Poet describes an Elegant man That his Speech flow'd from him sweeter than Honey And the like we may observe in Scripture Prov. 16. 24. Pleasant words are as an honey comb sweet to the soul and health to the bones He means words of wisdom such words as come from a pure heart now these are sweeter than Honey So the Spouse because of her gracious doctrine it is said Cant. 4. 11. Thy lips O my Spouse drop as the honey-comb And Psal. 19. 10. More to be desired are they than gold yea than much fine gold sweeter also than honey and the honey-comb For Profit he esteemed them more than Gold for Pleasure more than Honey or the Honey-comb and David saith here Thy words are sweet unto my taste He doth not say in general They are sweet unto the taste but sweet unto my taste Holy men that have much communion with God such as David was they that have his Spirit find this delight in the Word of God nothing so sweet or so full of pleasure to the soul. Two Points 1. That there is such a thing as spiritual taste 2. That to a spiritual taste the Word of God is sweeter than all pleasures and delights whatsoever Doct. 1. That there is such a thing as spiritual taste 1 I shall shew that it is and what it is The use of it and what is requisite to it 1. It appears that there is such a thing the soul hath its senses as well as the body We do not only know but feel things to be either hurtful or comfortable to us so the new nature doth not only know it but doth seem to feel it that some things are hurtful and others are comfortable to it and hence the Apostle's expression Heb. 5. 14. Such have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil Christians If there be such a thing as spiritual life certainly there must be spiritual sense for all life is accompanied with a sense of what is good or evil for that life and the higher the life the greater the sense Beasts feel more than a Plant when hurt is done to them because they have a nobler life and a Man than a Beast and the life of Grace being above the life of Reason there 's a higher sense join'd with it and therefore the pain and pleasure of that life is greater than the pain or pleasure of any other life for spiritual things as they are greater in themselves so they do more affect us than bodily A wounded Conscience who can bear it Prov. 18. 4. What a sense doth the evil of the spiritual life leave upon the soul And then for the comforts of the spiritual life the joys and pleasures of it are unspeakable and glorious 1 Pet. 1. 8. such joy as no tongue or words can sufficiently express A taste of the first-fruits of Glory how sweet is it Briefly let me tell you there are three internal Senses spoken of in Scripture Seeing Tasting and Feeling Sight implies Faith Iohn 8. 56. Abraham rejoiced to see my day And Heb. 11. 27. By faith Moses saw him that was invisible There is a seeing not only with the eyes of the body but with the eyes of the mind things that cannot be seen with the outward sense Abraham saw my day at so great a distance As there is sight so also taste which if we refer it to good is nothing else but spiritual experience of the sweetness of God in Christ and the benefits which flow from communion with him Psal. 34. 8. O come taste and see that the Lord is gracious Do not only come and see but come and taste The third sense is feeling or touch that relates to the power of grace Phil. 3. 10. That I might know him and the power of his resurrection c. There is a sense that a Christian hath of the power of grace and of Christ upon his soul so 2 Tim. 3. 5. Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof When men resist the force and vertue of that Religion which they profess then they are said to deny the power of those Principles Well then there are spiritual senses 2. Now that we might know what they are let me shew 1. How these spiritual senses differ from the external 2. That in some sense they differ from the understanding 1 These spiritual senses differ from the external sense that I shall prove by three Arguments 1. Because in those things that are liable to external sense a man may have an outward sense of them when he hath not an inward
honey There was somewhat of Prophetical Vision in these things but generally it is carried not an outward and literal eating but a spiritual taste relishing the sweetness of it Well then the Word must not only be read and heard but eaten What 's this spiritual eating of the Word Three things are in it and all make way for this taste 1 Sound Belief 2 Serious Consideration 3 Close Application He that would have a taste of spiritual things these three things are necessary 1. That there be a sound Belief of it Men have not taste because they have not faith we cannot be affected with what we do not believe Heb. 4. 2. The Word profited not not being mixed with faith in them that heard it What 's the reason Men have no taste in the doctrine of God and in the free offers of his grace It is not mingled with faith and then it wants one necessary Ingredient towards this taste So 1 Thes. 2. 13. Te received the Word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believe If you would have spiritual sense Faith makes way for it we must take the Word as the Word of God When we read in feigned Stories of inchanted Castles and golden Mountains they affect us not because we know they are but witty Fictions pleasant Fables or idle Dreams and such Atheism and Unbelief lies in the hearts of men against the very Scriptures and therefore the Apostle seeks to obviate and take off this 2 Pet. 1. 16. We have not followed cunningly devised fables intimating there is such a thought in man's heart Certainly if men did believe the mystery that is without controversie great that God hath indeed sent his Son to redeem the world and would indeed bestow Heaven and eternal happiness upon them they would have a greater taste but they hear of these things as a Dream of Mountains of Gold or Rubies falling from the Clouds If they did believe these glorious things of Eternity their hearts would be ravish'd with them 2. As Faith is necessary so serious Consideration by which we concoct Truth and chew them and work them upon the heart that causeth this sweetness by knocking on the Flint the sparks flie out those ponderous and deep inculcative thoughts of divine and heavenly things makes us taste a sweetness in them When we look slightly and superficially into the Word no wonder we do not find this comfort and sweetness but when we dig deeply into the Mines of the Word and work out truths by serious thoughts and search for wisdom when we come to see truth with our own eyes in its full nature order and dependance this is that which gets this taste Prov. 24. 13 14. My son eat thou honey because it is good and the honey comb which is sweet to thy taste So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul when thou hast found it When men are serious look into the nature and see all truths in their order and dependance then they will be like honey and the honey comb this makes way for this sweet taste 3. There is necessary to this taste close Application For the nearer and closer things touch one another the greater their efficacy so the more close you set the Word home upon your own hearts the more it works Iob 5. 27. Know it for thy good break out thy portion of the bread of life look upon these promises and offers of grace as including thee these commands speaking to thee and these threatnings as concerning thee look upon it not only as God's Message in common but urge it upon thy soul. Ier. 15. 16. It was unto me the rejoicing of my heart There must be a particular application of these things These things are necessary to this taste with respect to the Object as there must be eating a taking into the mouth if we would taste so thâ—…e must be a digesting or working upon the Word by sound Belief serious Consideration close Application 2. As to this taste there is somewhat necessary as to the Soul or Faculty we must have a Palate qualifi'd for these delicates Now there 's a double qualification necessary to this taste an hungry Conscience and mortifi'd Affections 1. An hungry Conscience Without this a Man hath a secret loathing of this spiritual food his taste is benummed but to an hungry Conscience the Word is sweet when he is kept in a constant hungring after Christ and his Grace Prov. 27. 7. The full soul loatheth the honey comb but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet Cordials they are nauseous things to a full stomach O but how reviving comfortable and sweet are they to a poor broken heart The first time that we got this taste it was when we were under the stings of a guilty Conscience then God came and tender'd his grace to us in Christ he sent a Messenger one of a thousand to tell us he fiath found a ransom and that we shall be deliver'd from going down into the Pit that he will spare us and do us good in Christ Jesus then the man's flesh recovers again like a child's Iob 33. 23. When men have felt the stings of the second death and God comes with a sentence of life and peace by Christ how sweet is it then Now though we have not always a wounded Conscience yet we must always have a tender Conscience always sensible of the need of Gospel support we came to this first relish of the doctrine of eternal life and salvation by Christ when we lay under the sentence of eternal death 2. The heart must be purged from carnal affections for until we lose our fleshly savor we cannot have this spiritual taste Rom. 8. 5. They that are after the flesh do savor the things of the flesh the word may be translated so A carnal heart relishes nothing but carnal things worldly pleasures worldly delights now this doth exceedingly deaden your spiritual taste Spiritual taste is a delicate thing therefore the heart must be purged from fleshly lusts for when fleshly lusts bear sway and doth relish the garlick and onions and flesh pots of Egypt your affections will carry you elsewhere to the vanities of the world and contentments of the flesh Look as sick men have lost their taste and that which is sweet seems sowr and ungreateful to a distemper'd appetite so a carnal appetite hath not this taste from the Word of God to a carnal heart it 's no more savory than the white of an Egg yea it is as gall to them but now to others it is exceeding sweet it is their joy the life of their souls Well then you see what is this spiritual taste that relish which a renewed soul hath for spiritual comforts Use. To persuade you to get this taste and when once you have got it take heed you do not lose it 1 It concerns you very much to get this taste take these Arguments 1. It is a
good evidence of the new nature it is a sign you have gotten that other heart that new spirit which must have new comfort new supports 1 Pet. 2. 3 4. As new born babes you desire the sincere milk of the Word If so be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious Hereby we may know the new man by his appetite and savor Life is known by this as much as by any one thing else 2. This will give you a more assured knowledge of the truth and worth of spiritual and heavenly things whereas otherwise we shall but talk of them by rote until we experiment the comfort and sweetness of them in our own souls then we will see there is more than Notions in promises the Word of God is not a well devised Fable and golden Dream for our taste will be our confirmation The greatest demonstration is from the senses 1 Iohn 5. 10. the Believer hath a testimony of the truth of Religion within himself in his own heart O! it is a great advantage to have our remedy there where our danger lies in the heart where Atheism and Disbelief lurks to have spiritual sense there when you have a real experience of them then Satan cannot have such advantage and atheistical and unbelieving thoughts such advantage for you have felt the benefit of spiritual things It is a great advantage against temptation when you have had a sense when you do not only know by hear say and guess that the Word is sweet but you have had a taste as a man that hath been at the fire knows it warms when we can not only say with him we have heard the Kings of Israel are merciful Kings but with the men of Samaria we have seen him our selves 3. The life of grace mightily depends upon it all your liveliness in grace depends upon this taste therefore get it When you have no taste you lose your appetite and when you lose your appetite you lose your strength and when you lose your strength all goes to ruine in the soul sin prevails and deadness increaseth upon the soul. All the strength comfort and vitality of your lives depend upon your taste 4. It is this taste that will make you more useful to others That which we have seen heard and tasted that we commend to others A report of a report and tradition it may be or not that 's a cold thing this is not a valid testimony Ay but when you can speak of that which you have felt and tasted your eyes have seen and hands handled of the Word of Life 1 Iohn 1. 1. When it is matter of sense then we can speak boldly and affectionately as the Apostle 2 Cor. 1. 4. That we might comfort them which are in trouble by the comfort wherewith we our selves are comforted of God When we our selves are comforted of God and that which we speak is the result of our own experience it makes us more useful in our Christian converse The Prophet Ezekiel was to eat his own Prophesies and St. Iohn to eat the Book the meaning is they must digest it What we communicate to others we must digest it our selves that finding it sweet we may speak the more effectually for God 2 Do not lose this taste O it 's a sad thing to lose these spiritual senses Hypocrites their taste doth lightly come and lightly go they have a little vanishing sweetness now and then but it 's soon gone it 's a sad thing to lose our spiritual taste It may be lost in a great measure sometimes a Christian hath it and sometimes he hath it not at least not in such a degree as formerly Experience shews it may be lost too too often all the business will be to discern the first tendencies of this evil when we begin to lose our taste and spiritual senses This may be discerned with respect to the three fold object of this taste heavenly Gift the good Word of God and Powers of the World to come 1. Heavenly Gift that 's Christ Jesus When we do not so highly value the love of God in Christ and prize his blood and the precious effects of it when we do not so earnestly beg pardon of sin and hunger and thirst after his righteousness when we have not that former earnestness and strength of desire to enjoy Christ time was when thou thoughtest no terms too dear for him when thy heart made hard pursuit after him but now thou art grown cold and careless and so pass him by lightly as a full stomach with meat with which it is cloyâ—…d when you are not so earnest and zealous for Christ it 's a sign you have lost your taste 2. Your tasting of the good Word of God When you slight the Word either in not reading hearing meditating in it so frequently as you were wont to do oh time was when you could say No honey or honey-comb so sweet as this to my poor soul Psal. 19. 10. when you could hardly call off your thoughts now you are more unfrequent in these godly exercises or else if conversant about it not with that life and that affection in a more customary manner you can read of the love of God and sufferings of Christ Jesus without any love to him again can read the Promises and they seem to be but like dry Chips and wither'd Flowers and not yield that marrow and fatness to you You can read the promises of eternal life and have not that joy thankfulness and blessing of God You could hardly contain your selves before but cry out Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ and blessed be God that hath visited and redeemed his people Now your affections are more flat and cold and have not that relish in holy conference sweetness in hearing and that contentment of soul in meditating 3. You may lose your taste in the Powers of the World to come when you grow more mindless of God and eternal blessedness when you have not such fresh and warm thoughts as you were wont to have when your desires hopes expectations of the life to come is abated you have not that lively hope 1 Pet. 3. 3. to quicken you for the attaining of eternal blessedness While this taste is fresh upon the hearts of Christians they are for Heaven for God carried on with vigor and strength in the way of holiness but when your hearts are carried out to worldly vanity and you relish more the honour applause fulness of estate worldly increase and you are grown more cold in heavenly things you have lost this taste of the Powers of the World to come Heb. 6. 4. The causes of this One is want of a due esteem not an esteem in an Idea naked or abstract notion from those thoughts out of a temptation No man is so unreasonable but if he be a little enlightned with Christianity will say The favor of God is better than all things Ay but want of that
practical esteem when they can forfeit this taste for every trifle and flesh pleasing vanity or when they carelesly look after him are indifferent as to communion with God and think it not much whether they are accepted of God yea or no or manifest himself to you in Christ when the comforts of the Spirit are things you can spare and the consolations of God seem to be small it is all one to you whether you have experiences from God in duty or no your souls are satisfied this is a cause of decaying Then negligence in duties pray lazily hear carelesly not meditate often Inordinate savor of carnal pleasure that 's another cause What 's the reason the Temporary seems to be so affected he loseth his taste altogether carnal things have the first possession of his heart and being confirmed there by long use and custom being so suitable to us and so long rooted in us and we have such a vanishing glance of things to come this will work out that taste the love the sense we have of better things godly men when they turn out to the contentments of the flesh they lose their taste it becomes dead This is a considerable loss as to the vitality of your graces for without a taste of good or evil we shall neither eschew the evil nor follow that which is good with that serious constancy and diligence that is necessary A man that hath tasted of the poyson of Asps and the bitterness of the gall and wormwood that is â—…n sin will be afraid of it Rom. 6. 21. So a man that hath tasted of the sweetness of communion with God in Christ he is quickned and carried on with life courage and constancy That 's a dreadful place Heb. 6. 4 5. the loss of their taste is a degree to final Apostasie O! how many lose their taste their relish of Christ the good Word of God the powers of the life to come and are fallen fouly some forward into error some backward into a licentious course so that it is impossible to recover themselves by repentance SERMON CX PSAL. CXIX VER 104. Through thy precepts I get understanding therefore I hate every false way IN the former Verse the Man of God had spoken of the pleasure that was to be had by the Word now of the profit of it There is a great deal of pleasure to spiritual sense if we could once get our appetite we should find a world of sweetness in it and there is as much profit as pleasure As the pleasure is spiritual so also is the profit to be measured by spiritual considerations To escape the snares of the Devil and the dangers that way-lay us in our passage to Heaven is a great advantage Now the Word doth not only warn us of our danger but where it is received in the love of it breedeth a hatred of all these things that may lead us into it Through thy precepts I get understanding therefore I hate every false way In which Sentence the Prophet seems to invert the order set down ver 101. he had said I refrained my feet from every evil way that I might keep thy Word Where the avoiding of evil is made the means of profiting by the Word Here his profiting by the Word is made the cause of avoiding evil In the one Verse you have an account of his beginning with God in the other of his progress In this Verse here is 1. The Benefit he received by the Word and that is Sound and saving knowledge 2. The Fruit and Effect which this knowledge produceth in his heart Therefore I hate every false way Mark first The firmness of this Effect I hate He doth not say I abstain but I hate Secondly The Note of Universality Every Thirdly The Object false way it is not said evil way but false way or as it is in the original every path of lying and falshood Falshood is either in point of opinion or practice If you take it in the first sense for falshood in opinion or error in judgment or false doctrine or false worship this sentence holds good Those that get understanding by the Word are establish'd against Error and not only establish'd against Error or against the embracing or profession of it but they hate it 1. They are established All Error cometh from Ignorance or else Judicial Blindness First From Ignorance or unacquaintedness with the Word of God so Christ said to the Sadduces Te do err not knowing the Scriptures Mat. 22. 29. When Men study not the Word which is the Rule of Truth no wonder if they lie open to every fancy they take up things hand over head and by a fond credulity are led away by every suggestion presented to them So it is said 2 Pet. 3. 10. That the unstable and unlearned wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction By the unlearned is meant not those that are unskilful in Humane Literature though that be a great help but those that are unskilful in the Word of Righteousness poor deluded souls that lie under a great uncertainty Secondly Judicial Blindness For men that have great parts and a presumption of their own wit are given up to be blinded by their own Lusts and though they know the Scriptures yet they wrest them to speak according to the sense of their carnal interest 1 Thes. 2. 12. And so they see not what they see being given up to the witchery and inchantment of Error Gal. 3. 1. O foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you So that all false ways proceed from the want of reason and the pride of reason The one is the cause of the Simple's erring who believeth every word The other of those that are knowing and are otherwise of great parts but they make their wit their Idol and so would be wise above the Scriptures or else are sway'd by their own Lusts they do not fix themselves in the power love and practice of Truths revealed in the Scriptures and so are given up to hellish delusions Now in this sense I might speak with great profit of these words especially now when so many Errors are broached and all the Errors of Christianity come a breast to assault it at once and such changeable Times as produce several Interests whereby men are blinded and such Levity in the Professors of Religion Why then study the Word with a teachable heart that is renouncing your own wit and giving up your selves to God's direction and practise what is plain without being sway'd with the profits and pleasures of the world and you may come to know what is the mind of God Men think all is uncertain in Religion and are apt to say with Pilate What is truth John 18. 38. No the Scriptures are not obscure but our hearts are dark and blind with worldly Lusts otherwise The counsel is plain and you might say with David Through thy precepts I get understanding therefore I hate every false way 1. Where the Spirit
the Devil and his Instruments so that unless we have a faithful Guide a clear full and sure direction we shall certainly miscarry and every day run into the mouth of a thousand mischiefs Now God out of his abundant mercy hath given us a light a rule to walk by to set us clear from these Rocks and Precipices and to guide us safe to true happiness And what is this light it is his Word so David acknowledgeth in this Verse Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path Here you may observe 1 The double Notion by which the direction of the Word is set forth 2 You have the object or the matter wherein we are directed that also is exprest by a double Notion It is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path Let me explain these a little 1. The two Notions whereby the direction is exprest 't is a Light that 's a more general expression the other is more particular it is a Lamp possibly with allusion to the Lamp of the Sanctuary The use of a Lamp is to light in the night and the light shines in the day the Word of God is both a Light and Lamp it is of use to us by day and night in all conditions in Adversity in Prosperity in all the conditions we pass through in this world Chrysostom hath an observation but I doubt a little too curious 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he The Law shineth in narrow limits within small bounds therefore that 's called a Lamp but Christ in the Gospel is called a Son of Righteousness 2. Let us come to the term by which the object is exprest Path and Feet By Path is meant our general choice and course of life the Law will direct to that not only so but it is a light to our feet that is will direct us in every step in every particular action Doct. That the Word of God is a clear and a full Rule to direct us in all the conditions and affairs of the present life It is a clear Rule for it is called a Lamp and it is a full Rule for it is a Lamp not only for our path but for our feet I shall speak of both severally that it is a Lamp and a Light First It is a clear Rule and therefore called a Light and that in three regards 1 By reason of its direction as it shews us the right way to our desired end He that would come to his journies end needs a way and needs a light to see and find it out Our end is eternal life and that to be enjoy'd in Heaven Prov. 6. 23. The commandment is a lamp and the law is light and reproofs of instruction are the way of life God hath stated the way that leads to eternal happiness by his wisdom and justice and revealed it in the Scriptures See that place Psal. 43. 3. O send out thy light and thy truth let them lead me let them bring me unto thy holy hill and to thy tabernacles We should have wandered up and down in various uncertainties and have neither pitched upon the right end or way but have lost our selves in a maze of perplexities if God had not sent forth his light and truth Austin reckons up 288 Opinions about the chiefest good Men are seeking out many inventions looking here and there to find happiness but God hath shewed the true way 2 'T is a light in regard of Conviction as it convinceth of all Errors and Mistakes both in judgment and practice Verum est Index sui obliqui In this respect it is said Eph. 5. 13. because of this convincing light that is in the word All things that are reproved are made manifest by the light for whatsoever doth make manifest is light It discovereth to us our sins as well as our duties light doth manifest itself and make all other things manifest Now this convictive power of the Word is double by way of prevention and by way of reproof 1. By way of Prevention The Word of God shews us our danger Pits Precipices and Stumbling-blocks that lie in our way to Heaven it shews us both our food and our poyson and therefore he that walks according to the direction of the Word is prevented from falling into a great deal of mischief 1 Iohn 2. 10 11. He that abideth in the light there is none occasion of stumbling in him But he that hateth his brother is in darkness and walketh in darkness and knoweth not whither he goeth because that darkness hath blinded his eyes The meaning of that place is this He that walks according to the light of Scripture and lives in obedience thereto avoids stumbling but he that is blinded by his own passion he wants his light knows not whither he goes neither in what way he goes respectu vioe respectu termini what will be the end of his going he mistakes the way sins for duties and good for evil or he mistakes the end thinking he is going to Heaven when he is in the High-way to Hell 2. By way of Humiliation and Reproof it discovers our sins to us in their own colours so as to affect the heart yea our secret sins which could not be found out by any other light 1 Cor. 14. 24 25. When he that believeth not or is unlearned comes in he is convinced of all he is judged of all The light of the Word it brings a Sinner upon his face makes him fall down acknowledging the Majesty of God in his Word God's Word it hath his signature upon it it is like himself and bewrayeth its Author by its convictive power and majesty so it 's notable Heb. 4. 12 13. The Word of God is quick and powerful c. And is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart Mark what he had said of the Word he proves the properties of the Word by the properties of God that God searcheth all things God's Word is like himself 3 It is light in regard of comfort Eccles. 11. 7. Truly the light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun especially to those that have been shut up in darkness and kept in a dungeon O it 's a pleasant thing to behold the light again So is the Word of God light in this sense to relieve us in all the dark and gloomy passages of the present life 1. In outward darkness When all outward comforts fail and have spent their allowance the comforts of the Word are left there 's enough to support and strengthen our hearts in waiting upon God Psal. 23. 4. When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me The staff and rod they are instruments of a Shepherd and Christ is our spiritual Shepherd so that this staff and rod are his Word and Spirit they are the instruments
of the spiritual Shepherd and this comforts us when we are in the shadow of death in our crosses in confusions and difficulties when we have nothing else left but the promises this is a reviving to the soul. 2. It is a comfort and refreshing to us in spiritual troubles that arise from the guilt of sin and want of the sense of God's love Isa. 50. 10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord that obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light let him trust in the Name of the Lord and stay upon his God What shall he do Shall he compass himself about in his own sparks O how miserable are we then no but let him depend upon God according to his promise The Word of God is a great part of his Name let him stay his heart upon the Word of God when he walketh in darkness and seeth no light Now that the Word of God is such a light such a sure and clear direction I shall 1 give a direct proof of it from Scripture 2 Some Types of it 3 Prove it by experience 4 By Reason 1 For the proof from Scripture you have the Notions of the Text So Prov. 6. 23. The commandment is a lamp and the law is light It is that which keeps us from stumbling So 2 Pet. 1. 19. We have also a more sure word of prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place The world is a dark place ay but now here 's a light that shines in a dark place and that 's the Holy Scripture the sure word of prophecy it sheweth us our way to Heaven and prevents us from stumbling into Hell 2 To prove it by Types Two Types I shall mention one is Israel being directed by the Pillar of a Cloud the other is the lamp of the Sanctuary 1. The Type of Israel's being directed by the Pillar of the Cloud by day the Pillar of Fire by night till they came into the Land of Canaan Exod. 13. 21. still they moved up and down hither and thither as the Pillar of Cloud and Pillar of Fire went before them thus our whole course is to be ordered by God's direction See how this Type is exprest Neh. 9. 19. The pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day to lead them in the way neither the pillar of fire by night to shew them light and the way wherein they should go Mark when they were in the wilderness the Pillar of Cloud and Fire shewed them the way where they were to go this is an Emblem of the safe conduct the Church may expect from Christ Jesus in all Ages God's Pillar departed not from them by night nor day so while we are travelling in the wilderness of this our Pilgrimage his Word and Spirit is continued to us When they entred into Canaan that was a Type of Heaven then this Pillar of Cloud was removed It is notable Iosh. 14. when Israel passed over Iordan we do not read the Pillar went before them but the Ark of God was carried before them so when the Church comes to Heaven the resting place then this conduct ceaseth the Word hath no more use Jesus Christ as the great Shepherd leads his Flock into their everlasting Fold 2. The other Type was the Lamp of the Sanctuary we read of that Exod. 27. 20 21. There was a great Lamp hung upon the Vail to distinguish the Holy of Holies from the other part of the Tabernacle and was fed with pure oil-olive and this lamp was prepared and trimmed up by the Priest daily Now what did this Lamp signifie mark the application this pure oil-olive signifi'd God's pure Word without the mixture of Humane Traditions this hung up in the Vail shin'd in the Church and every day it was prepared furnished set forth by them that are called thereunto for the use of the faithful 3 Let me prove it by experience that the Word is such a sure direction 1. Because natural men have a sense of it and upon that account fear it see Iohn 3. 20 21. Every one that doth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved Natural men will not come to the Word they fear it as discovering and therefore never feel it as refreshing Evil doers hate the light they are afraid of the Word lest it should convince them and discover them to themselves therefore they stand off and shun all means of closing with it there is such conviction in the oar a secret jealousie of the searching power that is in the Word of God 2. Godly men do find a great deal of comfort and satisfaction from this light as to all the doubts and fears of the soul. Psal. 19. 8. The statutes of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart the commandment of the Lord is pure enlightning the eyes All their scruples vanish here 's an apt and fit doctrine accommodated to the heart of man A man hath never true and rational delight till he is fully satisfi'd in point of Religion till he can have rest for his soul and commodious notions of God Now if you would have rest for your souls Ier. 6. 16. here it is the children of God find it There 's a fair compliance in this doctrine with all those natural principles and ingrafted notions within us concerning God and his Will they find satisfaction in it to Conscience though not to fond curiosity the one is necessary the other dangerous and unprofitable Christians there 's a great deal of difference between these two satisfying Conscience and satisfying Curiosity as much as between quenching the thirst of a sober man and satisfying the lust and appetite of a Drunkard Here 's enough to satisfie Conscience a fair accommodation of excellent truths to a reasonable nature truths becoming God truths suiting with the heart of man and therefore here they find it to be light that is a sure direction The wicked feel the discovery of it and the Saints feel the impression of it 3. We have this external and outward experience to assure us of our rule and light that shines in the Word of God because those that go against this light and direction do sensibly miscarry and are sure to split themselves upon some Rock or other Our first Parent Adam when he hearkned to the voice of the Serpent rather than the voice of the Lord destroyed himself and all his Posterity As long as he obeyed the Word of God he remained in a blessed estate in Paradice but when he gave heed to other counsels he was cast out of Paradice and rendred liable to many sorrows yea eternal death So all that walk in the imagination of their own hearts and have not light from the Word they presently run themselves into sundry mischiefs The young Prophet is an instance of this 1 Kings 13. 21. To go to particular instances would
feet and path First In general observe this It is not a light to our brains to fill us with empty Notions but a light to our feet to regulate our practice and to guide our actions Ier. 6. 16. He doth not say hearken after the true Religion but walk therein For a man to study the Scripture only to satisfie curiosity only to know what 's right and good and not follow it with all his heart is but to make a rod for his own back and doth but cause his own condemnation to be sore and terrible Luke 12. 47. To be able to dispute for truth and not lie under the power of it to avoid Heresie and live in Vice will never bring him to Heaven Gal. 6. 16. It is not them that are able to talk of it but to walk according to this rule not to play with it but to work with it Knowledge and practice must be joined together they do never well asunder but excellent together Secondly In our Practice 1 Our Path our general choice A man that consults with God's Word The Lord will teach him the way that he shall chuse Psal. 25. 12. Every thing appointed to an end must have all things absolutely necessary to that end else it is not perfect in its kind though perfect to guide us to eternal life therefore it must contain all things that belong or conduce to that end It is not a Rule given us to be rich or safe but to be eternally happy 2 As 't is a light to our path so to our feet How in the particular actions that we perform and in the particular conditions that we pass through 1. In the particular actions that we perform Every action we go about must be guided by the Word why because obedience in particular actions we are most apt to miscarry in Many are wise in generals but in particulars they quite mistake their way We have general Notions that we must be holy ay but we are not holy in all manner of conversation 1 Pet. 1. 15. In every creek and turning of your lives in all your actions of eating drinking sleeping and waking we are to be mindful and respect the command of God in all these No path of a Christian's conversation but ought to savor of grace and holiness not only his religious but his common and civil actions Every action is a step to Heaven or Hell for this life is compared to a walk and in a walk every step brings us onward in our way Briefly in every act either sin or grace interposeth therefore we had need look to every step and still to walk according to Rule 2. It guides us in all the conditions that we pass through In every Age here 's milk for the weak and strong meat for men of ripe age In every calling from the King to the lowest Beggar In every state of life adversity prosperity still here 's light for you There are two Parties whose interest it is to decry the clearness of Scripture Papists and Libertines Papists they are afraid to stand to this tryal they would bring all to the judgment of the Church therefore 't is for their interest that the Scriptures were not a clear safe and a full direction Libertines they decry the clearness of Scripture upon several grounds Those that plead for a boundless Toleration what 's their great Argument Nothing is certain in Religion If the Word be a clear Rule then c. SERMON CXIII PSAL. CXIX VER 105. Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path HEre I shall answer five Objections that are made by Cavellers Object 1. First If it be so clear a Light why do men so often mistake that have the Scriptures and consult with them yea why is there such differences among good men Answ. I answer in general There is Light in the Scriptures but there is darkness in men that are conversant about them The Object may be well represented when the faculty is not well disposed There are defects in them to whom this discovery is made though they have light yet they want eyes the Sun giveth light enough though blind men cannot see it the Word doth whatsoever is necessary on its own part To the beholding of any thing by the outward sense there must not only be light to make the object conspicuous but also a faculty of seeing in the eye blind men cannot see at noon-day nor the sharpest sighted at midnight There is light in the Scriptures surely for God would not deal hypocritically with us that are his people if he hath given us a rule he would not wrap it up in darkness so as we should not know his meaning so that the defect is in us This in general But secondly there are many causes of mens mistake 1. Some come to the Word with a presumption of their own wit and leaning upon their own understanding as if that should discover the whole counsel of God and these God never undertook to teach Psal. 25. 9. The meek will he guide in judgment and the meek will he teach his way Those that in an humble sense of their own nothingness depend upon his direction them will he teach Iam. 1. 21. Receive with meekness the ingrafted Word of God We have caution given us and admonitions against pride and arrogance and self-dependence Prov. 3. 3 4 5 6. 2. Many bring their prejudicate Opinions along with them and are biassed and prepossessed before they come to the Word of God and so do not so much take up the sense which the Scriptures offer as seek to impose their own sense on them and regulate the Scriptures to their own hearts not regulating their hearts and principles and senses according to the Word of God Optimus ille lector est qui dictorum intelligentiam saith Hilary expectat c. That mind which is preoccupied with evil opinions and enslaved to preconceived conclusions they do not take any thing from the Word but impose something upon it which God never revealed there If the weights be equal yet if the balance be not equipendent wrong may be done They come with an Idol in their own hearts Ezek. 14. 2. as those that would ask counsel of the Lord that were resolved beforehand Ier. 42. While we look through the Spectacles of our own fancies and preconceptions the mind poisoned with Error seemeth to see what we see not 3. Some search the Scriptures not out of any love to the truth or to know the mind of God but to oppose it rather and so seek a pretence from thence to justifie their private faction in way of opposition against God The Devil gets Scripture to wrest it to his own purpose Mat. 4. 6. They read not to be better but to cavil and put a greater varnish upon the Devil's cause as Iulian did search the Scriptures to pick an advantage against the true Religion and scoff at them that profest it and
he adds to it Gen. 28. 20 21. but the substance of it was this If the Lord will be with me and keep me in this way that I go then shall the Lord be my God There are many that will vow and promise trifles and so infringe their own Christian liberty and needlesly bind themselves in chains of their own making where God hath left them free This help is for the weighty things of Christianity not for by matters those monkish by-laws hath fill'd the World with Superstition not with Religion while they have been only conversant about some indifferent things as Pilgrimages Abstinences from meats and marriages wherein they place the heighth of Christian perfection 2. Helps to Obedience Such things as we shall find to be helps and do conduce to the removal of impediments such should come under a vow and solemn promise to God Iob 31. 1. I made a covenant with my eyes that was a help to the preserving of his chastity that he would not allow himself to gaze to take a view of the beauty of others And the Apostle when it was for the glory of God makes a Vow or kind of solemn promise that he would take no maintenance in Achaia 2 Cor. 11. 10. he solemnly binds himself that he might not hinder the progress of the Gospel So when we find our heart ready to betray us by this or that evil occasion we may in this case interpose a vow and promise but then with this caution that we do not unreasonably destroy our Christian liberty and so occasion a snare to our souls and that we do not think this to be a perfect cure of these distempers while we neglect the main things As many will make a vow to play no more at such a game or drink no more at such a house or use such a creature or come into such a particular company and so place all their Religion in these things this is but like cutting off the branches when the root remains or stopping one hole in a leaky or ruinous ship and vessel when every where it is ready to let in water upon us and to be broken in pieces therefore when you rest in those by-matters without resolving to cleave to God in a course of Obedience it is but like mending a hole in the wall of an house when the whole building is on fire or troubling our selves with a sore finger when we are languishing of a consumption it is but stopping this or that particular sin when the whole soul lies under the power and slavery of the Kingdom of Satan OBJECTION But here 's a doubt may arise How can I promise to keep God's Laws since it is not in my power to do it exactly it is impossible ANSWER 1. When David saith I have sworn c. he speaks not from a presumption of his own strength but only declareth the sense of his duty and useth his Oath as a sanctified means to bind his heart to God and therefore it is not to exclude the power of God's grace or to presume of his own strength God's assistance is best expected in God's way 2. Such vows and promises they are always to be interpreted to be made in the sense of the Covenant of Grace for no particular voluntary or accessory Covenant of ours can take away the general Covenant wherein we stand engaged to God but rather it must be included in it therefore when David saith I will keep thy righteous judgments he means according to the sense of the Covenant of Grace that is expecting help for duties and pardon for failings First As expecting help from God for so the New Covenant gives strength to observe what it requires Lex jubet Evangelium juvat the Law enforceth duty the Covenant of Grace helps us to perform the duty required of us The Gospel it is a ministration of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3. 8. and therefore promissory Oaths according to the sense of the New Covenant are made with a confidence upon the Lord's strength and assistance 2. Seeking pardon for his failings Infirmities may stand with the Covenant of Grace provided we crave mercy and recover our selves by repentance and so make no final breach with God therefore this is a keeping according to the measure of grace received and as humane frailty will permit Briefly then When are Sins to be looked upon as Infirmities and not as Perjuries and breach of Covenant Answ. When we would not voluntarily yield to the least sin but in case of great sin we grow more watchful more humble more holy when our falls are such as David's when he had fallen fouly Psal. 51. 6. Now thou shalt make me to know wisdom When upon our failings we are more ashamed of our selves more afraid of our weakness more earnest to renew our former resolutions more careful to wait upon God for grace to perform what he hath required of us more watchful more circumspect when we begin to grow wise by our own smarting in such cases an Oath is not broken Look as every failing of the Wife doth not dissolve the Marriage Covenant so every failing on our part doth not dissolve the Covenant between God and us and therefore though there will be some infirmities but yet when we are careful to sue out our Pardon in the Name of Christ Jesus and you shall by your failings be more watchful circumspect then we keep the Covenant in a Gospel sense Doct. 3. That when we have sworn Obedience to God we must Religiously perform and observe what we have sworn to God So Psal. 76. 11. Vow and pay unto the Lord. When we come under the bond of a vow we must be careful to make payment 't is a binding upon the heart see how 't is exprest Numb 30. 2. If a man vow a vow unto the Lord or swear an Oath to bind his soul with a bond he shall not break his word When we have bound our selves with a bond that is when we have increased our bonds for the ingeminating words in the Hebrew doth exceedingly increase the sense when a man is bound upon a bond he should not play fast and loose with God but be very careful to perform what he hath sworn God on his part hath sworn to the Covenant and he is constant in all his promises and certainly he expects the like constancy from us especially when we are so deeply bound not only by his Laws and obligation of his mercies but by the solemn consent of our own Vows we have bound our selves then to keep them whether we will or no. Now what Reasons are there why we must perform 1. The same Motives that inclined us at first to take our Oath should persuade us to keep it whatever falls out After trial we shall see no cause to repent of our resolution for God is ever the same that he was and his Commands are ever the same in all his righteous Judgments holy just good profitable
if we have any faith in him faith will work by love Gal. 5. 6. The soul may reason and discourse thus with itself Do I believe Christ Jesus did thus willingly give himself for my soul how can I be backward in God's service and hang off from him O let me live to Christ who loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2. 20. What shall I be more backward to do for God than Christ was to die for me To go to the Throne of Grace than Christ Jesus was to go the Cross Can I hang off from such pleasing Noble Service when Jesus Christ my Lord refus'd not the hard work of my Redemption If his Will was in it certainly so should be yours Doct. 3. The third Point That these free-will-offerings are accepted with God They shall come with Rams speaking of the conversion of the Gentiles in terms proper to the old legal dispensation and they shall come with acceptance Isa. 6. 7. And Mal. 3. 4. Then shall the offering of Iudah and Ierusalem be pleasant unto the Lord. Upon what grounds and what way our acceptance with God is brought about our works in themselves cannot please God they are accepted not as merits but as testimonies of thankfulness 1. Our persons are by Christ reconciled to God and in worship he delights This is the proper importance of laying the Peace-offering upon the top of the Burnt offering Lev. 3. 10. 2. Our infirmities are cover'd with his Righteousness for Christ is the Propitiation the Mercy-seat that interposeth between the Law and God's gracious Audience We come to the Throne of Grace when we come to God in and by him Heb. 4. 16. 3. By his intercession our duties are commended to God As Aaron was to stand before the Lord with his Plate upon his forehead wherein was writ Holiness to the Lord why That he might bear the iniquity of the people that they might be accepted of the Lord. All our acceptance comes from Christ's intercession and alas our Prayers and Praises are unsavoury Eruptations Belches of the Flesh as they come from us a great deal of infirmity we mingle with them we mingle Brimstone with our Incense and Sweet Spices therefore provoke the Lord to abhor and despise us but there 's an Angel stands by the Altar that perfumes all our Prayers and Praises How should this encourage us against the slightings of the world and discouragements of our own hearts and look after the testimony of our acceptance with God Doct. 4. The fourth Point That this gracious acceptance must be sought and valu'd as a great blessing Psal 19. 14. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord. And it must be valu'd as a great blessing if we consider either who the Lord is or what we are or what it is we go to him for If we consider who the Lord is God all sufficient that standeth in no need of what we can do that cannot be profited by us he is of so great a Majesty that his honour is rather lessned than greatned by any thing we can do the great-Author of all blessings all our offerings come from himself first of thine own have we given thee And if we consider what we are poor impotent sinful Creatures will God take an offering at our hands And if we consider what we do nothing but imperfection there is more of us in it of our fleshly part in any thing we do yet that these things should be accepted with God SERMON CXIX PSAL. CXIX VER 109. My soul is continually in my hand yet do I not forget thy law IN this Verse and the next David asserts his Integrity against two sorts of Temptations and ways of Assault the Violence and Craft of his Enemies Their Violence in this Verse My soul is in my hand And their Craft in the next Verse They laid snares for me And yet still his heart is upright with God In this Verse observe 1 David's condition My soul is continually in my hand 2 His constancy and perseverance notwithstanding that condition Yet do I not forget thy law First Let me speak of the condition he was now in in that Expression My soul is continually in my hand The soul in the hand is a Phrase often us'd in Scripture it is said of Iephthah Judg. 12. 13. I put my life in my hands and passed over against the children of Ammon So Job 13. 14. Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth and put my life in my hand And when David went to encounter Goliah 1 Sam. 17. 5. it is said He put his life in his hand and slew the Philistines In exposing our selves to any hazard and dangers in any great attempt it is call'd the putting our life in our hand And the Witch of Endor when she ventur'd against a Law to please Saul and so had exposed her life this form of speech is used concerning her 1 Sam. 28. 21. I have put my life in my hand Briefly then By Soul is meant Life and this is said to be in his hand I go in danger of my life day by day as if he should say I have my Soul ready divorc'd when God calls for it it not only notes liableness to danger but resolution and courage to encounter it In a sense we always carry our Souls in our hands our life hangs by a single thread which is soon fretted asunder and therefore we should every day be praying that it may not be taken from us as the Souls of wicked men are Iob 27. 8. Luke 12. 20. but yielded up and resign'd to God But more especially is the Expression verifi'd when we walk in the midst of dangers and in a thousand deaths my soul is in my hand that is I am expos'd to dangers that threaten my life every day Secondly Here 's his Affection to God's Word notwithstanding this condition Yet do I not forget thy law There is a twofold remembrance of things Notional and Affective and so there 's a twofold forgetfulness 1 Notional We forget the Word when the notion of things written therein are either wholly or in part vanish'd out of our minds 2 Affectively We are said to forget the Word of God when though we still retain the Notion yet we are not answerably affected do not act according thereunto and this is that which is understood here I do not forget thy Law Law is taken generally for any part of the Word of God and implies the Word of Promise as well as the Word of Command As for instance 1. If we interpret it of the Promise the sense will be this I do not forget thy Law that is I take no discouragements from my dangers to let fall my trust as if there were no Providence no God to take care of those that walk closely with him Heb. 12. 5. when they fainted they are said to have forgotten the consolation which spake unto
being near of kin to him she comes in a cunning manner under pretence to worship him and propounds a general question to him she does not at first propose the particular but says in general I have a certain thing to request of thee And what was her Request That one of my sons may sit on thy right hand and the other on the left in thy kingdom Saith Christ To sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father Mark out of this Story you learn how apt Christ's own Disciples are to dote upon worldly honor and greatness The sons of Zebedee Iames and Iohn those two worthy Disciples employ their mother to Christ in such a message they were dreaming of earthly Kingdoms and worldly honor that should be shared between them notwithstanding Christ taught them rather to prepare for Crosses in this world Do but reflect the light of this upon your own hearts Do we think we are better than those Apostles And that it is an easie thing to shut the love of the world and the honor thereof out of our hearts since they were so inchanted with the witchery of it therefore Christ tells them ver 22. Alas poor Creatures ye know not what ye ask can you pledge me in my Cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with We know not what we do when we are hunting after high places in the world we are to pledge Christ in his bitter Cup before our advancement come Nay to prove this is not only the bare worldlings disease but it is very incident to the choicest of God's people for after Christ had suffer'd and rose again the Apostles were not dispossess'd of this humor but still did dream of worldly ease and honor therefore they come to Christ with this question Acts 1. 6. Lord wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel meaning in the Iewish sense break the Roman yoke and give them power and dominion over the Nations hoping for a great share to themselves when this work was done Thus you see humane weakness and the love of worldly honor bewrays itself in Christ's own Disciples One instance more in Ier. 45. 5. of Baruch Seekest thou great things for thy self seek them not Baruch he was Ieremiah's Scribe had written his Prophesie and believed it that dreadful Roll written it over yet he was seeking some great thing for himself The best are apt to think they shall shift well enough for themselves in the world therefore saith Ieremiah for thou to have thoughts of honor and credit and a peaceful and prosperous Estate when all is going to rack and ruine never dream upon such a matter Now judge whether there be not great cause that God should bring his people to such a condition that they should carry their life in their hands from day to day that he might cure them of this distemper 4. That they may value Eternal Life the more which they would not do if they had a stable condition here in the world After death there will be a life out of all danger and a life that is not in our hands but in the hands of God none can take that life from us which God keepeth in Heaven Now that they might look after this life and value and prize it the more they are expos'd to hazards and dangers here The Apostle saith 1 Cor. 15. 19. If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable When they find the present life incumbred with so many sorrows and expos'd to so many dangers then they conclude surely there 's a better and safer estate for the people of God elsewhere in Heaven God's people cannot be of all men most miserable there is another life they have hopes in Christ and for other things therefore they long for it and look for it Heb. 13. 14. Here we have no abiding city but we seek one to come All things are liable to uncertainties and apparent troubles that we might look after that estate where the sheep of Christ shall be safely lodg'd in their eternal fold now God by their condition doth as it were say to them as Micah 2. 10. Arise this is not your rest Your stable comforts your everlasting enjoyments are not here here all our comforts are in our hands ready to deliver them up from day to day 5. God doth by his righteous Providence cause it to be so that his People carry their life in their hands to try their affections to him and his Word When we sail with a full stream of Prosperity we may be of God's side and party upon foreign and accidental reasons now God will see if we love Christ for his own sake and his ways as they are his ways when separated from any temporal interest yea when expos'd to scorn disgrace and trouble It is easie to be good when it costs us nothing and the wind blows in our backs rather than in our faces the state of affairs is for us rather than against us Halcyon times and times of rest are times of breeding the Church but stormy times are times of trying the Church 1 Pet. 4. 12. Beloved think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing hapned unto you God will put us into his Furnace there will a fiery trial come to see if we have the same affection to truth when it is safe to own it and when it is dangerous to own it when it is hated and maligned in the world Few Professors can abide God's trial Zech. 13. 9. I will bring the third part through the fire and will refine them as silver is refined and will try them as gold is tried When two parts fall away there 's a third part refined and tried by trials When the generality proves dross or chaff or stubble in the Furnace there are some good metal preserved and shine brighter for trial as their zeal is increas'd and their grace kept more lively and their faith and dependance upon a continual exercise God will try whether we can live upon invisible supports and go on chearfully in the performance of our duty in the midst of all difficulty without these outward encouragements They are proved that they may be improved 6. God doth cause such things to befal his People to shew his power both in their preservation and in over-ruling all those cross Providences for their good 1 His power in their preservation when they have no temporal interests to back them God will shew he can preserve his People Psal. 97. 1. The Lord reigneth let the earth rejoice let the multitude of isles be glad thereof It is well that the Lord reigns else how could his People stand The Lord reigns and the multitude of Isles they have a share in the joy and benefit One
ever II. The evidence of that Choice For they are the rejoycing of my heart I call it the evidence for so it is a proper demonstration that he took Gods Precepts for his heritage this is the mark and sign of it they are the rejoycing of my heart it did his heart good to think of his heritage and what an ample Portion he had in his God I. Let me speak first of his Choice Whence this Observation It is the property of Believers to take Gods Testimonies for their heritage In the management of which Truth I shall shew 1. What are Gods Testimonies 2. What it is to take them for an heritage 3. The reason why it is their property to do so First What are Gods Testimonies Any Declaration of his Will in Doctrine Precepts Threatnings Promises The whole Word 't is the the testimony which God hath proposed for the satisfaction of the World It is Gods Deposition or Testimony to satisfie men what is his mind and will concerning their salvation Gods Testimony is the publick Record that may be appealed unto in all Cases of doubt Psal. 19. 8. The Statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart c. The testimonies of the Lord are sure making wise the simple By the Statutes of the Lord is meant in general the whole Counsel of God delivered in the Word But then more specially and chiefly they imply the Evangelical or Gospel Part of the Word the Promises of the Covenant of Grace Isai. 8. 20. To the Law and to the Testimonies Testimony in this sence is contradistinguish'd to the Law or Gods Precepts what is required of us thus the Ark of his Testimony is called by that name Mark this Notion of calling the Word Gods Testimony it shews us what regard we should have to the Precepts and Promises of God you need regard them it is Gods Testimony to you and then against you Christ would have his Word preached as a testimony against them Mat. 24. a testimony to them that they might know Gods Mind and then if it were not received a testimony against them at the last Day when God comes to Judgment the Sinner will be without an excuse but will not be without a testimony every Sermon will rise up against him in judgment it will be a testimony for their Conviction And as we should regard his Precepts so it shews in what regard his Promises are which are chiefly his testimony therefore it is said Iohn 3. 33. He that hath received his testimony hath set to his Seal that God is true You give God the Glory of his Truth by venturing your Souls upon his testimony whereas otherwise you make him a Liar a Blasphemy which is most contrary to the Glory of his Being 1 Iohn 5. 10. He that believeth not makes God a Liar Look upon the Promises as Gods Testimonies you may urge it to your own heart and to God We may urge it to our own heart when we are full of doubts and troubles here we have Gods testimony to shew for it Why do ye doubt O ye of little Faith Here 's Gods testimony Nay it is a testimony under an Oath that the Heirs of Promise might want no satisfaction Heb. 6. 18. If we had but Gods bare word it should beget Faith for God stands much upon his truth but we have his Oath his Hand and Seal why after such a solemn assurance shall I make God a Liar as being in doubtful suspence And they are a testimony which you may produce to God himself Lord thou hast said and here 's a Promise wherein thou hast caused me to hope I expect nothing but what thou wilt perform Look as Tamar shewed the Tokens to Iudah when he was about to condemn her shewed him the Ring and the Staff as a testimony and said Whose are these Gen. 28. 25. You put God in mind oâ—… his Pâ—…ise here 's the testimony he hath called you to these hopes whereby you should wait upon him how shall we take it here for the Precepts of God or the Promises or both Surely the Precepts of the Word are the Heritage or the Gospel and Treasure of the Church a Treasure not to be valued and every single Believer is to take up his share and count them his Treasure and his Heritage No man can take the promissory Part of the Word for his Heritage but he is to take the mandatory Part also As in every Bond and Indenture the Conditions must be kept on both sides so if you should take it for the whole Covenant of God wherein God is bound to us and we to God there were no incongruity Yet the Notion of an Heritage is most proper to the Promises and these are the rejoycing of our Soul the foundation of our solid comfort and hope the Promises are a witness in our hearts how he stands affected to us of which we are most apt to doubt through our unbelief Natural Light will convince us of the Justice and Equity of his Precepts therefore by the special use of the Word the Promises of God are called his Heritage Again the Promises are put for the things promised and Testimonies for the things contained and revealed in them for the Promises properly are not our heritage but they are the evidences the Charters which we have to shew for our Heritage The Blessings of the Covenant are properly our Heritage and the Promises are the Assurance and Conveyances by which this Heritage is made over to us As we say a Mans Estate lies in Bonds and Leases meaning he hath these things to shew as his right to such an Estate so the Promises that is the Blessings contained or the Testimony revealed there they are the things a Believer takes for his Portion Thus I have shewed what is meant by the testimonies of God Secondly What is it to take them for our Heritage There are two words Heritage and I have taken them The word Heritage first notes the substance of our portion or what we count our solid and principal Estate Secondly it notes our right and propriety in it Thirdly The kind of tenure by which we hold it Fourthly Many times actual possession Now saith David I have taken that implies actual choice on our part We are not born Heirs to this Estate but we take it we chuse it for our portion And mark he doth not say they are but I have taken them for my heritage Every Believer cannot say these are mine they are my heritage for every one hath not assurance but yet every one should say I have taken them there I look for my happiness for every Believer is alike affected though not alike assured David doth not here so expresly mention his interest though that is implied as his choice Briefly to take Gods testimony for our heritage implies four things 1. To count them our chiefest portion let others do what they will this is my share my lot my portion saith
not of they have all in God You account him a richer man that hath much Land and a thousand pounds in Bonds than he that hath only a hundred pounds in ready money so a Child of God that hath one promise is richer than all the world he hath Bonds and his Debtor cannot fail him Let me tell you a man may not only live by faith but he may grow rich by faith You read of living by faith Gal. 2. 20. this is that which supports and keeps up a Believer in heart and life This will not only keep Body and Soul together but help us to grow rich Use 2. For Examination You have heard much what it is to have an heritage in the testimonies of the Lord O but who is the man try your selves Let me propound a few plain Questions 1. Were you ever chased out of your selves in the sense of the insufficiency of your worldly portion and the curse due to you Are you driven out of your selves Heb. 6. 18. There 's a comfortable place God willing to shew unto the Heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie we might have a strong consolation O who are these Heirs of promise If we could find out that we are sure there 's enough in God there they are named who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us There is none ever took the testimony of the Lord for their portion but they came first to take hold of it as men in danger ready to sink and perish and be undone Our first address is to take Sanctuary in the Covenant to flee to Christ represented there as a City of refuge that we may be safe It is an allusion to a man which fled from the avenger of blood when taken out of the City of refuge under the Law he was to dye without remedy so a poor soul that first takes hold of the Covenant runs for sanctuary there first before he comes to take possession of the comforts of it 2. What do you take to be your 〈◊〉 and your great work Do you make it your main care to keep up your interest in the promises the great business you drive on you would â—…it down in as your work and employment What do you wait upon as your great project and design in the world Mary chose the better part Luke 10. 42. do you make this to â—…e your choice your work and business you drive on that you may be possest of the whole land of promise and enjoy eternal life and clear up your Right and Title to Heaven 1 Tim. 6. 19. Laying up in store a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold of eternal life 3. Are you very chary of your interest O you would not hazard it upon such easie terms this is that all your happiness depends upon what shall I break with God for such a trifle Are you afraid to lose your Inheritance by sin as a man his Treasure by theft Are you careful and wary in this kind that you may not hazard your interest 1 Kin. 21. 3. said Nâ—…oth God forbid that I should sell mine inheritance Mark there was a King would traffick with him and that inheritance was but a poor Vineyard of the Earth but it was that which was descended from his father now God forbid I should sell it Thus will be the disposition of Gods Children O here lies my all my happiness my daily supplies from God God forbid that upon every trifle and carnal satisfaction I should break with God It was a great prophaneness in Esau Heb. 12. 16. who for one morsel of meat sold his Birth-right It is an argument that God is little valued or the Covenant and Testimony of the Lord when you can part with them for a Mess of Pottage when the consolations of God are so cheap and you can part with them for a little temporal satisfaction and sell your part in Christ at a very easie rate 4. What respect do you bear to the promises of God Do you often meditate upon them Have you recourse to them in straits Do you keep them up as the choicest things upon your heart upon which all your comfort depends as a man would keep the Key safe which opens to all his treasure Do you carry the promises as a bundle of Myrrh in your bosome Because this is the Key that gives you admission to the Blessings promised A man will keep his Bonds chary and will be often looking over them and considering them so are you meditating upon the promises Are they the rejoycing and delight of your Souls Do you keep them near and dear to you When alone do your hearts run upon them For a man may know his heritage by his musing and imagination When Nebuchadnezzar was alone Is not this great Babel which I have built for the honour of my Majesty He was thinking of his large Territories So if you have taken the testimonies of the Lord for your heritage your heart will be running upon them O what a happiness is it for God to be my God and my interest cleared up in eternal life and the great things of the Covenant Many times the flesh interposeth Psal. 144. 15. Happy is that people that is in such a case You will be admiring carnal excellency sometimes but then you will check your Souls Yea rather happy is that people whose God is the Lord. 5. If the testimonies of the Lord be your heritage then you will live upon them and make them the Storehouse from whence you fetch all your supplies as righteousness peace comfort and spiritual strength nay all your outward maintenance This will be comfort in straits strength in Duty provision for your Families There are two sorts of the Children of God either those that are in prosperity or those that are in want and both live on the Covenant A Child of God that hath a plentiful affluence of outward comforts yet he doth live upon God 1 Tim. 4. 5. To them that believe for every thing is sanctified by the word and prayer Though God hath supplied them with mercy yet they have their right all comforts and blessings owe their rise from the promise I take them immediately out of Gods hand from a God in covenant with me and so I use the Blessing and praise God otherwise if you look only to present supplies you live by sense not by faith Every one is to say Give us this day our daily Bread to fetch out his supplies from God every day rich men as well others when you see you have a right and liberty by Christ so Gods leave and Gods blessing go along with all by this means rich men live upon the Covenant I but chiefly in want the word quickned and strengthened him when he was in distress and want of all
the good neglected and despised it is a temptation to men to think there is no Providence no God So when the nocent are prosperous and the good vexed with all manner of displeasure As Claudian the Poet much doubted whether there were any such thing as Providence that had a care of sublunary things but at length when he saw Ruffinus was only lifted up that his fall might be the greater then he no more calls in question Gods Providence or taxes him of indifferency to good and evil Secondly It will be a notable curb and awe upon us to keep us from sin for all these things befal them for our learning 't is our stupid incogitancy when God puts these examples before our eyes and we are not affected with them and so are of little use to us Iosh. 9. 3. When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Ioshua did to Iericho and to Ai they were wiser than we they did not expect the coming of Ioshua but sent messengers to meet him and strike up a Covenant with him Or as that Captain that came to Elijah 1 King 1. 13. when two Captains were destroyed with their fifties he comes and desires the Prophet to spare his life and that those he brought with him might be dear and precious in his eyes As he did so should we God hath smitten this and that for sin we should the more humble our selves and desire terms of Grace but our blindness and stupidness is such that we are not moved with Gods Judgments on others to look to the state of our Souls Prov. 22. 3. The wise man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself but the fool goeth on and is punished II. I come now to the Reason rendred For their deceit is falshood The Septuagint have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou hast despised all those that erre from thy Statutes for their thought is unjust But to open the words These two Notions deceit and falshood sometimes are taken for the vanity of outward things the disappointment of trust for by an ill-built trust a man deceives himself and his hopes prove false and sometimes they are put for craft guile and hypocrisie Now according to these different acceptions of the word divers sences are given First Some think these words relate to the disappointment of their trust Thus their confidences wherein they trust will deceive them at last and be found falshood Certain it is that carnal men have many imaginations and carnal confidences wherein they flatter themselves and hope to avoid their appointed Judgments which prove in the conclusion but lying vanities If this were the sense that at length it shall appear how deceitful their trust is then it concerns us to see to our trust to see what in probability those confidences might be whereby they deceive their own souls Is it their greatness and present height This deceiveth them when they are brought down wonderfully Isai. 14. 12 13 14 15 16. Or is it meant of their devices and witty Counsels wherein they trust but their subtle devices fail and they are often taken in the snares they laid for others Isai. 29. 14. The wisdom of the wise men shall perish and the understanding of the prudent shall be hidden All their craft will do them no good all their cunning and policy by which they hope to fortifie and defend themselves and prevent their ruine shall come to nought Or they do not get that by their deceit which they hope for though they have many methods and stratagems to circumvent the people of God yet they shall prove but vain Secondly Most simply it seemeth to be taken for hypocrisy and guile of spirit manifested either in shews of piety or any guileful course whereby they would undermine others for this reason God will bring them down Doctr. All fraudulency and hypocrisy is hateful to God therefore he will sooner or later discover and destroy those that practise it Fraudulency is twofold 1. Either falshood in ordinary Commerce lying or treacherous imposing on the simplicity of upright and honest men Most mens wisedome and policy lies in their falshood and deceitfulness but this shall be manifested and whilst they think to deceive others they shall be deceived themselves Iob 5. 13. and be taken in their own snares and whilst they seek to ruine and undermine others they are ruined and undermined themselves Or 2. There 's another sort of fraudulency pretences of piety whereby such men deceive the world Now this deceit is threefold either the deceit of the Heretick and erroneous person or the Formalist and superstitious person or the deceit of those that pretend to be truly religious All these cheats put upon the world shall not long hold First The cheat of erroneous persons and heretical Seducers who under a fair mask and plausible appearance carry on such designs as prove troublesome and noxious to the Church of God Though for a while they carry great sway under colour of a godly life yet at length God will tread them to dust and nothing and then all will be counted but deceit The deceit of Heretical Seducers is often spoken of in Scripture Rev. 2. 9. I know the blasphemy of them which say They are Iews and are not but are the Synagogue of Satan And 1 Tim. 3. 5 9. But they shall proceed no farther for their folly shall be manifest unto all men When under a form of godliness they carry on a horrible design unto the great disturbance of the Church to the Kingdome and Commonwealth the day shall declare it 1 Cor. 3. 13. God will bring them down Secondly There is the deceit of superstitious Persons and Formalists who seem to be devout and have great zeal for outward things not commanded by God such make a fair shew in the flesh Gal. 6. 12. by observing outward and carnal Rites as Circumcision difference of Meats legal purifications all their Religion is but a vain shew to beguile a loose Conscience This same sort of men are again described to be those that speak lies in hypocrisy 1 Tim. 4. 7. These also do in time discover the folly of their way manifested by some notable Judgment for these things take not hold of mens Consciences but only of their affections and when publick Countenance is gone they are of no more esteem Thirdly There 's the deceit of those that only pretend to be truly religious and are not so and because false and counterfeit they are hateful and abominable to God Now these God will not only punish in the other world Matth. 24. 51. He shall appoint him his portion with the Hypocrites Hell seems to be their Free-hold and Patrimony but here sooner or later God will pluck off these Vizards and bring disappointment and ruine upon these deceivers Prov. 26. 26. The Hypocrite shall be discovered before the Congregation Things that are counterfeit and false do not long hold out God will discover them either by some trying Judgment as
to us They are purged out as dross that they may not infect us by their example or molest us by their persecutions or oppressions Now the more we are befriended in this kind the more we are bound to serve God cheerfully Luke 1. 74 75. That being delivered from the hands of our enemies we may serve God in righteousness and holiness â—…ll the days of our lives The world is one of those enemies or the wicked of the earth therefore we should serve him faithfully 5. By this means we see the world is governed by God and we may the more safely commit our selves to his protection upon the encouragement of his promises If the affairs of the world were governed by blind Chance and men might do what they listed without check and controul we might think that we had cleansed our hearts in vain and that a man doth make himself a prey by the simplicity of his innocence But when God punisheth the wicked in our sight certainly this should teach us to be more holy in all our ways Psal. 58. 11. A man shall say Verily there is a reward for the righteous verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth They that knew not what to think of Providence shall see there is a God in the Heavens that doth wisely administer all things below and so we are encouraged to love him and serve him more heartily Say as the Psalmist It is good for me to draw nigh to God Psal. 73. 28. Use. Well then let our love to God and liking and approbation of his Law be accompanied with the hatred of sin The more we observe his Judgments in putting away the wicked like dross that we may be more holy and seek after communion with God as our only blessedness to this end 1. Let us bless God for giving a sure Rule to walk by and such promises of protection in the midst of the darkness and uncertainty of the present world When others perish you are safe Isai. 8. 20. To the law and to the testimony c. Thou shalt walk in this way safely and shalt not stumble yea please God and you need not fear 2. Let us walk exactly by this Rule since our temporal and eternal safety and happiness is concerned thereby For the world to come 't is clear as well as in this life Prov. 3. 1 2. My son forget not my Law but let thine heart keep my Commandments for length of days and long life and peace shall they add unto thee And Gal. 6. 16. As many as walk according to this Rule peace and mercy be upon them 3. The more God doth owne his Law by his Judgments the more let our love be encreased This is to wash our feet in the blood of the wicked Psal. 58. 10. The righteous shall rejoyce when he seeth the vengeance he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked SERMON CXXXI PSAL. CXIX VER 120. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy Iudgments IN this Psalm you find the man of God under divers passions sometimes of joy sometimes of sorrow sometimes of hope and courage and sometimes of fear As there is a time for all things in this world there are several conditions and duties that we run through and we have affections planted in us that suit with every condition Religion doth not nullifie but sanctifie our affections Some have vainly thought affections to be an after-growth of noisome weeds in our Nature corrupted whereas they are wholesome Herbs implanted in us by God at our first Creation of great use to Grace when rightly stirred and ordered Anima nunquam melius agit c. The passion expressed in the Text is fear for two or three Verses his meditations had been taken up in the observation of Gods Judgments upon evil doers ver 118. Thou hast trodden down all them that erre from thy Statutes for their deceit is falshood They were once high but God hath brought them down with ignominy and contempt they had born themselves out in their sinful courses on the account of their prosperity but at length they are utterly ruined and broken And why For their deceit is falshood that is they were unmasked and all their pretences of piety and justice found to be fraud and imposture In Verse 119. he still insisteth upon the same Argument Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross therefore I love thy testimonies They seemed to cleave to the Church and people of God as dross to gold or silver That God who is the purger and refiner of his Church failed not to put a difference and to consume the dross and refine his silver The use that David made of these Judgments was two-fold First To love Gods ways so much the more and to cleave to them with greater firmness Therefore I love thy testimonies Secondly To fear before the Lord and tremble at the Lords Judgments as in the Text. There are two affections wherein we should always seek to profit the love of God and the fear of God Of this last in the Text My flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy Iudgments In which words we have I. The degree of his fear My flesh trembleth II. The object of his fear For fear of thee III. The ground and reason of his fear I am afraid of thy Iudgments 1. The degree of his fear My flesh trembleth The word samar Saint Hierome rendereth Horrivilavit caro mea my flesh is in horrour and affrightment Symmachus before him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my flesh maketh my hair stand an end as the prickles of a Hedghog which is an emblem of horrour The Poet Persius expresseth such an affrightment thus Excussit membris tremor albus aristas my fear made my hair stand up like a field of Corn from the contraction of the skin So it happeneth in eases of fear You have the like expression Iob 4. 14 15. Fear came upon me and trembling which made all my bones to shake the hair of my flesh stood up And elsewhere the same word is so used the Septuagint read it imperatively 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pierce through my flesh with fear as with nails surely it noteth some deep sense and high degree of fear as the Prophet Habakkuk expresseth upon like occasion Hab. 3. 15. When I heard this my belly trembled my lips quivered rottenness entred into my bones and I trembled in my flesh his bowels did beat and shake for fear and his lips quivered for fear that he could not speak The Judgments of God ought to beget a deep sense and trembling not a slight affection in us The Prophet saith Amos 3. 8. The Lion roareth who will not fear We have need to stir up our hearts again and again When the Lord roareth and cometh forth to Judgment we have need be ashamed of our stupidity when we are not affected II. The object of his fear For
afflictions Again when Judgments are on our selves when God cometh nearer to us and beginneth to touch us with his hand we should relent presently To be sinning and suffering is the condition of the damned in Hell The Holy Ghost sets a brand upon Ahaz 2 Chron. 28. 22. That in the time of his distress he did yet trespass more and more against the Lord this is that King Ahaz If we keep our pride luxury vanity wantonness still our avarice coldness in Religion Sabbath-prophanation if we be not brought by all our afflictions to fear God the more such a brand will he put upon us yea our Judgments will be encreased and the Furnace heated seven times hotter as when the Child is stubborn and obstinate the Father redoubleth his strokes Therefore we are to beg his Spirit with his Rod that we may be the better by all his corrections Numb 12. 14. If her Father had spit in her face should she not be ashamed seven days So if our heavenly Father be displeased and casts contempt upon us c. Use 2. It reproveth those that triumph over the faln and declaim and inveigh against their sins but do not consider their own We should rather tremble and learn to fear from every Judgment executed though upon the worst of men and say Well God is a righteous God and whosoever provoketh him to wrath shall not escape unpunished But this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this insulting over and upbraiding others with their evil and afflicted condition is a-sin which God cannot endure and will certainly punish Prov. 17. 5. And he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished If God hath stricken them and the hand of Justice found them out we should be tender to them Prov. 24. 17 18. Rejoyce not when thine enemy falleth and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth lest the Lord see it and it displease him and he turn away his wrath from him Some read it Et convertat iram suam in te he turn his wrath upon thee Thine enemy is not he that thou hatest for a Christian should hate no body but he that hateth thee if we rejoyce in their evil certainly 't is a sign we hate them however we please our selves with the thoughts of forgiving them as not when he falleth so not when he stumbleth not at lesser evils that befal them Many will say They do not wish their destruction but a little evil they could be glad of which sheweth how rare true piety is God will give him like advantage against thee As the leprosie of Naaman doth cleave to Gehazi David when he heard of the death of Saul rent his Cloaths and wept and fasted 2 Sam. 1. 11 12. Therefore to feed our eyes with the misery and torment of others is no holy affection Iob disclaimed it Iob 31. 29. If I rejoyced at the destruction of him that hated me or lifted up my self when evil found him neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul. Revenge is sweet to carnal Nature but such a disposition as that cannot or should not find room in a gracious heart to evidence his integrity Iob produceth this vindication Though they that hate us be our worst enemies and should have spirits steeped in bitterness and Wormwood against us yet ought we not to rejoyce at the misery of an enemy Yea to mourn at their fall becometh us more if we would act as Christians and to fear because of it is an act of piety Therefore this old leven of malice and revenge must be purged out this being inwardly delighted when we hear of the fall of those that hate us When thine enemy falleth consider Either I my self am like him or worse or better than he If better who made thee to differ If worse thou hast cause to wonder thou art spared and to fear before the Lord. Let us therefore observe the Judgments of God executed according to his word Lactantius telleth us Quod non metuitur contemnitur quod contemnitur utique non colitur If the wrath of God be not feared it is contemned and if God be contemned he cannot be worshipped SERMON CXXXII PSAL. CXIX VER 121. I have done Iudgment and Iustice leave me not to mine Oppressours HEre is I. David's Plea II. His Prayer I. His Plea I have done Iudgment and Iustice Defensio est non arrogantia saith Ambrose he doth not speak this boasting or trusting in his own righteousness but by way of Apology and just defence 't is no pleading of merit as if God were his Debtor but an asserting of his innocency against slanderers There is Iustitia personae the righteousness of the person and Iustitia causae the righteousness of the cause wherein any one is engaged We may propound the Justice of our cause to God as the Judge of the Earth and appeal to him how innocently we suffer when we are not able to plead the righteousness of our persons as to a strict and legal qualification Psal. 143. 2. Enter not into judgment with thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be justified Well then David pleadeth the equity and justice of his Cause and his right behaviour therein They cannot condemn him of any unrighteousness and injustice and yet endeavour to oppress him therefore he pleads Lord thou knowest where the right lyeth so far as concerneth their slanders I appeal to thee for my integrity and sincerity thou knowest that I have given up my self to do just and right things though they are thus forward to mischief I have â—…one them no wrong Hear me O God of my righteousness Psal. 4. 1. They that look to be protected by God must look that they have a good Cause and handle that Cause well otherwise we make him the Patron of sin when we suffer as evil Doers 't is the Devil's Cross not Christ's that we take up But let us see how David expresseth his innocency I have done Iudgment and Iustice these two words are often joined together in Scripture When God is spoken of 't is said of him Psal. 33. 5. He loveth righteousness and judgment and in the 2 Sam. 8. 15. 't is said that David executed judgment and justice over all Israel Muis distinguisheth them thus Iudicium adversus sceleratos Iustitia erga bonos Judgment in punishing the wicked Justice in rewarding the good Besides that David speaketh not here as a King but as a poor oppressed man The words will hardly admit of that Notion Some think they are only put to encrease the sense I have done Judgment justly exactly I suppose the one referreth to the Law or Rule it self according to which every one is to do right that is judgment a clear knowledg of what ought to be done the other referreth to the action that followeth thereupon So that Judgment is a doing of what we know an acting according to received light Ezek. 18. 5. Do that which
and worldly affections A mortified heart is only a fit Soil for faith to grow in The world is a blinding thing 2 Cor. 4. 4. While present things bear bulk in our eye invisible things are little regarded by us Dust cast into the eyes hindereth the sight carnal affections send up the sumes and steams of lust to blind us 3. The eye being clear you must ever be looking up out of the World of temptations into the world of comforts and supports from Earth to Heaven Heb. 11. 27. As seeing him that is invisible And the nothing things of the World by omnifying and magnifying God There are the great objects which darken the Glory of the World and all created things And there we see more for us than can be against us 2 Kings 6. 15. Pharaoh a King of mighty power was contemptible in Moses his eyes because he saw an higher and a more glorious King so glorious that all the power and Princes of the World are nothing to him 4. The less sensible evidence there is of the object of Faith the greater and stronger is the Faith if we believe it upon Gods Word Iohn 20. 29. Because thou hast seen thou hast believed blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed It extenuateth our Faith when the object must be visible to sense or it worketh not on us Faith hath more of the nature of Faith when it is satisfied with Gods Word whatever sense and reason say to the contrary 1 Pet. 1. 8. Whom having not seen ye love in whom though now you see him not you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of Glory Whatever Faith closeth with upon sure grounds 't is spiritually present to the Soul though few sensible helps The less we see in the World the more must we believe To see things to come as present and to see things that otherwise cannot be seen cometh near to Gods Vision of all things God saw all things before they were all things that may be shall be visione simplicis intelligentiae Prov. 8. 31. rejoicing in the habitable parts of the Earth So doth Faith eye all things in the alsufficiency and promise of God long before they come to pass and affects the Believer with them Iohn 8. 52. III. From the weakness and imbecillity confessed Mine eyes fail The Doctrine is Doctr. That sometimes Gods people wait so long that their eyes even fail in waiting that is their faith hope and patience is almost spent and they are ready to give over looking For the Phrase intimateth two things a tryal on Gods part and a weakness on ours First A tryal by reason of Gods dispensations Two things make our waiting tedious the sharpness of afflictions and the length of them long delays of help and great trouble in the mean time first the depth of the calamity or the sharpness of the tryal may occasion this failing Psal. 38. 10. My heart panteth my strength faileth me for the light of mine eyes is also gone Secondly The length of troubles or the protraction of deliverance As the bodily eye is tired with long looking so doth the soul begin to be weary when this expectation is drawn out at length Psal. 119. 82. Mine eyes fail for thy word saying When wilt thou comfort me The delay is tedious As to the matter of this failing there are three things First That the sufferings of Gods Children may be sometimes long God ordereth it so that faith hope and patience may have its perfect work Heb. 6. 12. There is an intervening time between the promise and the accomplishment Intervening difficulties Iam. 1. 3 4. Rom. 8. 24. Hope that is seen is not hope 't is but natural probability natural courage Those that have received a great measure of Faith have a great measure of tryals their troubles are greater that their Graces may be the more exercised that many stubborn humours may be broken Ier. 4. 3. God useth to suffer his enemies to break up the fallow Ground of his people Psal. 129. 2. The Plowers plough upon my back they make long their furrows We have proud and stiff hearts therefore the Plow of persecution goeth deep that the seed of the word may thrive the more till they have done their work God doth not cut asunder the Cords The Lord of the Soil expects a richer Crop The power of the Spirit is more seen Col. 1. 10 11. Strengthened with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness Not only patience but long-suffering which is patience extended under continued troubles Men may fret 't is not unwilling extorted by force but they are cheerful under the Cross. The length of sufferings some can endure a sharp brunt but tire under a long affliction Some go drooping and heavily under it Therefore joyfulness For these and many other reasons doth God pâ—…mit our sufferings to be long Secondly Why faith hope and patienâ—… are apt to fail 1. Because these Graces are weak in the best and may fail under long and sharp â—…yals Psal. 125. 3. For the Rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous lest the righteous put forth their hands to iniquity The strongest Believer may faint in trouble therefore God will not try them above their strength but as he sometimes giveth more Grace so sometimes he abateth the temptations Grace is not so perfect in any as to be above all weakening by assaults Who would have thought that a meek Moses could be angry Psal. 106. 33. There are reliques of sin unmortified such as may be awakened in the best who would have thought that David should fall into uncleanness an old experienced man who had many Wives of his own when Ioseph a young man a Captive resisted an offered occasion But especially do these Graces fail in their operation when the temptation is more spiritual for these are Mystical Graces to which Nature giveth no help When things dear to us in the flesh and in the Lord are made the matter of the temptation and set an edge upon it c. Sins that disturb the order of the present World are not so rise with the Saints as sins that concern our commerce with God 2. Because temptations raise strange Clouds and Mists in the Soul that though they grant principles yet they cannot reconcile Providences with them As Ier. 12. 1. Righteous art thou O Lord yet let me plead with thee 'T is not to be questioned much less doubted of that God is upright and just in his dealings yet what mean those passages of his Providence their thoughts are fearfully imbrangled the minds of the godly are molested Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper So Hab. 1. 13. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than
Though for the main we give up our selves to live according to the will of God yet consider notwithstanding our sins what constant humbling confiderations there are to keep us sensible of our defects First All that you do is not worthy of God who can serve so great a Majesty as the Lord is according as he should be served Iosh. 14. 29. You cannot serve the Lord for he is a holy and a jealous God Alas such is the poverty of humane condition that they can never perform service becoming his Majesty have you a due sense of his purity and holiness Nay how jealous he is of the respects of his people Secondly Not worthy of such a pure Law which requireth such perfect service at our hands Psal. 19. 6 7 8. The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul c. What doth that speculation produce that a short exposition of the Law begetteth a large opinion of our own righteousness Thirdly Not worthy such great hopes 1 Thess. 2. 12. That ye walk worthy of God who hath called you to his Kingdom and Glory Since we have such great wages we should do more work Is this for Heaven Is this for eternity Fourthly Not such as will answer our obligations We are indebted to all the Persons of the Trinity God himself for our portion Christ our Redeemer the Spirit for our Guide and Comforter The Gentiles greatly obliged to God for fruitful Seasons The Jews though acquainted only with Gods patience and forbearance the Ceremonial Law was a testification of guilt or a Bond that shewed the Creatures Debt this Bond was not cancelled Fifthly Not answerable to the new Nature in Gods Children they would be in a state of perfect conformity and subjection to God A seed worketh through the Clods so they groan under the reliques of corruption and sin Rom. 7. 24. longing for the time when they shall be more like God when they shall serve him without spot or blemish therefore are unsatisfied with their present imperfections These things considered we should ever keep humble and thankful praising Gods Grace Isai. 63. 7. I will mention the loving kindness of the Lord and the praises of the Lord according to all that the Lord hath bestowed upon us and the great goodness towards the house of Israel which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies and the multitude of his loving kindnesses Use 5. Directeth us how to pray Cast your selves at Gods feet pleading his mercy We have heard the Kings of Israel aâ—…e merciful Kings 1 Kings 20. 31. you have heard so of the God of Israel try whâ—… mercy will do for you say as David here Deal with thy servant according to thy mercy My prayers have no other foundation of hope but thy mercy I am nothing and would be nothing but what I have from thee I have no merits but thou hast mercy all that I have and expect to have floweth and must flow from this Fountain take heed of challenging Duty as a Debt no Lord thy mercy is all my plea as all thy servants before have done Lord temember me in thy mercy if any have other things to plead let them plead I am resolved to use no other Plea Psal. 13. 5. But I have trusted in thy mercy Second Branch Teach me thy Statutes This may be considered apart by it self or with respect to the Context 1. Apart as an intire prayer in its self So the Doctrine is Doctr. 'T is God must teach us his Statutes This will appear if we consider 1. What it is to be taught of God There is a difference between Grammatical Knowledge and Spiritual Illumination or a literal instruction and a spiritual instruction a greater difference than there is between teaching a Child to spell and read the words and a Man to understand the sense Literal instruction is when we learn the truths contained in the Word by rote and talk one after another of Divine things But Spiritual Illumination is when these things are revealed to us by the Spirit of God as we read of the evidence and demonstration of the Spirit 1 Cor. 2. 4. Others have a form of knowledge Rom. 2. 20. Some have only the report of Christ have but an humane credulity or the recommendation of others that reveal the Doctrine of God to them Others receive a revelation made to their souls their eyes are opened by the Spirit Isai. 53. 1. Once more there is a difference between the Spirits enlightening in a way of gifts and common Grace and his enlightening in a way of special and saving Grace Some that are enlightned by the Spirit fall away Heb. 6. 4. Others are taught of God so as to come to him by Christ Iohn 6. 45. This latter sort that are savingly enlightned have not only their minds opened but their hearts enclined So to be taught as to be drawn to faith and practice this is proper to God who is the Soveraign Dispenser of Grace 2. This will appear if we consider the heart of Man which is naturally full of darkness and oppressed by the prejudices of customs and evil habits 1 Cor. 〈◊〉 14. But the natural man receiveth not the things of God 2 Cor. 4. 4. The God of this world hath blinded their eyes This Veil can only be removed by the Spirit of God After Grace received we know but in part 1 Cor. 13. 9. and much of the matter which becloudeth the mind still remaineth with us And when our lusts are awakened by temptations our old blindness returneth upon us and we strangely forget our selves and our Duty for the present Therefore we have need to go to God to be taught 2 Pet. 1. 9. He that wanteth these things is blind and cannot see afar off 3. If we consider the matter to be taught 't is the mysterious Doctrine that came out of the bosome of God Every Art hath its mystery which Strangers cannot judge of 1 Tim. 3. 16. All Scripture is given by inspiration This was a Secret which had not been known without a Revelation God hath his Mysteries which no man knoweth but by the Spirit of God Matth. 13. 1â—… To you 't is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven but to them it is not given Those that have Scriptures yet have scales on their eyes 1 Cor. 2. 14. they have not saving knowledge How sharp-sighted soever graceless souls may be in things that concern the present World yet they are blind in spiritual things so as to be affected and engaged thereby seriously to turn to God Yea how accurately soever they can discourse in the Theory and preach of Christ and his ways yet they have no transforming light Gods mysteries must be seen in his own light or they make no impression upon us Psal. 36. 9. In thy light we shall see light The Scriptures containing the summ of the Lords mind none can of themselves attain to the meaning of them 'T was
servants they are they do nothing but what their master commandeth and what he commandeth they see reason to obey Second Branch Give me understanding that I may know thy testimonies This is subjoined to the former Plea First Because David would not be a servant in name and title only but in deed and in truth and therefore would fain know his duty Secondly To shew the difference between Gods servants and the servants of other Lords who command us Prov. 14. 25. The Kings favour is towards a wise servant they see them wise find them wise and then love them but God must begin with us his favour maketh us wise Doctr. Gods best Servants think they can never enough beg Divine illumination David doth often enforce this request Reasons 1. Our blindness in the matters of God is a great part of our spiritual misery Ephes. 5. 8. Ye were sometimes darkness There is a Veil lying upon our hearts not easily removed and taken away All the mischief introduced by the Fall is not cured at once but by degrees as spiritual strength encreaseth we grow up into it so spiritual light The maim of the understanding as well as the will is not wholly cured till we come to Heaven for here we know but in part till God give us understanding we are utterly blind the best of Gods servants have cause to acknowledge it in themselves the remnants of ignorance and incredulity The Apostle biddeth them to adde to faith vertue to vertue knowledge that is skill to manage the work of our heavenly Calling 2. None are so sensible of this blindness as they 'T is some proficiency in knowledge to understand our ignorance Prov. 30. 2 3. Surely I am more bruitish than any man and have not the understanding of a man I neither learned wisdom nor have the knowledg of the holy The most knowing see they need more enlightening The best of our knowledge is to know our imperfections 1 Cor. 8. 2. He that thinketh he knoweth any thing knoweth nothing as he ought to know 3. There is room for encrease for in the best we never know so much of Gods ways but we may know more Hos. 6. 3. Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord. Prov. 4. 18. But the path of the Iust is as a shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day True sanctified knowledg is always growing If we sit down with measures received 't is a sign we do not know things as we should know them Christ grew in knowledge not in Grace for the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily Practical knowledg is never at a stand though a man may see round the compass and light of saving truth yet he may know them more spiritually and more feelingly 4. The profit of Divine Revelation as to these three things First A clear discerning of the things of God not a confused Notion as the blind man in the Gospel saw men as Trees walking So 2 Cor. 4. 6. For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledg of the Glory of God in the face of Iesus Christ. And 1 Iohn 5. 20. And hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true Every degree of knowledg is Gods gift What other men see confusedly we see more distinctly in this light Secondly Firm assent Then shall I know thy testimonies know them from others that have not Divine Authority 'T is the spirit of Wisdom and Revelation that openeth our eyes to see the truth and worth of heavenly things contained in the promise Ephes. 1. 17 18. The father of glory may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledg of him the eyes of your understandings being enlightened that ye may know the hope of his calling and the riches of the glory of the inheritance of the Saints in light And Matth. 16. 17. Flesh and blood hath not revealed these things unto thee Humane credulity we may have upon the report of others the evidence of the truths themselves but this firm assent is the fruit of Divine illumination Thirdly Hearty practice Let thy testimonies not only strike my ear but affect my heart command my hand let me know them so as to do them for otherwise our knowledge is little worth God doth so direct that he doth also enable us to approve our obedience to him sincerely and faithfully There is a knowledge that puffeth us up 1 Cor. 8. 1. which yet is a gift and floweth from the common influence of the Spirit Ier. 22. 16. Was not this to know me saith the Lord But there is a greater efficacy in practical knowledge such as warmeth the heart with love to the truths known Iohn 4. 10. If thou knewest the gift c. Such a light as proceedeth from the gracious influence of the Spirit Use 1. Let us be often dealing with God in prayer that our judgments may be enightened with the understanding of the word and our affections renewed and strengthened unto the true obedience of it beg for that lively light of the Spirit 1. We need it In how many things do we erre in the things which know how weak are we both as to sound judgment and practice The Apostle saith We know but in part 1 Cor. 13. 9. We are but of yesterday and we know nothing Job 8. 9. Therefore we have need to go to the Ancient of days that he may teach us knowledge and kindle our Lamps anew at the Fountain of light Alas we take it in by drops or by degrees as a tender and sore eye must be used to the light We have but little time to get knowledg in and do not improve that little time we have 2. We have leave to ask it Iam. 1. 5. If any man lack wisdom let him ask it of God and why do we not seeing we have a liberty to ask it 3. God hath promised to bestow it he will give his spirit to them that ask it Luke 11. 13. And to beget Faith in us If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts to your Children how much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him Here is a notable Argument he reasoneth and promiseth And Prov. 2. 3. we must cry for knowledg Well then let us be earnest that we may not miss that which is to be had for asking beg for an heart to know Ier. 24. 7. I will give them an heart to know me that I am the Lord. Use 2. It informeth us That there is somewhat more than the Word necessary to give us knowledge God must not only reveal the Object but prepare the Subject David having a Law beggeth understanding that he might know Gods testimonies The literal sense and meaning of the words may be understood by common gifts and ordinary industry unless men be exceedingly blinded and
will serve the Lord whatever others do Iosh. 24. 15. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord chuse you this day whom you will serve whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. If he meet with reproaches and scorns 2 Sam. 6. 22. And I will yet be more vile than thus and will be base in mine own sight If inticed by evil Company Psal. 119. 115. Depart from me ye evil Doers for I will keep the Commandments of my God If threatned Acts 4. 19. But Peter and Iohn answered and said unto them Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye Thus they stood by a self-denying resolution whereas the unresolved man Iames 1. 8. is unstable in all his ways is turned like a Weather-Cock with every Wind fitteth his Religion to every interest God biddeth us thus unmoveably to fix our selves Ier. 15. 19. Thus saith the Lord Let them return unto thee but return not thou to them A man that would live quietly must either bring himself to the times or expect the times should come over to him A resolved man stayeth Gods leisure doth not serve his Conscience to fit the times but waiteth till God fit the times to his Conscience 7. A true sight of the worth of spiritual things above carnal This in the Text More than Gold yea fine Gold Till a man cometh to this his Conscience will not be guided by his Religion but his interest and give up all for the worlds sake 2 Tim. 4. 10. Demas hath forsaken us and loved the present world Phil. 3. 19 20. Whose end is destruction whose God is their Belly whose Glory is in their shame who mind earthly things For our conversation is in Heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Iesus Christ. Loth to suffer turn themselves into all shapes God doth not command them but themselves II. The degree of his affection whence this Doctrine Doctr. We ought not only to love the word but to love it above all worldly things whatsoever 1. Let me explain the grounds of our love to the Word 2. Speak of the degree of it 1. Let me explain the grounds of our love to the Word We love the Word as it is the Charter of our hopes and the rule of our duty We have both respects in this Psalm as the Charter of our hopes ver 111. Thy testimonies have I taken for an heritage for ever for they are the rejoicing of my heart As a rule of our duty ver 14. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches And ver 140. Thy word is very pure therefore thy servant loveth it So that First To love and esteem the Word as the Charter of our hopes is to love and esteem spiritual priviledges such as the favour of God pardon of sins peace of Conscience taking away the stony heart and eternal life To have a deep sense and value for such things is the fruits of faith It is true some loose velleities and general inclinations men as men have to their own happiness but being but weakly perswaded of these things they are but slightly affected with them and the promises that reveal them Men that have no faith but altogether live by sense know nothing more excellent than Gold or Riches which do all in the World If God would let them alone here to have their portion in Paris they would part with their share in Paradise Such dunghil-souls have they let God keep spiritual things for whom he will so they may live at ease in the World they never mind communion with God or enjoyment of God but gracious hearts love the Word as offering and revealing these things Secondly To love the Word as a rule of Duty is in effect to love holiness loving things as suitable to our necessities and as suitable to our dispositions I love thy Commandments saith David in the Text as urging and directing us to our Duty This is also proper to gracious souls to them all outward things are but toys and trifles for our senses to play withal The least Grain of Grace seemeth better to them than a mountain of Gold They have a spiritual discerning and love things according to the nature and worth of them The things themselves are not to be compared together so should not our affections to them Secondly The degree of it More than all Riches Therefore I love thy Commandments above Gold yea above fine Gold Take Riches as Riches in that Notion as the word implies happiness abundance contentment The Word of God containeth the true Riches both in the promises and precepts of it First In the promises to us are given 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exceeding great and precious promises 2 Pet. 1. 4. There the great Controversie is decided about the true happiness and salvation God or the Creature there you have the unsearchable riches of Christ Ephes. 2. 7. That in the Ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Iesus The riches of the glory of the Saints inheritance Eph. 1. 18. That ye may know what is the hope of your calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints These are things that make us truly rich Rev. 3. 18. I counsel thee to buy of me Gold tryed in the fire that thou mayst be rich He is not rich that floweth in wealth and plenty but he that hath Christ and an interest in his benefits They are possessors of all things though they have nothing 2 Cor. 6. 10. As having nothing yet possessing all things A little serves the turn they have the good things purchased by Christ happiness enough if he can make them happy So Secondly in the precepts they are means to work Grace the least Dram of which is more worth than all things in the world He is rich enough that is rich in Faith Iames 2. 5. Hearken my beloved Brethren hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of a kingdom in Paradise which he hath promised to them that love him It is more precious than the tryal of Gold 1 Pet. 1. 7. That the tryal of your faith being much more precious than of Gold that perisheth though it be tryed with fire might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Iesus Christ. The smallest measure of saving faith or love to God or fear of God or repentance is of more worth than what is most precious The word of God does more enrich a man and true benefit is to be preferredbefore counterfeit Reasons for the degree of our love 1. From the worth of the Word the reward and those benefits
of his grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified In the word of his grace God hath assured us of the great priviledges of Christianity Support and Defence here and Glory hereafter and that is a mighty strengthning to the Soul and maketh a Christian also glorious and becoming all those hopes and promises that are given him SERMON CXLII PSAL. CXIX VER 129. Thy Testimonies are wonderful therefore doth my Soul keep them USE 1. Reproof to several sorts 1. Of those proud Carnalists that scorn the simplicity of the word Many wit themselves into Hell by lifting up the Pride of Reason against the word of God think all respect to the word to be fond Credulity to them the Gospel seemeth a base and a mean Doctrine whereas it is indeed wonderful they never studied it and therefore think nothing but plain points in it have no spiritual eyes and are looking on what is uppermost There is nothing vulgar the Angels prize what they contemn Eph. 3. 10. To the intent that now unto the Principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God They despise the word as if it were too low a Discipline for their wit and parts scoff at that as mean which a gracious heart findeth to be Mystery they see none of this sublimity that we speak of this pearl of price seemeth to them but as a common stone This is Pride not to be indured for the foolishness of man to contemn the wisdom of God The excellency of Scripture can never be sufficiently understood they never pierced the depths of Scripture else they would find it sublime and subtle enough but they are ignorant of what they seem to understand so well 1 Cor. 8. 2. If any man think that he knoweth any thing he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know 2. Others that give up themselves to the itch of curiosity must have Mysteries made more mystical and therefore fly from the letter of the Scriptures to ungrounded subtleties and spiritualities as if all the written word were an Allegory Rev. 2. 24. But to you I say and unto the rest in Thyatira as many as have not this Doctrine and which have not known the depths of Sathan Men must have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are loth to be â—…eddered and tyed up to a few common truths The bait to our first Parents was the fruit of the Tree it is good for Knowledge Gen. 3. 5 6. God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise She took of the fruit thereof and did eat If any be of such a rigid temper and constitution as not to be moved with the pleasures of the senses Satan draweth them to nice and ungrounded speculations they would be wise above the rate which God hath allowed run into strange and uncouth notions and so many otherwise of a sober life have an unsound Judgment 3. Those that would fathom these mysteries by the line and plummet of their own Reason believe Gods word and the things contained in it no further than they can see natural Reason for it these are not Disciples of the doctrin of Christ but Judges and set a Prince at the Subjects Bar the scantling of their own private senses and reason is made the standard for the Highest mysteries to be measured by They come to judge the word rather than to be judged by it Mysteries are to be admired not curiously searched and discussed by mere humane Reason Every light must keep its place Sense Reason Faith light of Glory If sense be made the Judge of Reason there is wrong Judgment Some things we apprehend by Reason that cannot be known by sense as that the Sun is bigger than the earth So Faith corrects Reason shall we doubt of that to be true which droppeth from Gods own mouth because it excedeth our weak understanding 4. Those that prostitute their wonder to every paltry carnal Vanity Oh what trifles are these to the wonders of Gods Law If we see a fair building we cry out Oh wonderful as the Disciples Mar. 13. 1. Master see what manner of stones and what buildings are these Oh there are Gods Testimonies a more noble nature the person of Christ Col. 2. 9. In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily Oh wonderful at an heap of money what are these to the unsearchable riches of Grace rare plot 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all in and about Christ is rare his name is wonderful He that found out the Causes of things by Philosophy could say Nihil admirari but he that hath the most knowledge of Religion as to Divine things may say Omnia admirari the transcendent goodness of God in the pardon of sins riches of everlasting Glory purity of Divine Commands but as to the world Nil admirari You know better things in Gods testimonies 5. Those that find more favour and more matter to wonder at in other Books in Plato in Aristotle or Heathen Writers they have a favour there a wonder there but are not affected with those mysteries and those notions which are in the Gospel They like those Books where they find flowers of Rhetorick or Chymical Experiments Philosophical Notions Maximes of Policy but they sleight the word 6. Those that admire more what man puts into an Ordinance than the word of God The further off any thing is from the Majesty of the Scriptures the more it taketh with unregenerate men taken with toys and bawbles of delight more than the substantial goodness of Christianity We are apt to say of the labour of man excellencies of man Admirable but we little regard the truths of God as in a field of Corn prize the Poppies and well coloured Weeds but sleight and overlook the more valuable Corn. Use 2. Instruction To instruct us how to entertain the word of God We never entertain it rightly till we entertain it with wonder Considerations 1. We have not a true sight and sense of the Word if we admire it not There is such transcendent love admirable depths of wisdom unsearchable treasures of happiness raised strains of purity an harmonious coincidence of all parts What would we admire but that which is great and excellent Why are not we then transported and ravished wiâ—…h those wonderful felicities as the favour of and fellowship with God everlasting enjoyment Nothing is of such weight and importance as this is all is nothing to this Phil. 3. 8. Yea doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledg of Christ Iesus my Lord. Would we admire what is rare and strange As the object of
Entrance The word Petack signifieth door gate or opening The expression giveth us occasion 1. To distinguish of Truth in Scripture There is Ostium and Penetrale the Porch of Knowledge and the secret Chambers of it The Porch I should take for the first vital essential necessary Truths that concern Faith and Practice those are obvious to every one that looketh into the Scriptures The inner Chambers are those more abstruse points that do not so absolutely concern the life of Grace but yet conduce ad plenitudinem Scientiae serve for the encrease of Knowledge Those that are in the Porch and have not as yet pierced into the depths of Scripture may yet have so much light as to direct them into solid Piety 2. Every door hath a Key belonging to it so hath this a Key to open it which Christ hath in his keeping Rev. 3. 7. He hath the Key of David which openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth The Officers of the Church are in part intrusted with it for the good of the Church Christ saith Luk. 11. 52. The Lawyers had taken away the key of knowledge and entred not into the Kingdom of God themselves and them that were entring in they hindered Such unfaithful ones hath every age almost afforded that shut the door of Knowledge against the people Papists that lock up the Scriptures in an unknown tongue are grosly guilty of it Others that hinder plain and powerful preaching cannot excuse themselves from being accessary to this guilt yea those that obscure the plain word of God by Philosophy Traditions of men or careless handling Tertullian complained long ago of those qui Platonicum Aristotelicum Christianismum proeudunt Christianis 3. By this Door opened there is entrance and so cometh in our word This Entrance may be understood or actively passively when the word entreth into us or we enter into it First Actively when the word entreth upon a mans heart and maketh a sanctified Imression there as the expression is Pro. 2. 10. When wisdom entreth into thy heart and knowlâ—…dge is pleasant to thy Soul This entrance of the word bringeth Light with it the first Creature God made was light so in the new Creature therefore it concerns us to know what manner of entrance the word had upon us 1 Thes. 1. 9. For they themselves know of us what manner of entring in we had unto you and how ye turned to God from Idols to serve the living and true God Secondly Passively when men do first enter upon the study of the word It may be read the entrance into thy Word as well as of thy Word when once acquainted with it and the first rudiments of Knowledge we should soon discern the Lords mind in the necessary Truths that concern Faith and Practice Secondly The other question is what is meant by the Simple The word is sometimes used in a good sense sometimes in a bad 1. In a good sense 1. For the sincere and plain hearted Psal. 116. 6. The Lord preserveth the simple I was brought low and he helped me 2 Cor. 1. 12. For our rejoycing is this the testimony of our Conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity not with fleshly wisdom but by the Grace of God we had our Conversation in the world and more abundantly to you-wards 2. For those that do not oppose the Presumption of carnal wisdom to the pure light of the word so we must be all simple or fools that we may be wise 1 Cor. 3. 18. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world let him become a fool that he may wise That is in simplicity of heart submitting to Gods conduct and believing what he hath revealed The Septuagint in the text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it inlighteneth and giveth understanding to the Babes and so they often translate this word Babes or little ones thence Christs saying Mat. 11. 25. I thank thee O Father Lord of heaven and earth because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto â—…abes Nor to worldly wise but babes in comparison not to conceitedly wise but those that are sensible of their own Ignorance 2. In a bad sense for the Ignorant 1. In the general every man is naturally dull and ignorant in divine things Iob 11. 12. Vain man would be wise though man be born like a wild asses colt For grossness as well as untamedness So every man is simple 2. Those that are naturally weak of understanding or of mean capacity Prov. 1. 4. To give subtilty to the simple to the young man knowledge and discretion Prov. 8. 5. O ye simple understand wisdom and ye fools be ye of an understanding heart In all these senses may the Text be made good I take the last chiefly intended Observations 1. Observe somewhat from that word the Entrance Doctr. I. That in getting knowledge there is a Porch and Entrance that we must pass through before we can attain to deeper matters As in Practice there is a Gate and a Way Mat. 7. 14. Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth to life An Entrance and a Progress An Entrance by Conversion to God and a Progress in a course of holy walking So in Knowledge there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The first Principles of the Oracles of God or some Elements and afterwards deeper mysteries Milk for babes as well as meat for stronger men Heb. 5. 12 13 14. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God and are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness for he is a babe But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil There is an order in bringing men to knowledge First There is something obvious and lyes uppermost in all Truths that is soon understood and this we put into Catechisms we must teach as able to bear Mar. 4. 33. And with many such parables spake he the word unto them as they were able to hear it Indeed afterwards we come to dig into the mines of Knowledge and to dive deeper as choice Metals do not lie in the surface but in the bowels therefore we should not content our selves with a supersicial search but dig as for Treasure in a Mine Prov. 2. 4. If thou diggest for her as silver and searchest for her as for hid Treasures So Paul 1 Cor. 3. 1 2. And I Brothren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual but as unto carnal even as unto babes in Christ I have fed you with milk and not with strong meat for hitherto ye were not able to bear it neither yet now are ye able By Milk he meaneth
be desire or no. Fifthly Gods Children have these desires because they see more in the Word than others do or can do Spiritual discerning is an help to spiritual affections They whose eyes are anointed with spiritual eye-salve see wonders in the Law and so are wondrously affected with them But why should Gods Children see more 1. They look through the Spectacles of Faith they believe the Commands to be the Commands of the great God the promises to be the promises of God and therefore as good as performance and so what to others seems fancies and fine dreams to them are the chiefest realities Heb. 11. 13. These all died in faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off and were perswaded of them and embraced them Who would having the promises be so strangely transported but they that are strongly perswaded Faith that looketh upon the things promised as sure and near maketh them more active and lively They that have not Faith or do not exercise Faith have but cold affections but they who believe these wonderful felicities which the Word of God speaketh of long to enjoy what they are sure is true 2. They look into it with an eye of love and love sets a price on things They see more of the loveliness of spiritual things than others do Mens affections are according to the constitution of their souls or the end they propound to themselves They that are carnally disposed know all things after the Flesh and value them by the interests of the flesh as that is gratified and they that are spiritually disposed are affected accordingly as mens Genius lyeth And that is the reason why eminent Grace hath strong affections which carnal men are not competent Judges of It seemeth improbable to them that a man should have such fervent desires of holiness and be able to speak thus to God I opened my mouth and panted for I longed for thy Commandments The constitution of their souls is quite otherwise and their hearts hang world-ward they have not such a sense of their duty and do not make it their business to please God and so having no deep sense and Conscience of their Duty they do not see such a need of the Word as their Guide and Help They have no love to these things therefore no passionate desire for this is the order the will chuseth love desireth the union desire presseth to endeavours after it but now a godly man that maketh it his business to please God the principal desires and choice of his will is to be what God would have him to be and to do what God would have him to do 3. Because they have experience Two things quicken our affection to any thing that is good viz. The knowledge of the worth and use of things and our want of them And the Children of God know both of these by experience in the course of that life wherein they are engaged and nothing is known so intimately and pressingly as what is known by experience By experience they see the want of the Word of God and in comforts and helps not only when God first touched their hearts with care of saving their souls and they were humble and parched with a sense of sin and wrath all things were then unsavoury as the White of an Egg then they longed they panted for one comfortable word from God one passage of Scripture to give them ease and the Word becometh as necessary as meat to the hungry and drink to the thirsty and cool Air to the weary Matth. 11. 28. Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and ye shall find rest to your souls But still they are sensible of their spiritual necessities so as they cannot breathe without it nor thrive without it they find such a necessity of it It is the food of their souls the seed and principle of their Being the rule of their lives the means of their growth the Charter of their hopes their defence and strength in temptations and assaults Christ himself guarded himself with the Word when he was assaulted Now being practically convinced of this they must needs have vehement longings after it and after a more full understanding of it They find by experience that the Soul is apt to faint as well as the Body Heb. 12. 3. Lest ye be weary and faint in your minds and that in all these things nothing relieveth them but the comfort and direction God giveth them in his Word Sixthly The more godly any are the more they feel these strong affections All that have life their Pulses do not beat alike strongly some are weak others more robust So it is in Grace some have larger souls than others and so as they are more in action for God they must have more supplies and a greater measure of Spirit and Grace these long and pant In others there is a greater sluggishness and narrowness of mind and they rest satisfied with what they have their spiritual affections are not so raised and therefore every one that is godly is not acquainted with this panting and breathing and longing they have so much appetite as is necessary to maintain the new Creature but not these enlarged desires I confess you are to judge by your willingness rather than the passionate stirrings of your affections It is the heart which God requireth and if he hath the will he hath the heart But yet affectionate workings of the soul towards spiritual and heavenly things are very sweet and such as all Christians should strive for but not the best marks by which to judge of our estate There may be a solid and sincere intention and choice when there is little stirring perceived in the affections If the will be fixedly set for God the man is upright Yet you are to endeavour to raise your affections to that height which is suitable to the excellency of the object especially when it is movingly represented to us our desires should be upon the wing It is a Duty as far as we can reach it we should The more the soul is refined from the dregs of carnal longings and worldly lusts the more are they enlarged towards God and as their passionate desires of earthly things are abated so their spiritual desires are enlarged David saith Psal. 119. 36. Encline my heart unto thy testimonies and not to covetousness And the Apostle Col. 3. 2. Set your affections on things above and not on things on earth The more the heart is given to the one the more it is taken off from the other Riches honours and pleasures as these are loved they hinder this noble working of the soul this breaking longing panting for better things Worldly things have a great advantage over our affections because they are sensible and near us and our knowledge of them is clear and by the senses obtrude and thrust themselves upon the soul. Therefore use them with a guard and restraint Seventhly Though this
dispensation As thou usest to do to those that love thy name The Word is I. According to the Law and Right II. According to the use and custome According to the mercy promised and usually bestowed upon those that love thee Both sences not improper I. The first sence According to the Law and Right Prout est jus diligentium nomen tuum so some The Vulgar Secundum judicium Amyraldus glosseth thus Pro illa misericordia quam inter te timentes nomen tuum constituisti Others Secundum Ius Foedus illud Take it thus and it beareth a good sence for there is the obligation of Justice and the obligation of Grace a Judgment of righteousness and a Judgment of mercy This merciful Judgment the Saints appeal unto I cannot exclude this for otherwise this Verse would not have one of those ten Words which express the Word or Law of God Doctr. That there is a gracious way of right established between God and his people according to which they may expect mercies This will be best understood by comparing the two Covenants their agreement and disagreement not in all things but such as are pertinent 1. Let us see how the two Covenants agree First They agree in their Author God appointed both and man is only to accept or take hold of what is offered Man was not thinking of any such thing when God instituted the first Gen. 2. 17. But of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye or revealed the second Gen. 3. 15. It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel For God to enter into a Covenant with the Creature either of Works or Grace was an act of condescension and who is he that could bid the Almighty humble himself and prescribe Conditions and Laws of Commerce between God and us but only God alone Man did not give the Conditions or treat with God about the making of them what they should be but only was bound to submit to what God was pleased to prescribe In the Covenant of Works God gave forth the Conditions of life and a Law and a penalty and in the Covenant of Grace man is bound to submit to the Conditions without disputing They are not left free and indifferent for us to debate upon and to modifie and bring them down to our own liking and humour but to yield to them and take hold upon them not to appoint them Isai. 56. 4. Thus saith the Lord unto the Eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths and chuse the things that please me and take hold of my Covenant Rom. 10. 3. For they being ignorant of Gods righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God Secondly They agree in the moving cause which in both was the Grace of God The first Covenant it was Grace for God to make it It was the Grace of God to accept of mans perfect obedience so as to make him sure of eternal life on the pâ—…rformance of it Though the last Covenant hath the honour by way of eminency to be styled the Covenant of Grace yet the first was so though the condition of it was perfect obedience and the reward had respect to personal righteousness It was of Grace also that God would at all covenant and enter into Bonds with man who was not his Equal and give his word to any of the works of his hands It was Grace that endowed man with original righteousness and fitted him and enabled him to keep that Covenant His absolute Soveraign owed him no more than the rest of the Creatures which he had made Grace engaged the reward there was no more merit in Adam's obedience than in ours Luke 17 10. So likewise ye when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you say We are unprofitable servants we have done that which was our duty to do Nor did his work bear proportion to the eternal reward Thirdly They agree in the Parties God and man in both Covenants not any other Creatures superior or inferior to man rational or irrational the principal contracting parties were publick persons Adam Iesus Rom. 5. 18. Therefore as by the offence of one man judgment came upon all to condemnation even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life 1 Cor. 1. 15. 47. The first man is of the earth earthy the second man is the Lord from heaven The first and second Adam for them and all their Heirs Fourthly That God giveth sufficiency of strength in both these Covenants to the parties with whom he made them to fulfil the Conditions thereof To Adam Eccl. 7. 29. Lo this only have I found that God hath made man upright but they have sought out many inventions To Adam natural to us supernatural strength Ezek. 36. 27. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall keep my Iudgments and do them Heb. 8. 10. This is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days saith the Lord I will put my Laws into their mind and write them in their hearts Fifthly In both God kept up his Sovereignty and by his condescension did not part with any thing of his dominion over man In the Covenant of Works he ruled by a Law written on mens hearts Rom. 2. 15. Which shew the work of the Law written in their hearts their Consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another So by Grace the Believer is not freed from the Law of Nature which being almost obliterated and blotted out of the heart of man and become very unlegible it pleased God to set it forth in a new Edition and to write it over again in the heart of a renewed man Heb. 8. 10. I will put my Law into their minds and write it in their hearts Ephes. 4. 24. And that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Though God admitted us to new Conditions of favour yet he still requireth subjection on our part and that we owne him as Lord and Sovereign requiring obedience and service at our hands or else he taketh a liberty to visit our transgressions with Rods Psal. 89. 31 32. If they break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments then will I visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes Sixthly In both Covenants there is a mutual obligation on both parties this ariseth from the very nature of a Covenant Contractus est consensio ad constituendam obligationem quâ alter alteri sit obnoxius In every Covenant there is a tye on both sides and some reason of right There is no obligation of debt between God and us but an obligation of Grace Deus non
Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us He doth not say Upon me but upon us as the common language of all the Saints The favour of God is so dear and precious to the Saints that they can compare with the affections of carnal men take them at the greatest advantage He doth not consider their worldly things in their decrease but he considers them when they are encreased and he considers them in the very time when they are encreased in the Vintage and Harvest time the shouting of Vintage and joy of Harvest are proverbial and the comforts of this life when new and fresh most invite delight They that place their happiness in these things cannot have so much joy as they that have a sense of their interest in God Now shall we be wholly strangers to this temper and disposition of soul 3. If we be backward to seek after the favour of God the Lord whips his people to it by his Providence for sometimes their spiritual disposition may be marr'd Hos. 5. 15. I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offence and seek my face In their affliction they will seek me early The Lord withdraws his gracious presence for this reason not that we may seek ease or freedom from trouble but that we may seek his face and the applying of his Grace to our Consciences 4. God is not wholly gone neither is the desertion total when there is such a disposition in the heart He hath left something behind him which draws you after him The estimation of Gods favour keeps his place warm till he come again it keeps room in the soul Psal. 88. 13 14. Unto thee have I cried in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee Lord why castest thou off my soul why hidest thou thy face from me But when they can digest such a loss with patience it is an indifferent thing whether they have any sense of Gods love yea or no. 5. We find it to be a sad thing to lose any worldly comfort and shall we lose the favour of God too and never lay it to heart and live contentedly without it It is a sign we despise that which the Saints value and which is the principal blessing you will not have cheap thoughts of the consolation of God Iob 15. 11. 6. Unless we seek Gods favour all our labour is lost in other Duties 2 Chron. 7. 14. If my people that are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from Heaven c. This is put in among other conditions and without this the promise is not made good to us Many seek to the Lord in their distresses but it is only for redress of temporal evils or obtaining necessary temporal supplies but do not seek his face then their prayers are but like howlings but like the moans of Beasts Hos. 7. 14. They do not seek reconciliation and communion with God but only ease and riddance of present trouble Those are not holy prayers 7. It is the distinguishing point that will separate the precious from the vile to have a tender sense of Gods favour Psal. 24. 6. This is the generation of them that seek him that seek thy face O Iacob There are many thoughts of Interpreters about that place I find though they differ in it yet they all agree in this sense that they are the true Israelites the true Iacob's posterity that cannot brook Gods absence that seek his face that will not let him go but strive with him till they get the blessing These are not Israel in the letter but Israel in the spirit Iacob said I will not let thee go unless thou bless me Gen. 32. 36. Such diligent Seekers of God should we be never to give over till we find him Or as Moses said Lord if thy presence go not with us carry us not up hence We will not stir a foot without thy favour and presence III. They that are sensible of the want or loss of the favour of God have liberty to sue for it with hope and encouragement to find it For so doth David Make thy face to shine Whence comes this liberty First Because of Gods promise because of the mercy of God pawned to us in his promises He hath told us none shall seek his face in vain Isai. 48. 19. and Prov. 8. 17. and Psal. 22. 20. One that seriously and diligently is seeking after God before he hath done his search he shall have some opportunity to bless and praise the Lord some experience of Grace shall be given to him if he conscionably diligently and seriously seek it Secondly Because of the mediation of Jesus Christ you may come in his name and seek the favour of God Psal. 36. 7. How excellent is thy loving kindness O God! therefore the Children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings Interpreters upon that place conceive the shadow of Gods wings does not allude to an ordinary similitude of a Hen that when Vultures and Kites are abroad covers her little Ones gathers her Chickens under her wings No but they think the allusion to be to the outstretched wings of the Cherubims and this is the ground of our trust and dependance upon God Let the Sons of men put their trust under the shadow of his wings there to find God reconciled in Christ for the Throne of Grace was a Figure of that propitiation He is called the propitiation God propitiated and reconciled in Christ is the Throne of Grace interpreted However that be it is clear Psal. 80. 1. Thou that dwellest between the Cherubims shine forth When they would have God hear they give him the title of one that sits upon the Mercy-Seat reconciled by Christ. Though the Cloud of sin doth hide Gods favour from thee he can make it shine again and here 's our ground the merciful invitation of Gods promise and then God propitiated in Christ. Use. O then let us turn unto the Lord in prayer and in the use of all other means humbling our selves and seeking his favour 1. Waiting for it with all heedfulness Psal. 130 6. My soul doth wait for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning and he repeats it again I say more than they that watch for the morning Look as the weary Centinel that is wet and stiff with cold and the Dews of the Night or as the Porters that watched in the Temple the Levites were waiting for the day-light So more than they that wait for the morning was he waiting for some glympse of Gods favour Though he do not presently ease us of our smart or gratifie our desires yet we are to wait upon God In time we shall have a good answer Gods delays are not denials Day will come at length though the weary Centinel or Watch-man counts it long first so God will come at length he will
charity Phil. 4. 5. Let your moderation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be known unto all men whether it be fear or honour that be due Rom. 13. 7. Render therefore to all their dues Tribute to whom Tribute is due Custom to whom Custome fear to whom fear honour to whom honour Or good will ver 8. Owe no man any thing but to love one another Secondly For truth You are to adhere to the truth not to be carried about with every wind of Doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lye in wait to deceive but speaking the truth in love ye may grow up unto him in all things which is the head even Christ Ephes. 4. 14 15. To speak nothing but truth in your ordinary communication Ephes. 4. 25. Wherefore putting away lying speak every man truth with his Neighbour To perform what you promise though to your loss Psal. 15. 4. He sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not Thus should the whole course of our lives express the properties of the Word Use 3. To shew the reason why men are so backward in obedience so prone to what is evil so uncomfortable in trouble We do not believe that the testimony of God is righteous and true very true every tittle of it but we are slow of heart to believe therefore is the faithfulness and truth of the Word inculcated Christ saith Believest thou this John 11. 25. Could we believe the word more what advantage should we have in the spiritual life what fear of God what joy of faith what readiness of obedience But we cannot depend upon Gods word and therefore are easily shaken in mind Our hearts are like a Sea one Wave riseth up after another We must be fed with sense and God must do all immediately or else we are apt to sink under our discouragements SERMON CLVI PSALM CXIX VER Cxxxix My zeal hath consumed me because mine Enemies have forgotten thy Words IN these words you may observe 1. Two different persons 2. A different carriage mentioned 1. Two different persons are spoken of David and his Enemies By Enemies is not to be understood those only that were troublesome to himself but those who were an opposite party to God who opposed themselves against God and Godliness these without any breach of the Law of love may be counted Enemies Ps. 139. 21 22. Do not I hate them O Lord that hate thee And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee I hate them with a perfect hatred I count them mine Enemies It is a comfort and satisfaction to the godly to have no enemies to themselves but such as are enemies to God also such as rise up against God 2. There 's a different carriage mentioned and asscribed to these two parties on the one side Oblivion and Forgetfulness of Gods Law on the other side zeal 1. On the Enemies part oblivion and forgetfulness of Gods Word The Word of God is not effectual usually but where it is hid in recent memory They have forgotten thy Word a proper phrase to set forth them in the bosom of the visible Church who do not wholly deny and reject the Word and Rule of Scripture but yet live as though they had forgotten it they do not observe it as if God had never spoken any such thing or given them any such Rule They that reject and contemn such things as thy Word enforceth surely do not remember to do them 2. On David's part here is mentioned zeal or a flagrant affection which is set forth 1. By the vehemency of it 2. By the cause of it 1. By the vehemency of it my zeal hath consumed me It was no small zeal that David had but a consuming zeal Vehement affections exhaust and consume the vital Spirits and wast the body The like expression is used Ps. 69. 9. The zeal of thy House hath eaten me up Strength of Holy Affections works many times upon the Body as well as the Soul especially zeal which is a high degree of Love and vents it self by a mixture of grief and anger What a man loves he would have it respected and is grieved when it is dishonoured and under disrepute Both have an influence upon this consuming this wasting of the Spirits that is spoken of in the text because they had lessened and obscured the Glory of God and violated his Law and there was in him a holy care ardour and earnest endeavour to rectifie this abuse and awaken them out of their security and reduce them to their duty 2. Here was the Cause of it Why was David so much wasted pined consumed and troubled Because they have forgotten Thy Word the contempt of God and the offence of God sate nearest his heart as if he had said I should more patiently bear the injury done to my self but I cannot be coldly affected where thy glory O Lord is concerned since I have had a tast of thy grace and felt the benefit of thy Word I cannot endure it should be contemned and it much moves me to see Creatures so mad upon their own Destruction and to make so light of thy Salvation Thus was David consumed not at the sight of his own but at other mens sins and not at others in general but them his enemies that they should make void the Law of God Such was his love to the Word that he could not endure the contempt and violation of it and such was his Compassion to the souls of men that it grieved him exceedingly to see any of the workmanship of God to perish to be captivated to the World to be made Factors for the Devil and fuel for hell fire and to be so violent for their own Destruction Doctrine That Great and Pure Zeal becomes those that have any affection for the Word and for the Ways of God Here is a great zeal for David saith my zeal hath consumed me it prey'd upon his spirit And here 's a pure zeal for he mentions not personal injuries but disrespect to Gods Word when the same men are our Enemies and Gods Enemies we should be more zealous for Gods cause then our own Now both the greatness and purity of his zeal did arise from his love to the Word as appears from the precedent and subsequent verses in the precedent verses he had told them just and upright are thy testimonies and very faithful therefore zeal hath consumed me because this Word should be slighted and contemned And it appears also from the following verse thy Word is very pure therefore thy servant loveth it He was troubled to see such a holy and pure Word to be trampled under foot and especially that those seem to disown it he doth not say they deny it who had generally profest to live under this rule that they made light and disregarded the precepts in which I found so much comfort and delight In the prosecution of this point I shall 1. Shew what is true Zeal
and do them God hath promised this to some body and why not to you You are as fair for this promise as any and if God hath not excluded you why will you shut out your selves from the grace offered 4. There are in the Scripture excellent Incouragements and Motives from the reward promised to the pure Lactantius saith of the Heathen virtutis vim non sentiunt quia cjus praemium ignorant that they were Ignorant of the force of Vertue because they were not acquainted with the reward of it There is a great force in Scripture arguments in this kind See how the Scripture speaks of these promises they are so great so pure and so expresly binding in their Condition and Qualification annexed They are so great 2 Cor. 7. 1. that having such great and precious Promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and perfect holiness in the Fear of God And then so pure 1 Iohn 3. 3. He that hath this hope in him purifieth himself as Christ is pure 'T is not barely said he that hath hope in him but he that hath this hope 'T is not a Turkish paradise but a sinless estate not an estate wherein we shall be ingulfed in all sensualities but satisfied with the Vision of God and made like him Heaven is not only to be looked upon as a place of happiness but a state of likeness to God Once more so many and so expresly binding to purity in their Condition and qualification annexed See what the Word of God speakes to purity if we would injoy the favour of God and have him good to us Psal. 73. 1. Truly God is good to Israel even to such as are of a clean heart Who are they that God will be good to To Israel all are not Israel that are of Israel but those whose Consciences are cleansed by the Blood of Christ and study to be clean and holy in heart and life Those are Gods Israel How ever things fall out here how blustering and boisterous soever the times are yet God will be good to them that are his Israel If we would have his favour actually exhibited if we would have God to shine upon us we must look after purity Psal. 18. 26. With the pure thou wilt shew thy self pure and with the froward thou wilt shew thy self froward God will be to man as man is to God No degree of purity shall go unrewarded the holy use of the Creatures is their priviledge Titus 1. 15. To the pure all things are pure To the wicked all things are defiled and they have a curse with their blessings but to the pure these blessings are lawfully enjoyed and are sanctified to them and they receive every temporal mercy as a blessing of the Covenant Would we be accepted in our service Prov. 15. 26. The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord but the Words of the pure are pleasant Words The thoughts and words of wicked men are an abomination to the Lord but the thoughts and words of the Saints are his delight God hath respect to the person and then to their services so that we must be pure in heart if we would have our services accepted of the Lord. Once more the pure are those that shall be employed with Honour for God 2 Tim. 2. 21. If a man purge himself from these he shall be a vessel of Honour Sanctified and Meet for the Masters use and prepared unto every good work Again the purified and cleansed are meet to receive and retain the Word 1 Tim. 3. 9. Hold fast the Mysteries of faith in a pure Conscience None receive the word with such profit and retain it with such warmth as the pure in heart Precious liquors are not put into musty filthy vessels if it be 't is corrupted and spoiled presently Let a man be addicted to any worldly lust and he will soon lose all the sense of good he hath received Once more none pray aâ—…ight but the pure Zeph. 3. 9. For then will I turn to the People a pure Language that they may call upon the Name of the Lord and 1 Tim. 2. 8. Lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting and Heb. 10. 22. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of Faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience Then we draw near to God with Comfort being sure of audience Once more if we would be happy for ever more Who are they that shall see God Matth. 5. 8. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God You shall see the question propounded in the Psalm 24. 3 4. Who shall ascend into the Hill of the Lord Who shall stand in his holy place And the question is answered in the third verse He that hath clean hands and a pure heart It standeth us upon to examine how it is with us since all the visible Church are not saved the Pure and Holy are they that shall see and injoy God Filthy Dogs and Impure and Unclean Swine are not suffered to enter into the New Ierusalem 5. Here are terrible threatnings the Word is impatient of being denied It would have holiness and purity upon any terms there is something propounded to our fear as well as to our hope Sometimes the Word of God threatens with the loss of happiness Heb. 12. 14. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. If there were no more but this this were enough to terrifie us to be shut out from the presence of the Lord if it were rightly considered But O! How miserable will the poor Creature be that The Word threatens with the loss of the vision of God supposing the soul subsists this is enough to overwhelm us that we shall never enter into the place where God is Revel 21. 17. There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth or worketh abomination But we hear of a Worm that shall never dye a Pit without a bottom a Fire that shall never be quenched and Torments that are without end and without ease God shall say I would have purged you but you would not be purged Whose heart doth not tremble at the mention of these things Oh! Then you see the Word is very pure The second Consideration that this pure Word must me valued and esteemed and loved by us Here I shall shew you what 't is to love the Word and then why I. What 't is to love the Word First Negatively 1. 'T is not an outward receiving or a loose owning of the Scripture as the Word of God many carnal men may so receive it or rather not contradict it They receive the Word of God not upon any divine Testimony and Evidence of the Spirit of God but upon the Authority and Credit of Men the Practice and Profession of the Nation where they Live and the injunctions of the Civil state or the Tradition of the Church This is the just account of most mens
draweth Light out of Darkness is able to revive our Credit and Esteem if not in this World yet in the World to come we shall be glorious though our condition be never so contemptible here Our reward is not in this Life When we die the Beggar is carried into Abrahams bosom would you be in Dives his condition or Lazarus To wallow in Ease and Plenty and go to Hell and be cast out with the Devil and Damned Spirits or to be poor and despised here to be carried by Angels into the presence of God hereafter So at the day of Judgement Matth. 10 32. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men him will I confess also before my Father in Heaven we shall be publickly owned 8. Great contempt shall be poured upon those that now contemn you When Hâ—…non offered injury to Davids Servants he took severe Revenge of it God will require an account of all the Wrongs and Affronts are put upon his Servants The wicked shall be made the Scorn of Good Men and Angels Psal. 52. 6 7. The Righteous also shall see and fear and laugh at him Lo This is the Man that made not God his strength but trusted in the abundance of his Riches and strengthned himself in his wickedness But I am like a green Olive Tree c. 3. Doctrine That though our Condition be small and despicable yet we should be still faithful in our respects to God and his Word 1. The Temptation will not excuse us esse bonum facile est ubi quod vetat esse reâ—…tum est our Tryal is expresly mentioned in the promise as necessary for our Crowning Iam. 1. 12. When he is tryed when the Temptation is over the Tryal is past 't is no praise for a woman to be chast that hath no Suitors Adam was tempted by Eve and Eve by Satan yet both bore their burden Si taceret Deus â—…queretur Satan c. why should we hearken to Satans Suggestions rather than Gods Admonitions 2. God observeth what we do in our Trouble Psal. 44. 20 21. If we have forgotten the Name of our God or stretched out our hands to a strange God shall not God search out this for he knoweth the secrets of our hearts If we slacken our service to God or fall off to any degree of Apostacy the Judge of hearts knoweth all God knoweth whether we have or would deprave and corrupt Doctrine Worship or Ordinances or whether we will Faithfully adhere to him to his Word and Worship and Ordinances whatever it cost us 3. God and his Law are the same and therefore though our condition be altered our Affections should not If we love the Word of God upon intrinsick Reasons there is the same reason we should adhere to it with Love still as to embrace it out of Love Ver. 142. Thy Righteousness is an everlasting Righteousness and thy Law is the Truth Among men that may be just to day which is not so to morrow because they and their Lawes alter but Gods Law is the Eternal rule of Righteousness that never alters 4. In our poor and despicable condition we see more cause to love the Word than we did before because we experiment supports and comforts which we have thereby Rom. 5. 3. Knowing that Tribulation worketh Patience c. 2 Cor. 1. 5. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. God hath special consolations for his afflicted and despised people And makes their consolation by Christ to run parallel with and to keep pace with their sufferings for Christ. 1. Use. Carry your Duty still in Remembrance The first step of defection is to forget what God hath commanded There is an oblivion and a darkness for the present on the Mind so that a man knoweth not what he knoweth as Hagar saw not the Well that was before her till God opened her eyes therefore revive the grounds of your Adherance if you would constantly adhere to God The Temptation cometh afresh upon you every day with all the inticing Blandishments so should the reasons of your Duty It helpeth our perseverance to consider how strong and cogent they are and what wrong we should do to God and Religion to consent At first a man beholds Temptations with Horrour but being familiarized our thoughts are more reconciled to them therfore recollect your selves and remember the Reasons you first had to put you upon your Duty and if you duly consider them they will be strong and cogent to repel the Temptation that would take you off from it 2. Use. It sheweth who are Lovers of the Word and who not On the one hand some love the precepts of God when they are in Honour and Esteem have many to joyn with them and they see peace and plenty follow the Profession of it But rather than they will indure trouble and contempt forsake it The Samaritans would be Iewes when the Iewes were favoured but in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes when the Iews were in trouble they would be called Sidonians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dedicating their Temple not to Iehova but Iupiter Iosephus These never received the Love of the Truth On the other side when a Man loveth it alike in all times and in all conditions when Rich when Poor in Liberty and in Bonds when the wayes of God are countenanced or when despised 't is all one to him they love it not for outward Respects but internal Reasons SERMON CLIX. PSALM CXIX VER 142. Thy Righteousness is an Everlasting Righteousness and thy Law is the Truth IN this Verse the Word of God is set forth by a double Notion of Righteousness and Law accordingly two things are predicated of it as it is Righteousness 't is said to be an Everlasting Righteousness and as it is Law 't is said to be the Truth Both imply our Duty as there are Truths in the Word 't is mans Duty to Believe them as there are Commands 't is Mans Duty to Obey them I shall treat First of the Notions Secondly of the Predications 1. The Notions And there the Word is first called Righteousness thy Righteousness Gods Righteousness is sometimes put for the Righteousness which is in God himself as Verse 137. Righteous art thou O Lord. Psal. 145. 17. The Lord is Righteous in all his ways And sometimes for the Righteousness which he requireth of us as Iam. 1. 20. The Wrath of Man worketh not the Righteousness of God That is the Righteousness which God requireth of us and here in the Text. Once more that Righteousness which God requireth of us in his Word 't is sometimes taken in a limited sense for the Duties of the second Table and so usually when 't is coupled with Holiness Luk. 1. 75. Eph. 4. 24. The new Man is Created after God in Righteousness and true Holiness Holiness giveth God his due and Righteousness giveth man his due Sometimes 't is taken in a more general sense as
part of Mankind fear the Prince more than God and the Gallows more than Hell If every vain thought or carnal motion in our hearts were as the cutting of a finger or burning in the hand men would seem more afraid of that then they are of Hell Nay I will tell you men can dispense with Gods law to comply with Mans. Hos. 5. 11. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in Iudgement because he willingly walked after the Commandment A little Danger will draw men into the snare when Hell will not keep them from it Oh let us Rouze up our selves Is not Man Gods Subject Is not he a more powerful Sovereign than all the Potentates in the World Doth he not in his Word give Judgment on the Everlasting estate of men and will his Judgment be in vain Hath not God appointed a day when all matters shall be taken into consideration If you can deny these Truths go on in sin and spare not but if Conscience be sensible of Gods Authority oh break off your sins by Repentance and walk more cautiously for the time to come Every sin is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Ioh. 3. 4. a breach of Gods Eternal law and will God always wink at your disloyalty to him Nothing remaineth to be spoken to but the last Clause Thy Law is truth Doctrine Gods Law is Truth 1. I shall shew in what sense 't is said to be Truth 2. The Reasons why 't is Truth 3. The end of this Truth First In what sense 't is said to be Truth 1. 'T is the Chief Truth there is some truth in the laws of Men and the writings of Men even of Heathens but they are but sorry Fragments and Scraps of Truth that have escaped since the Fall But the Truth of the Word is transcendent to that of bare Reason here are truths of the greatest Concernment matters propounded that are very comfortable and profitable to lost sinners 1 Tim. 2. 16. Here Moral Duties are advanced to the highest Pitch Deut. 4. 6. Keep therefore and do them for this is your Wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the Nations The end of these is not only to regulate your Commerce with men but to guide you in your Communion with God and help you to the Everlasting Enjoyment of him 2. 'T is the only Truth that is the only Revelation of the Mind of God that you can build upon 't is the Rule of Truth A thing may be true that is not the Rule of truth There is veritas regulata veritas regulans the Word is the measure and standard and they are true or false as they agree or disagree with it Every Custom and Tradition must be tryed upon it from the beginning it was not so from the beginning my Christianity is Jesus Christ. We must not attend to what others did but what Christ did who is before all every dictate of reason must be tryed by it for here is the highest reason It is written to make the Man of God perfect or else it cannot guide you to your happiness 2 Tim. 3. 15 16. Every Revelation must be tryed by it Gal. 1. 8. If an Angel or Man bring any Doctrine if it differ from or be besides the written Word 't is a cursed Doctrine This is the Rule 3. 'T is the pure Truth in it there is nothing but the Truth without the mixture of Falshood every part is true as truth it self 't is true in the Promises true in the Threatnings true in the Doctrines true in the Histories true in the Precepts true in the Prohibitions God will make it good to a tittle True in Moralities true in the Mysteries of Faith not only true in Duties that concern man and man but in the sublimer truths that concern commerce with God where Nature is more blind Psal. 19. 9. The Testimonies of the Lord are true and righteous altogether 'T is true where a Carnal Man would not have it true in the Curses and Threatnings If Gods Word be true wo to them that remain in a sinful way they shall find it true shortly and feel what they will not believe 'T is true where a godly man feareth it will not be true no Promises contradicted by sense but will prove true in their performance Whatsoever in the hour of Temptation Carnal Reason may judge to the contrary within a while you will see your unbelieving fears confuted 4. 'T is the whole Truth it containeth all things necessary for the Salvation of those that yield up themselves to be instructed by it Ioh. 14. 26. He shall teach you all things and remember you of all things Ioh. 16. 13. Lead you into all Truth In all things that pertain to Religion and our present Conduct towards everlasting Happiness Therefore nothing is to be hearkned to contrary to what God hath revealed in his Word there is no room left for Tradition nor for extraordinary Revelations all that is necessary for the Church is revealed there 't is a full perfect Rule Reasons 1. From the Author God is a God of Truth and nothing but Truth can come from him for God cannot lie Tit. 1. 2. The truth of the law dependeth upon the truth of God therefore it must needs be without Error yea it corrects all Errour if God could deceive or be deceived you might suspect his Word 2. The matter it self it commends its self to our Consciences by the manifestation of the truth 2 Cor. 4. 2. Approving your selves by the Word of truth 2 Cor. 6. 7. If the Heart be not strangely perverted and become an incompetent Judge by obstinate Atheisme and corrupt Affections it cannot but own these truths to be of God if our Gospel be hid 't is hid to them that are lost 1 Cor. 4. 4. 3. The end of it which is to regulate man and sanctifie man Now it were strange if he should be made better by a lie and a cheat Ioh. 17. 17. Sanctifie them by thy truth thy word is truth Certainly 't is the most convenient Instrument to reduce man to his Wits and make him live like a Man 4. It pretends to be the law of God it is so or else it would be the greatest cheat in the World for it speaketh to us from God all along and by vertue of his Authority None can be so bruitish as to think that the wisest Course of Doctrines that ever the World was acquainted with is a meer Imposture Use 1. Is to commend the Word of God to us we cannot have true Doctrine nor true Piety nor true Consolation without the Scriptures Not true Doctrine Isa. 8. 20. To the law and to the testimony if they speak not according to this word there is no light in them 'T is to be condemned of Falshood if not according to the Word you cannot have true Holiness for Holiness is but Scripture digested and put in Practice Iam. 1. 18. The Foundation of the spiritual life is laid in
the Word Scripture Faith and Scripture Repentance are still fed by the Word It teacheth us how to believe and how to repent and how to pray and how to live especially the Heavenly Life and there can be no true Comfort and Peace without the Word Rom. 15. 4. That ye through Patience and Comfort of the Scriptures might have hope 2. Use. We should consider the Truth of the Word partly in the general for the strengthening and settling of our Faith and to make it more clear and solid and certain Eph. 1. 13. In whom ye trusted after that ye heard the Word of Truth When boisterous Temptations would carry us to some evil which God hath forbidden and severely threatned that the point of the sword of the Spirit be put to the bosome of it Deut. 29. 19 20. 2. When you are settling your souls as to the main point of Acceptance with God 1 Tim. 1. 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all Acceptation that Iesus Christ came into the World to save sinners of whom I am chief The Word will never deceive them that seek Righteousness there 3. When difficulties arise that oppose the promise or expectation of relief according to the promise you should urge the truth of the word in the very face of difficulty thy law istruth Take Pauls instance Act. 27. God by Promise gave all that sailed with Paul in the Ship their lives yet how many difficulties came to pass At first when they were in the Adriatique Sea for so many days and nights and had neither seen Sun nor Stars they knew not where they were nor whether they should go here was little appearance of Gods making good his word to Paul Another Difficulty fell out they feared they were near some Countrey they sounded and found they were near some land but what land they could not Conjecture and were afraid of being split in pieces against the Rocks but the Shipmen that knew the danger of these Seas they must go out of the Ship they would make use of their long Boat and so they were ready to miscarry in the sight of the land but Paul prevented them And after 't was day the men were spent because of long fasting and conflicting with the Waves they could not ply the Oar. Another difficulty they were where two Seas met they run the Ship a ground and resolved to kill Paul and the rest of the Prisoners lest they should swim to land but the Captain willing to save Paul prevented that purpose And so at length they came all to shore though followed with difficulty upon difficulty God made good his Promise to a tittle ver 44. Pray observe how Paul urged Gods Promise against the greatest difficulties as sufficient ground of encouragement to expect relief ver 25. for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me SERMON CLX PSALM CXIX VER 143. Trouble and Anguish have taken hold of me yet thy Commandments are my delights IN the Words we have I. Davids Temptation Trouble and Anguish have taken hold of me II. Davids Exercise under that Temptation thy Commandments are my delight III. The Benefit of that Exercise notwithstanding the greatness of the Temptation Yet 'T is propounded with a non obstante I. The Temptation was very great for he speaketh of Trouble and Anguish The joyning of Synonymous Words or words of a like import and signification increaseth the sense and so it sheweth his affection was not ordinary Yea both these words have their particular use and emphasis Trouble may Imply the outward Tryal and the difficulties and streights he was in Anguish Inward Afflictions the one the Matter of the Trial and the other the sence of it The other expression also is to be observed have taken hold of me in the Hebrew have found me so the Septuagint renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Vulgar Latin out of them tribulatio et angustia invenerunt me have found me that is come upon me as the expression intimateth Troubles are said to find us because they are sent to seek us out and in time will light upon us We should not run into it but if they find us in our duty we should not be troubled at them Sometimes in Scripture we are said to find trouble and sometimes trouble to find us We are said to find trouble David said Psal. 116. 3. I found trouble And so now here in the Text Trouble and Anguish found him There is no difference or if any the one noteth a surprize Trouble findeth us when it cometh unlooked for our finding it noteth our willingness to undergo it when the Will of God is so especially for Righteousness sake II. Davids Exercise under this great Temptation thy Commandments are my delights Where we have 1. The Object thy Commandments The Commandment is put for the Word in general which includeth Promises as well as Precepts the whole Doctrine of Life and Salvation However the property of the form is not altogether to be overlooked even in the Commandments or the Conscience of his Duty he took a great deal of Comfort 2. The Affection Delight He had said before that he did not forget Gods statutes when he was small and despised ver 141. now he delighted in them This was his great love to the Word that he could find sweetness in it when it brought him trouble such sweetness as did allay all his sorrows and overcome the bitterness of them 3. The Degree Delights in the plural number He did greatly delight in it Omnis oblectatio mea saith Iuâ—…ius Thy Commandments to me are instead of all manner of delights and pleasure in the World III. The next is the Opposition of this Exercise to that temptation yet 'T is not in the Original but necessarily Implyed and therefore well inserted by our Translators to shew that the greatness of his Streights and Troubles did not diminish his Comfort but Increase it rather The Points are these First God â—…th it necessary sometimes to exercise his People with a great deal of Trouble Seconâ—…â—…his Trouble may breed great Vexation and Anguish of Spirit even in a gracious â—…rt Thirdly Notwithstanding this Trouble and Anguish gracious Hearts will manifest their graciousness by delighting in the Word Fourthly They that delight in the Word will find more Comfort in their Afflictions than Troubles can take from them or such sweetness as will overcome the sense of all their Sorrows This was alwayes Davids help to delight in the Word and this brought him Comfort though in deep Troubles For the First Point That God seeth it necessary sometimes to exercise his People with a great deal of Trouble Though they are highly in Favour with God yet they have their share of Troubles as well as others This is true if you 1. Consider the People of God in their Collective Body and Community which is called the Church 'T is the Churches name Isa. 54. 11 12. Oh
forth high Tides of Affection Iam. 4. 3. but few seek Grace to serve God they would make God serve with their sins These are not the Groans and Breathings of the Spirit but the Eructations and belches of the Flesh. Therefore the Vehemency of the Affection is not only to be regarded but the regularity that they be not stirred up by the Flesh but guided by the Spirit 3. 'T is not a meer natural Fervency That 's the Cry of Nature after Ease but not the Cry of Grace after God and 't is but howling in Gods Account Hosea 7. 14. The Heart is not affected with that which is the true Misery Sin and the Wrath of God nor sincerely ingaged to God from whom they expect help and then how instant and earnest soever men be to be ridd of their Burthen their Prayers are but like the Moanings of the Beasts under Pain and the howling of Dogs or the gaping of hungry Ravens Psal. 147. 'T is lawfull to ask Ease but we must ask in a spiritual manner 'T is lawful to pray for Temporal Blessings but not in the first place or with the neglect of better things Prayer properly is the vent of Grace and the desires of a renewed Heart expressed to God Zech. 12. 10. 1. Use. To Reprove most Men for their deadness and carelesness in Prayer Prayer is a part of Natural Worship All that will acknowledge God and a Providence will acknowledge a necessity of praying to God especially in their Streights The Pagan Mariners cry'd every Man to his god in a Tempest Ionah 1. 6. but though all will pray in one sort or other yet few pray in good earnest Some say a Prayer but they do not pray in Prayer Iam. 5. 17. Elijah prayed earnestly Their Prayers are conceived in a cold and customary track of Devotion Others flow in words without spirit and life their Tongue is as the Pen of a ready writer but the Heart is dead and carelesly affected for they are indifferent whether they be heard or not Prayer is indeed the work of their Invention but not the Expression of their spiritual Desire The mind conceiveth a rational Prayer but the Heart is not poured out before God and so 't is discoursing rather than Crying Words are the outside of Prayer sighs and groans lye nearer the Heart and do better discover the Temper of it and are more regarded by God than all the Charmes of speech Psal. 6. 8. The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping Tears have a Language which our Father understandeth a want of Affection is more than a defect of words broken words with a spiritual Affection do more than a well set speech with unbrokenness of Heart Others have a natural fervency but not renewed affections pray from their own Interest or pray passionately for Carnal things Numb 11. 4. They fell a lusting and wept saying who will give us Flesh They may be importunate for their own Ease and Welfare give me Children or else I die saith passionate Rachel Natural desires are very passionate yea for spiritual things on their own Terms would not a man desire Pardon and Heaven whose heart doth not ingage him to look after them Some that are renewed yet are too cold in Prayer do not Cry 'T is not enough to have the Qualification of the Person but the Prayer must be qualified also Iam. 5. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it must be a well-wrought Prayer otherwise it availeth not yea our earnestness must encrease according to the weight and moment of what we pray for when Peter was in Prison the Church made Instant and earnest Prayer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 12. 5. as in the Margin it is and Christ had his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luk. 22. 44. But now the Children of God are Conscious to themselves of much deadness and drowsiness and are so low sometimes that they are not heard scarce breath in prayer so far from Crying But What is the Reason of this Carelesness 1. Want of Sense They have no feeling of their Wants and therefore pray perfunctorily The poor in Spirit the Mourner and Meek are put before the desirer Matth. 5. Men must be affected with their wants before they be earnest after a supply Jesus Christ was sensible of his burden and therefore he offered up Supplications with strong Crying and Tears Heb. 5. 7. and if man were once sensible of his sins by which his Saviour suffered he would be fervent in his prayers and most earnestly deprecate the wrath of God as his Saviour did A smart sense of Wants quickens prayers If we were always alike affected as we are in a deep distress or fears of Death or somenotable danger we should not need many directions to teach us to pray fervently but because such a sense is soon worn off our Prayers grow cold and careless 2. As they are Tongue-tyed through sin and carnal Liberty hath brought an indisposition upon them 1 Ioh. 3. 20 21. He that hath wronged another will not easily repair to him and crave his help in streights 3. Want of spiritual Desire Prayer is but the acting of Desire as Desire is more or less so is our Cry in Prayer He that asketh Remission of his sins but doth not thirst after it with an earnest and burning desire doth but pray for it out of Course and not as it becometh a Creature that hath a sense of Gods Anger against sin He that asketh the Mortification of sin but doth not desire it out of True Desire flowing from the hatred of sin dwelling in him doth but pray for Forms sake He that desireth the deliverance of the Church but doth not desire it out of a True Love to the Church will never pray heartily and in good earnest for it Isa. 62. 1. For Zions sake I will not hold my peace c. A man whose Soul truly loveth the Interests of the Church will be solicitous for it as Eli trembled for the Ark of God 1 Sam. 4. 13. So when at ease we ask Temporal supplies for fashions sake God must have the Name though we eat our own bread and wear our own Apparel 4. Want of Reverence to God and therefore they babble over words without sense and feeling they do not see him that is invisible Eccl. 5. 1 2. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the House of God and be more ready to hear than to give the Sacrifice of Fools for they consider not that they do evil Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God for God is in Heaven and thou upon Earth Therefore let thy Words be few Keep thy heart and affections when thou goest into Gods Presence a little outward Lip-service is but the Sacrifice of Fools an affront to the Power and Majesty of God Mal 1. 8. Offer it now unto thy Governour will he be pleased with thee or accept thy Person saith the Lord
Morning Gen. 22. So for bad things if a man be Worldly his Worldly Desires and Affections compel him to rise early for their satisfaction Psalm 127. 3. The Drunkard is thinking early of his morning draught to be filled with Wine Isa. 15. 11. Wo to them that rise up early to follow strong drink The People when they were mad upon the Calf Exod. 36. 6. They rose up early in the morning and offered burnt-offerings to it Whatsoever hath secured its Interest in the Soul will first urge us so if Prayer be our chief pleasure it will urge us to be up betimes with God our Delights and Affections sollicit us in the Morning 3. 'T is the choicest time of the day and therefore should be allotted to the most serious and necessary imployment 'T is the choicest time partly with respect to the Body because the Body is then best refreshed and our Vigour repaired which is lessened and spent with the business of the day Our Memories quickest Senses readiest natural Faculties most acute And partly with respect to the Mind our Morning thoughts are our Virgin thoughts more pure sublime and defecate usually free from Worldly Cares which would distract us in prayer and will more incroach upon us by our Worldly business and the baser Objects which the necessity of our life ingages us to converse with and be imployed about Certainly the best time should be taken up about the best business not in recreations to be sure for this is to knit pleasure to pleasure and to wear away the sithe in whetting not in working They are brutish Epicures that rise up from sleep not to service but to their sensual Delights and Vanities as the Scripture brandeth them that eat in the Morning not for strength but Excess Eccl. 10. 16 17. The Morning is the fittest time for business now what business should we do but the most weighty and that which requireth the greatest heedfulness of Soul which is our communion with God 4. Consider 'T is profitable to begin the day with God and to season the heart with some gracious exercise as David Psal. 139. 18. When I awake I am still with thee It sanctifieth all our other business as the offering the first fruits did sanctifie the whole lump and to whom should the first fruits of our Reason and Sense restored be consecrated but to him that gave us all and is the Author and preserver of them When the World gets the start of Religion it can hardly overtake it all the day the first thoughts leave a powerful Impression upon it Mich. 2. 1. They devise evil upon their beds and when the morning is come they practise it With carnal men sin beginneth in the morning stayeth in the Heart all day playeth in the fancy all night but if you begin with God in the Morning you take God along with you all the day to your business and imployment 5. This will be some recompence for the time lost in sleeping half our lives are consumed in it our time is parted between work and sleep 'T is the misery and necessity we are subject unto whilest we are in the body that so much of our time should be spent without doing any thing for God or shewing any act of Love and thankfulness to him None of the other Creatures ever stand still but are alwayes executing and accomplishing the end for which they were made And in heaven the blessed Spirits are alwaies beholding the face of God and Lauding and Blessing his Name and need not those intermissions which we bodily Creatures do Now though this be our Necessity and so no sin to need the refreshings of sleep yet because so much of our time is lost by way of recompence the least that we should do is to take the next season and if health and bodily constitution will permit to prevent the dawning of the Morning and to be as early with God as we can All the time we can well spare should be given to God do but consider since thou wentest to bed the Sun hath Travailed many thousand miles to give thee light this Morning and therefore what a shame it is that the Sun being continually in so swift motion should return and find him turning and tossing in his Bed like a door upon the hinges Prov. 20. 14. after Nature is satisfied with sleep And that we should not rise and own Gods Mercy in the Rest of the Night and sanctifie the Labours of the day by some serious address to him This Meditation is enforced by Augustine Indecus est Christiano si radius solis eum inveniat in lecto posset enim dicere sol si potestatem loquendi haberet amplius laboravi heri quam tu tamen cum jam surrexerim tu adhuc dormis So Ambrose on this Text Grave est si te otiosum radius solis orientis in verecundo pudore conveniat lux clara inveniat occulos somnolento adhuc corpore depressos III. 'T was a Vehement and Earnest Prayer for saith David I cryed Observe Doctrine 'T was earnest though private and 't was earnest though he could get no satisfactory Answer 1. Earnest though Private in all our Addresses to God we must be serious whether men see or hear or no God seeth and heareth An Hypocrite hath a great flash of gifts in Company but is streight when alone but Gods Children are most earnest in private when they do more particularly open their hearts to God without taking in the necessities of others Christ when he was withdrawn from his Disciples then he prayed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more earnestly Luk. 22. 44. Iacob sent away his Company to deal with God in good earnest and then wrestled with him ille dolet vere qui sine teste dolet Peter went out and wept bitterly so a Christian trieth it out between God and him when he hath a mind to plead for his own Soul or for the Church therefore hath no outward reason to move him but Conscience and spiritual Affection The Pharisees would pray in the Synagogues and corners of the streets but Christ saith go into thy closet and shut the door and pray to thy father in secret Matth. 6. 7. This is the love and confidence we express to our Father in secret A man may put forth himself with great Warmth and Vigour before others that is slight and careless in secret Addresses to God In these secret intercourses we most taste our spirits and discern the pure workings of Affection towards God A Woman that only bemoaneth the loss of her Husband in Company but banisheth all thoughts of him when alone might justly be suspected to act a Tragical part and to pretend sorrow rather than feel it Some will pray in secret but customarily utter a few cold words but David saith I cried Remember there is one seeth in secret as Christ saith I am not alone Iohn 16. 32. And Mal. 1. 14. He is a God of
draw us to the same Fountain of Grace for Pardon and Life to our selves These Examples do more than the Doctrinal declaration because they do not onely shew that Mercy and Grace may be had but that it hath been attained unto by those who in all respects did judge themselves and were really unworthy of it as unable to lay hold of it and to make good use of it afterwards as we our selves The Ice is broken the Ford ridden before us therefore we may venture our Salvation and Acceptance with God upon the same Grace 3 His former love to our selves At first he took us with all our faults and betrothed us unto himself in Loving-kindness and tender Mercy Hosea 2. 19. and therefore he will still do us good freely and bountifully And so we may answer all Objections from Gods wonted goodness towards us When he hath entred into Covenant with us out of his Love and Bounty we may well expect that upon the same terms he should keep Covenant The continuance is more easily believed and asked than the beginning and first grant Psal. 36. 10. O continue thy loving-kindness unto them that know thee and thy righteousness to the upright in heart When by Experience we have found what it can do for unworthy creatures we may the better expect it should help us upon all occasions 4. The End why God exerciseth it which is his Glory even the glory of his Grace and Loving-kindness That that might be acknowledged and exemplified by those that are partakers of it even to be altogether glorious Eph. 1. 6. To the praise of his glorious grace wherein he hath accepted us in the beloved That it may be owned and esteemed as free and liberal and working of its own accord We only cross Gods End when we do not plead it admire it and esteem it highly and improve it for our Comfort for this is Gods End in the whole business of our Salvation from first to last that Men and Angels might be excited to set forth the praises of his rich Mercy and free Grace And here is a new incouragement to ask gracious supplies of God according to his Loving-kindness or upon the account of that Attribute even that his Grace may be more esteemed and exalted in our hearts Psal. 109. 21. But do thou for me O God the Lord for thy names-sake because thy mercy is good deliver thou me It concerneth him in point of his chief honour and glory to do good to his People that he may be known and owned to be a good and a gracious or loving God Use Well then If this be the great plea of the Saints 1. Let us meditate often of the Loving-kindness of God of his pitying and pardoning and lovingly intreating poor sinful and broken-hearted creatures that come to him This should be our daily Meditation bonum est primum potentissimum nomen Dei saith Damascene It is the first-born and chiefest name of God We cannot conceive of God by any thing that concerneth us so much as his Goodness by that we know him and for that we love him We admire him with Reverence for his other Titles but this doth first insinuate with us and command our respect to him The first Temptation that ever was in the World was to weaken the conceit of his Goodness in the heart of the creature as if God were envious harsh and sowre in his restraints still it is a great Temptation yet God is good to Israel Psal. 73. 1. Oh let us fortifie our Hearts with frequent thoughts of his Goodness and Loving-kindness As we should do this every day so especially upon the Sabbath day Psal. 92. 2. I will shew forth thy loving-kindness in the morning and thy faithfulness every night We should do this with all the advantage we can use more especially when we are in his presence conversing with him and ministring before him Psal. 48. 9. We have thought of thy loving-kindness O God in the midst of thy Temple We should often and seriously think when we come to God surely now we have to do with a loving and gracious God whether we wait upon him in Prayer or the Word or Sacraments if any prayer to make or comfort to expect 2. Observe the fruits and effects of it and value them They that are Students in Providence shall not seek long before they find God to be a God full of loving-kindness and tender Mercy Psal. 107. Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. Few regard it or look after it but they that do pry into the course of his dealings shall not be without many instances of Gods love and free favour to them now when you have found it out value it Psal. 63. 3. Because thy loving-kindness is better than life my lips shall praise thee You shall have rich experiences such as will fill you with joy unspeakable and glorious to be esteemed above all comforts whatsoever 3. Praise God for it This should be a lively motive to praise him Psal. 138. 2. I will worship towards thy Temple and praise thy name for thy loving-kindness and for thy truth These two are the cause of all we have 't is without any deserving of ours only because we have to do with a gracious and faithful God Isa. 63. 7. I will mention the loving-kindness of the Lord and the praises of the Lord according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us and the great goodness towards the house of Israel which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies and according to the multitude of his loving-kindness The Prophet speaketh as if he could never find words enough or pregnant enough to express his sense of Gods gracious dealing so bountifully had he dealt with his People 4. Let us improve this loving-kindness and readiness of Gods Mercy to help penitent Supplicants 1. In a way of Trust the least degree of which is enough to keep the sinner from running away from him how grievous soever his offences and demerits be yet come to him say as David Psal. 51. 1. Have mercy upon me O God according to thy loving-kindness according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions Yea make it a ground of confidence and support Psal. 69. 16. Hear me O Lord for thy loving-kindness is good turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies 2. In a way of Fear that we may not interrupt the sense of it or stop the current of his good will Psal. 26. 3. Thy loving-kindness is before mine eyes and I have walked in thy truth 'T is the ground of all our Confidence lose not that the Lord taketh notice of them that trust in his goodness Nahum 1. 7. The Lord is good a strong hold in the day of trouble and he knoweth them that trust in him There is one word yet undiscussed According to thy Iudgment Some
by Iudgment understand Wisdom and Prudence the Word will sometimes bear that sense Micah 3. 8. But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord and of Iudgment c. As we say a man of Judgment for an Understanding Person In this sense According to thy Iudgment will be As thou thinkest fit but surely Iudgment here is to be understood in the notion of his Covenant or the Rule according to which he judgeth of men for it is one of the Terms by which the word is expressed Iudgement is sometimes put for the Covenant of Works or his strict renumerative Justice David declineth it under this notion Psal. 143. 2. Enter not into Iudgment with thy servant O Lord. And this is called by the Apostle Iudgment without Mercy Iam. 2. 13. Sometimes for the Covenant of Grace and free promises of God or that merciful right which he hath established between him and his People wherein God acteth as an Absolving and Pardoning Judge Of this see verse 132. And of this the Prophet speaketh Isa. 1. 27. Zion shall be redeemed with Iudgment that is by his Mercy promised according to his Judgment David desireth to be Quickned From thence observe Doctrine III. That Gods Mercy and Loving-kindness manifested and impledged in the Promises of the Gospel doth notably incourage us to ask help from him You have heard what incouragment we have by the Loving-kindness of God Now what we have over and above that by his Iudgment I. Quickning and Enlivening Grace is promised in the new Covenant 1. In General From the general undertaking of the Covenant The Covenant of Grace differeth from all other Covenants in the World because every thing that is required therein is also promised and therefore 't is called The Promise Gal. 3. 18. because God hath promised both the Reward and the Condition Faith and Perseverance therein as well as Righteousness Pardon and Life The new Heart to bring us into the Covenant and the continual assistance of Grace to keep us in that Covenant And so it differs from the usual Covenants that pass between man and man Among men each Party undertaketh for and looketh after his own part of the Covenant but leaveth the other to look to his Duty and his part of the ingagement But here the Duties required of us are undertaken for by him that requireth them No man filleth his Neighbours hand with any thing to pay his Rent to him or enableth him to do what he hath covenanted to do But God filleth our hand with a stock yea more than a stock of Habitual Grace with Actual Influences to draw forth habits into Act and doth with strength so far enable us to perform every commanded Duty that in the performance thereof we may be accepted Ezek. 36. 26 27. God owneth there not onely the Principles of Acting but also the Excitement of these Principles yea the very Act it self He hath undertaken to infuse the Principle and stir up the Acts and Exercise of it I will cause you to walk in my Statutes So Ier. 32. 39 40. And I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me for ever for the good of them and of their children after them and I will make an everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me Besides Converting Grace superadded influences It differeth from the Covenant of Works that had more of a Law and less of a Promise there was a promise of Reward to the Obeyer but no promise of giving Obedience God indeed gave Adam a stock of Habitual Grace but no promise of Assisting Grace There Man was to keep the Covenant here in effect the Covenant keepeth us Ier. 32. 40. And indeed therein lyeth the exceeding graciousness of the Covenant of Grace that God undertaketh for both parties and worketh in his people all that is required for entring into and keeping this Covenant with him 2. In Particular This part of actual influence which is more especially called Quickning is promised in the Covenant of Grace for the Covenant concerneth mainly the Life of Grace the care of which he hath taken into his own hands not to lay it down till it be perfected in the life of Glory And therefore alloweth his Children to repair to him when their life is any way enfeebled or decayed So that besides that the general undertaking of his Covenant will warrant such a plea his particular promises of Preserving and Restoring our Life will embolden us to ask quickning For with respect to his Judgment or Covenant-ingagement God is called The God of our life Psal. 42. 8. And The strength of our life Psal. 27. 1. The care of life Bodily Spiritual and Everlasting lyeth upon him By vertue of the Covenant he hath undertaken to keep it feed it renew it in all the decays of it till we be possessed of the Life of Glory II. The Advantage we have from this Promise We have a double Argument not onely from Gods Mercy but his Truth Both which do assure us that God is not onely easie to be intreated but bound and tyed by his own free condescension His Loving-kindness sheweth that he may do it for us his Judgment that in some part he will do it He is not onely inclined but obliged which is a new ground of Hope His Promise in the New Covenant inferreth a debt of Favour though not of Justice when God hath bound himself by promise both his Mercy and Fidelity are concerned to do us good We have not onely the freeness of Gods love to incourage us but the certainty of his help ingaged in the Promise God inviteth men to him by his Grace and ingageth his Truth to do them good The Nature of God is one incouragement he is wonderful ready to do good but in his Covenant he hath established a right to Believers to seek his Mercy so that all is made more sure and comfortable to us Use. Is to encourage the People of God when they miss his help in the Spiritual Life to lay open their Case to God The thought of strict Justice striketh us dumb there is no claiming by that Covenant but the remembrance of this Merciful Right or Judgment should open our Mouthes in Prayer and loosen our Tongues in acquainting God with our case Lord I want that Life and Quickning which thy promises seem to speak of You may do it with the more confidence for these Reasons First Consider the Tenour of this Judgment or the Terms thereof The mildness of the Court in which you plead 't is not a Covenant of Justice but of Favour in it Grace taketh the Throne not Justice The Judge is Christ The Law according to which Judgment is given is the Gospel our Plea is Grace not Merit The Persons allowed to plead are penitent Sinners Yea they are not
proper to say are Just and Righteous than to say are Truth His Commandments are Just as the Rule of our Duty they are just as the Rule of God's Process but the word Commandment is not taken strictly for the mandatory part of the Word but it is put for the whole Covenant his Precepts invested with Promises and Threatnings the Commandments thus considered with the Promises and Threatnings annexed are true Yea mark the Emphasis of the Phrase Truth it self The Happiness promised to them that make Conscience of their Duty will be made good and so the Punishments on them that offend God will be inflicted Now the joyning of these two Clauses seemeth to speak thus much I know that thou art near me because thy Word is Truth God in his Providence seemeth to be absent sometimes from his People but upon the Assurance of his Word we must believe him near I say God seemeth to be far off from his People for who would think that the God of Peace and all Comfort should dwell with them that are broken in Spirit Isa. 57. 15. For thus saith the high and holy One that inhabiteth Eternity whose name is Holy I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones Or that the Author of all Felicity should be present with them that are harassed and exercised with such sharp Afflictions and hunted up and down in the World but because God hath promised it Isa. 43. 2. When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the Fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee We should be satisfied with it his Word is Truth whatever Sense and Reason saith to the contrary neither distance of place nor afflictedness of condition do hinder his nearness to us Quitting all other points I shall only insist on this one Doctrine That it is the Priviledge and Happiness of God's Children to have God near unto them upon all occasions My great business will be to explain what this nearness is and then you will soon find it to be the great Happiness and Priviledge of the Saints First What is this nearness Secondly How is it brought about First What is this nearness 1. God is not said to be nearer to them than others in regard of his Essence for so he is everywhere present nullibi inclusus nullibi exclusus so an Heathen described God to be a great Circle whose Centre is nowhere and Circumference everywhere and in the Prophet he telleth us Ier. 23. 23 24. Am I a God at hand saith the Lord and not a God afar off do not I fill Heaven and Earth can any hide him in secret places that I shall not see him saith the Lord He filleth all things with his Essential Presence he is in Earth in Heaven and under the Earth Psal. 139. 7 8. Whither shall I go from thy spirit and whither shall I flee from thy Presence if I ascend up into Heaven thou art there if I make my bed in Hell behold thou art there if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the Sea even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me God is here and there and everywhere the Heavens do not confine and inclose his Being nor the Tumults of the Earth exclude it in this sense God is alike near to all things they that cannot endure the presence and thought of God where will they go from him They may run away from God as a Friend but they cannot escape him as an Enemy te non amittit nisi qui dimiâ—…t qui te dimittit quo fugit nisi a te placato ad te iratum Men may shut God out of their hearts and yet he is there do what they can and will be found there one day in the dreadful Effects of his Anger 2. Not in regard of his general Providence and common Sustentation for so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he is not far from every one of us for in him we live and move and have our being Acts 17. 27 28. This general Presence and providential sustentation is vouchsafed to all his Creatures without which they could not subsist nor move nor act so all things are inclosed under the hand of his Power and are still under his disposing 3. It is meant of his friendly and gracious Presence and those eminent and gracious effects of his Power and Goodness which he is pleased to afford his People So God is sometimes said to be nigh unto his People and they are said to be a People near unto him the Lord is said to be near unto them Psal. 34. 18. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart And again Psal. 145. 18. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him and to all that call upon him in truth Deut. 4. 7. What Nation is so great who hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for The Lord is said to be nigh because he is always ready to hear their Prayers and to direct them in their doubts comfort them in their sorrows defend and protect them in all their dangers and deliver them in all their Troubles On the other side they are said to be a People near unto God Psal. 148. 14. He also exalteth the horn of his people the praise of all his Saints even of the Children of Israel a people near unto him Because they are the special Objects of his Mercy and Favour and as to the actual intercourse that passeth between God and them God is said to draw nigh to them as they are said to draw nigh to God Iam. 4. 8. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you and so drawing nigh to us on God's part signifieth his Grace and Blessing and drawing nigh on our part our Duty Love Fear Delight and Reverence of God Well then it is meant of his friendly gracious Presence vouchsafed to his People 4. This nearness may be understood of his visible Presence in his Ordinances or of that spiritual inwardness and saving Union and Communion that is between God and his converted People or those that are brought home to him by Christ and are the members of his Mystical Body In some sense it is the Priviledge of the Visible Church to have God near them because they have the signs of his Presence among them as in the former place Deut. 4. 7. What nation hath God so nigh unto them It was the common priviledge of the Nation in comparison of the Pagans about them who were a People afar off and strangers to the Covenants of Promise So Ier. 14. 9. Thou O Lord God art in the midst of
check our fears when trouble is near God is also near to counterwork our Enemies and support his People Zech. 3. 1 2. And he shewed me Ioshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him And the Lord said unto Satan the Lord rebuke thee O Satan even the Lord that hath chosen Ierusalem rebuke thee is not this a brand pluckt out of the fire Where there is Satan to resist there is an Angel to rebuke as extremities draw nigh God draweth nigh When Laban with great fury followed after Iacob God followed after Laban and stepped between them and commanded Laban not to hurt him When Paul was like to be torn in pieces in an uproar God runneth speedily to his help 2 Cor. 1. 9 10. But we had the sentence of death in our selves that we should not trust in our selves but in God which raiseth the Dead who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us When Danger cometh to be Danger indeed you will find him a present help Use. 2. To quicken us and encourage us actually to draw nigh to God with the more Confidence that is let us address our selves to converse with him in his Ordinances for his Favour Mercy and Blessing that we may not stand afar off but come boldly To this end Consider whither we come by whom we come in what manner we must come or draw nigh to him 1. To whom we draw near to God as reconciled in Christ. If God were inaccessible it were another matter but divine Justice being satisfied in Christ we come to a Throne of Grace Heb. 4. 16. Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need Gods Throne is a Throne of Justice Grace Glory To the Throne of strict Justice no sinful man can approach to the Throne of Grace every penitent sinner may have access to the Throne of Glory no mortal Man can come in his whole Person his heart may be there so it is said Heb. 10. 19. Having therefore Brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Iesus as Petitioners are admitted to the Prince in the Presence Chamber the way to the Throne of Glory lyeth by the Throne of Grace we pass by one unto the other In short Christ stood before the Throne of Justice when he suffered for our sins Penitent sinners stand before the Throne of Grace when they worship him in Faith after the Resurrection we shall ever stand before the Throne of Glory and ever abide in his Presence Our business now is with the Throne of Grace to give answer and dispatch our suites There is a threefold Throne of Grace the Typical which was the Mercy-seat Psal. 80. 1. Thou that dwellest between the Cherubims shine forth the Real which is Christ Being justified freely by his grace through the Redemption that is in Christ Iesus the Commemorative which is the Lords Supper where is a representation of Wisdom and Obsignation of the Grace of Christ in the New Testament This Throne of Grace is set up every where in the Church it standeth in the midst of God's People as the Tabernacle did in the midst of Israel For God is always in all places nigh unto such as call upon him in Truth Ioh. 4. 23. The hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him Access to God may be had every where therefore let us come 2. By whom we come by Jesus Christ Eph. 3. 12. In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him upon the account of his Merit and Intercession We should come without fear or doubt to him de facto as if his blood were running afresh 3. How we come with a true heart Heb. 10. 22. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having an heart sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our bodies washed with pure water SERMON CLXX PSALM CXIX VER 152. Concerning thy Testimonies I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever IN this Verse is a further Illustration of the last Clause of the former he had said there thy Commandments are ipsissima veritas now he amplyfieth that saying from Gods Ordination and Appointment Concerning thy testimonies I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever The Prophet ends this Octonary and Paragraph with some triumph of Faith and after all his Conflicts and Requests to God goeth away with this Assurance that Gods word should be infallibly accomplished as being upon his own experience of unchangeable and unerring certainty Two things you may observe in the Words First The constant and eternal Verity of Gods Testimonies Thou hast founded them for ever Secondly Davids Attestation to it I have known of old that it is so What the Word of God is in itself and then what is the Opinion of the Believer concerning it 1. What the Scriptures are in themselves 1. For their Nature they are Gods Testimonies or the significations of his Will 2. For their Stability they are Founded there is a great Emphasis in that word and that by God thou hast founded them 3. For their Duration and everlasting Use in that word for ever of an Eternal Use and Comfort II. Davids Attestation or Perswasion of this I have known of old I here observe 1. His Perswasion 2. The date and standing of his Perswasion it was ancient I have known of old 1. His Perswasion I have known there is a twofold Knowledge the Knowledge of Faith and the Knowledge of Sense both agree with the words 1. The Knowledge of Faith I know that my Redeemer lives that is I believe it what we read concerning thy Testimonies other Translations read by thy Testimonies I have known by thy Testimonies the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 have been perswaded of this by thy Spirit out of the word it self 2. The Knowledge of Sense and Experience I my self have known by sundry Experiences heretofore which I shall never forget 2. The Date and Ancientness of this Perswasion of old it was not a late Perswasion or a thing that he was now to learn he always knew it since he knew any thing of God that God had owned his Word as the constant Rule of his proceedings with Creatures in that God had so often made good his Word to him not only by present and late but old and ancient Experiences Well then Davids perswasion of the Truth and Unchangeableness of the Word was not a sudden humour or a present fit or a perswasion of a few days standing but he was confirmed in it by long Experience one or two Experiences had been no Tryal of the Truth of the Word they might seem but a good hit
we should let them slip for if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression and every disobedience received a just recompence of reward how shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation The word spoken by Angels was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was only worth questioned no but the truth also because so little believed therefore so little thought of less desired least of all pursued and sought after 2 Pet. 1. 16. We have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of the Lord Iesus but were eye-witnesses of his Majesty Use. Oh study to be informed more and more of this great Truth le ts think of and often consider the unerring Certainty of the Scripture 'T is a Truth not to be supposed and taken for granted but known that you may build sure Man is apt to suspect Evangelical Truths as being cross to his Lusts and Interests You will find it of use not only in great Temptations when we are apt to question all Psal. 73. 13. but in ordinary practice in every Prayer Heb. 10. 22. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of Faith 'T is not an Assurance of our particular estate or our Title to Eternal Life but a full Assurance of the Word and Promise of God that is necessarily required in every one that will draw nigh to God Let us ask in faith nothing doubting Iam. 1. 7 8. 2. Do not content your selves with a light Credulity but grow up to a full perswasion 2 Tim. 3. 14. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them And Col. 2. 2. That their hearts being comforted being knit together in love and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding Not a fluctuating doubting Knowledge but a full perswasion of the Truth of the Gospel Luk. 1. 4. That thou mayest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed Col. 1. 23. If thou continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel a rooted perswasion that 't is the undoubted Truth of God the firmness of Faith should answer the firmness of Gods Word There are several degrees of Assent Conjecture Opinion weak Faith and receiving the Word in much Assurance 1 Thes. 1. 6. There is Belief Confidence Assurance and full Assurance Belief is grounded on Gods Word in general and all the Truths and Propositions therein contained Confidence on the Promise the one goeth before the other Fidelity is before Dependance and Belief for the Promise is first a Truth and so to be considered before it can be conceived under the formal notion of a Promise full Assurance is grounded on the Fidelity and Immutability of God no man believeth so far but he may believe more Doct. III. That Experiences of former times should give us encouragement to trust God for what is future Thy Testimonies I have known of old saith David So the Children of God make use of them See Davids Instance 1 Sam. 17. 36. Thy servant slew both the Lion and the Bear and this uncircumcised Philistian shall be as one of them Moreover David said the Lord hath delivered me from the paw of the Lion and the paw of the Bear and he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine Thus he argueth from former experience to future deliverance I trust in the same God who is able to give the same strength and why should I not look for the same success So Iacob Gen. 32. 10 11. I am not worthy of the least of all thy Mercies and of the Truth thou hast shewed to thy servant for with my staffe I passed over this Iordan and now I am become two bands deliver me I pray thee from the hands of my brother Esau. So Psal. 23. 5 6. Thou hast prepared a table for me in the presence of mine enemies Surely goodness and mercy shall follow mee all the dayes of my life He hath been good to me and if it be for his glory he will be still good to me he hath been my God and will be my God and shall be my God for ever 2 Cor. 1. 10. Who hath delivered from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust he will yet deliver us In all respects of time we stand in need of deliverance when one is past another cometh there have been dangers there are dangers and there will be dangers but God hath doth and will deliver It is a Trade God hath used an Art he is versed in and never at a loss about Our God is a God of Salvation and is excellent in working of it Reasons of the Point I. Gods Constancy and Unchangeableness God is the same alwayes like himself for Mercy Power and Truth he is never at a loss what he hath done he can do and will do I am is Gods Name not I have been or shall be his Providence is new and fresh every Morning Lament 3. 23. God is but one God Gal. 3. 20. Alwayes like himself as he hath delivered so he doth and will Isa. 59. 1. Behold the Lords hand is not shortned that he cannot save neither his ear heavy that he cannot hear No decay in him when we give to another we give from our selves we waste by giving the Creatures are at a stint and soon spend their allowance but God cannot be Exhausted there is no decrease of Love and Power no wrinkle upon the brow of Eternity II. Experience begets Confidence Rom. 5. 3. And patience experience and experience begets hope The heart is much confirmed when it hath Faith and Experience of his side If we were as we should be the Promise should be beyond all Experiences for it is the Word of him that cannot lye Experience addeth nothing to the certainty of the Promise nor any Authority to it only in regard of our weakness 't is an help and sensible Confirmation against our distrustful Cares and Fears Sense and Experience is not the ground of Faith we must believe God upon his bare word yet 't is an encouragement Ioh. 20. 29. Because thou hast seen me thou hast believed Then more encouraged when felt Christ. We have a double proof and experience 1. What God is able to do for us 2. What God will do again when his own Glory and our need requireth it 1. We know what God can do former Deliverances are as so many Monuments and significations of his Power Isa. 51. 9. Awake awake O arm of the Lord art not thou he that cut Rahab and wounded the Dragon awake and put on strength as in the ancient dayes Rahab is Egypt Psal. 87. 4. the Dragon Pharaoh Ezek. 29. 3. the Dragon or Crocodile of Egypt Can he do this and not do that Upon every experience we that learn by sense should be more strongly perswaded of Gods Power 'T
his chosen Psal. 106. 5. That I may see the good of thy chosen that I may rejoyce in the gladness of thy nation that I may glory with thine inheritance It is a Favour Psal. 50. 23. Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me to him that ordereth his Conversation aright will I shew the Salvation of God Thirdly For Quickning Quicken me in which he prayeth either to be kept alive till the Promises be fulfilled or rather to be Comforted and Encouraged in waiting Doctrine We need continual influence from God and lively encouragement especially in our Troubles I. We are apt to faint before God sheweth himself Isaiah 57. 16. I will not contend for ever neither will I be alwayes wroth for the spirit should fail before me and the souls which I have made The Devils design is to Tire and Weary us out some are of a poor Spirit that they will Tire before their strength faileth them Prov. 24. 10. If thou faint in a day of adversity thy strength is but small Yea there a readiness to faint in the best through many Troubles delayed hopes those that have upheld others by their good Counsel are apt to sink themselves II. At least we are clogged cannot so chearfully wait upon God and walk with him Heb. 12. 12. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees We grow weak sloathful remiss in Gods service Fear and Sorrow weakeneth the hands indisposeth us for Duty Use. Let us Encourage our selves Rowse up our heavy Hearts and wait for Gods Quickening let us not give God cause by our Negligence to deny support no us SERMON CLXXIII PSALM CXIX VER 155. Salvation is far from the wicked for they seek not thy statutes DAvid had begged his own Deliverance as one of Gods Servants or Clients in the former Verse now he illustrateth his Petition by shewing the opposite state of the Wicked they could not with such Confidence go to God or put in such a Plea for Deliverance Salvation is far from the wicked Some read it Prayer-wise Let Salvation be far from the Wicked for in the Original the Verb is understood and it is only there Salvation far from the Wicked but most Translations read it better Proposition-wise For as the Man of God comforts himself in his own Interest and Hopes so also in this that God would not take part with the wicked Enemies against him who had no interest at all in his Salvation and protecting Providence and therefore would keep him from their rage In the Words I. An Assertion II. The Reason of it I. In the Assertion we have the miserable condition of Wicked Men Salvation is far from them II. In the Reason we have the evil Disposition of Wicked Men they seek not thy Law which will give us the true Notion and Description of them who are wicked Men Such as seek not Gods Statutes busie not themselves about Religion study not to please God In the Words two Propositions Doctrine I. That Salvation is far from the Wicked Doctrine II. They are wicked who keep not Gods Statutes Doct. I. That Salvation is far from the the Wicked Salvation is of two sorts Temporal and Eternal the Proposition is true in both senses they are far from Salvation and Salvation is far from them To be far from Salvation is to be in a dangerous Case as to be far from Light is to be in extream Darkness To be far from Gods Law ver 150. is to be extreamly Wicked To be far from Oppression Psal. 54. 14. is to be in a most safe Condition So that the point is That the Wicked are in a very dangerous case both as to their Temporal and Eternal Estate First Temporal Salvation is far from them and they are in a dangerous Condition as to their outward happiness This seemeth to be the harder part and to have most of Paradox in it but this will appear to you if you consider 1. That all these outward things are at Gods disposal to give and take according to his own pleasure Iob 1. 21. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away not the Sabeans and the Chaldeans 1 Sam. 2. 7. The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich he bringeth low and lifteth up He that cast the World into Hills and Valleys disposeth of the several Conditions of Men that some shall be high and some low some exalted some dejected all things that fall out in the World are not left to the Dominion of Fortune or blind Chance but governed by the wise Providence of God Their good is not in their hands Iob 21. 16. 2. That it belongeth to God as the Judge of the world to see ut malis male sit bonis bene Gen. 18. 25. That be far from thee to do after this manner to stay the righteous with the wicked and that the righteous should be as the wicked that be far from thee shall not the judge of all the World do right Rom. 3. 5. For if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God what shall we say is God unrighteous that taketh vengeance I speak as a man God forbid for then how shall God judge the World Iob. 34. 17. Shall even he that hateth Right govern and wilt thou condemn him that is most just Iob. 34. 11. For the work of a man shall he render unto him and cause every man to find according to his ways He is not indifferent to good and evil and alike affected to the Godly and the Wicked but hateth the one and loveth the other he hateth the wicked Psal. 5. 5. Thou hatest all the workers of iniquity and on the other part he loveth the good and the holy Psal. 35. 27. He hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servants it is his delight to see them happy and flourishing This different respect is often spoken of in Scripture Psal. 31. 23. The Lord preserveth the faithful and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer That he will uphold and maintain those that are faithful to him and avenge himself upon the Pride and Oppression of the Wicked though all the World be against the Godly God will preserve them and ruine the Wicked though all the World should let them alone So 1 Pet. 3. 12. For the eyes of the Lord are over the Righteous and his ears are open unto their prayers but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil There is a watchful eye of God over the righteous to supply their wants to direct them in their ways to uphold them against dangers to comfort them in their Griefs to deliver them out of all their Troubles God hath an eye to take notice of their Condition and an ear to hear their Prayers but his face is set to pursue the Wicked to their Ruine so that this is enough to assure us that Holiness is the way to live Blessedly even in this Life where Misery most aboundeth because this is a part of the care that belongeth to
intended here inward comfort and contentment of mind Thirdly There is eternal peace that happy and quiet estate which we shall injoy in heaven when we are above all desertions temptations and the trouble of hostile incursions when we shall never have frown more from Gods face when our Sun shall alwayes shine without Cloud or Night When our strife is our over and our Enemies that do infest us now are all overcome there is no Satan to tempt us no Serpent in the upper Paradise no world to trouble or divert us For all the wicked are bound hand and foot and cast into unquenchable fire there is no flesh to clog us for all is perfect this glorious estate is called peace in Scripture as Rom. 2. 10. God will give Glory Honour Peace to every man that worketh Good to the Iew first and also to the Gentile and Rom. 8. 6. To be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace By death is meant the Torments of Hell and by Life and Peace the Joys Heaven And speaking of the blessedness of those that die in the Lord he saith Isa. 59. 2. They shall enter into peace Now this cannot principally be intended here for the man of God speaketh of what we have not of what we hope for and he speaks of Gods righteous dispensations here in the World for which he praised him and therefore 't is meant of our peace here but yet it 's the sence of peace and happiness we shall have in Heaven that hath an influence upon the tranquillity of our hearts and minds here II. Let me a little explain the qualification that love thy Law The Word Law is sometimes taken in a limited sense for the Decalogue or moral Law or else more generally for the whole doctrine of the Covenant the whole Tenour of Religion Law and Gospel So here and else-where as the Isles shall wait for thy Law Isa. 42. 4. That is shall readily receive and imbrace his doctrine So Dan. 6. 5. We shall not find occasion against this Daniel unless we find it in the Law of his God That is in his Religion So Psal. 1. 2. But his delight is the Law of the Lord. By the Law of the Lord is meant the whole Word of God well now 't is said they love his Law not only keep it but love it A child of God is sometimes described by his faith sometimes by his hope or by his fear but more often by his love That commanding and swaying Affection that sets the whole soul a-work they love thy law there is Emphasis in that III. Here is the Consequent nothing shall offend them The Septuagint renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They have not scandals they have their troubles but no stumbling blocks 1 Iohn 2. 10. There is no occasion of stumbling in them There is the same Word used there which the Septuagint useth here scandal is either active or passive given or taken That which is taken out of weakness as young Professors or out of pride and malice they interpreted many things in a worse sence when they know it might be interpreted in a better Now nothing shall scandalize them peace with God prevents the scandals of weakness and love to the law prevents scandals out of pride and malice Nothing shall scandalize them many things are apt to scanlize men as Gods Judgments for which David did so often every day and so solemnly praise God But they that love his law and thereby obtained great peace they will not stumble at Gods dispensations let them be never so cross to their desires and expectations Because they have a sure Covenant that is a sure rule and sure promises they are not scandalized by the miscarriages of men they can distinguish between the Art and the Artificer if the Artist fail the Art is not to be blamed The reproaches that are cast upon the ways of God it doth not offend them for they have found God in that way others speak evil of Gold is Gold though cast into the dirt dogs will bark at the Moon when it shineth brightest would any man be troubled if a Cripple mock him for going uprightly shall we leave the ways of God wherein we have found comfort and peace because others speak against them He is not offended at this But that which is meant here is such an offence as turneth them from God otherwise a good Man may fall and stumble but not into final Apostacy and he is usually kept from lesser offences a child of God may be offended in lesser cases but not so offended as to fall and break his neck But why is it called great Peace it noteth the excellency of this kind of peace 't is not only peace but great peace such as is rich and glorious Phil. 4. 7. A peace that passeth all understanding or it may note the degree and quantity of it abundance of peace as 't is Psal. 37. 11. and Psal. 72. 7. I speak peace to them that are afar off or peace like a River Isaiah 48. 8. or pure peace Three points I shall handle Doctrine I. That 't is the property of Gods Children to love his Law Doctrine II. Those that love the Law shall have great peace Doctrine III. This blessed peace maketh a man hold on in the way of Obedience what ever impediments stumbling blocks or discouragements he meets withal First Point That it is the property of Gods Children not only to keep his law but to love his Law This is often spoken of in this Psalm now I prove it thus Reasons I. They love God and therefore they love his Law how doth that follow The Love that passeth between God and us is not an arbitrary Love of Equals but the necessary dutiful respect that Inferiours owe to their Superiours such as Children owe to their Father Servants to their Master Subjects to their Prince and Governour Therefore 't is not a fellow-like familiarity but a dutiful submission and subjection to Gods Authority and therefore if we love God we will love his Law 'T is Gods condescension that he will use us like Friends in regard of Communion and converse with us as Abraham was called Gods Friend Iam. 2. 23. Yet we are but servants though we are used like Friends and there is a debt and bond of duty lying upon us and so if we bear any respect to God it must be determined by our respect to his Laws and demonstrated by our obedience to them not by acts of ordinary courtesie and kindness This is often spoken of Iohn 14. 15. If ye love me keep my Commandements and 21 verse He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me Iohn 15. 14. Ye are my Friends if you do whatsoever I command you Though none condescendeth to such acts of kindness and friendship as God in Christ hath done yet still he standeth upon his soveraignty if ye love me keep my
Commandments Gods love to us 't is indeed a love of bounty but our love is a love of duty and service I have not yet done with this Reason it necessarily follows from the Love of God though you abstract him from the notion of a Sovereign and Law-giver and should love him only because of the excellency of his Nature Now thus I argue the same reasons that carry us to Love God do carry us also to love his Law for he that loveth God will love any thing of God where ever he finds it he will love his Word he will love his Saints but chiefly his Word for that is most to be loved because that hath most of God in it the Law is a copy of his Holiness the tract of God is in the Creatures there is his vestigium His Image is in his Saints they resemble his divine Qualities but his most lively print and character is upon his Word The Image of God in his Saints is obscured by their infirmities but the Law of God is perfect there is no blemish there this is the fairest copy and draught of his Holiness Nay once more in this Argument abstract the consideration of his authority and the perfection of his Being yet our obligations to God as our Benefactor will inforce this love to his Word and make it sweet to us because 't is the Letter of our Friend and Benefactor and the signification of his Will to whom we owe Life and Breath and all things And therefore though the Law did not deserve to be loved for its own sake yet it should be sweet for his sake from whom it cometh he hath evidenced much love to us as we are Creatures but much more love in Christ as we are sinners and it should be acceptable to us upon his account Love and Gratitude will constrain us to do his Will and regard his Commands 3 Cor. 5. 14. If we have any sence of our great obligations to him it must needs be so II. Gods Children find such an excellency in his Law that they must needs Love it As 't is 1. A plain clear Word that doth fully discover the Will of God and not leave duty to our own uncertain guesses it puts duty into a plain stated course how we may come to be blessed for ever more Psal. 119. 105. Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path Light is pleasant but darkness is uncomfortable When Aristotle was asked why all men do love the Light his answer was That was the question of a blind man sence discovereth sufficiently why we should Love the Light Certainly If you ask why men do not love the Word of God 't is because the God of this World hath blinded their Eyes 2 Cor. 4. 4. 2. 'T is a good Word because 't is suited to our necessities so we read Heb. 6. 5. If so be ye have tasted the good Word Is food good when a man is hungry Is drink good when a man is thirsty Then the Word of God is good for it suiteth with the necessities of our Souls as these things do with our Bodies 1 Tim. 1. 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Iesus Christ came into the world to save sinners The Gospel is a Doctrine fitted for hungry Consciences if our inward senses were not benummed and we were not so Christ-glutted and Gospel-glutted as we are Oh how precious would these tenders of Grace be to our Souls 3. 'T is a pure Word so David gives the reason in the 140 verse of this Psalm Thy word is very pure therefore thy servant loveth it Hypocrites will now and then relish the comforts of the Gospel be affected with the Word because it speaketh such good things to poor sinners but Gods Children love the Word for its Purity and Holiness It meeteth with every sin and directeth them to every Duty necessary for the enjoyment of the Blessed God 't is not Comfort only must draw our love but Holiness This argueth the life and power of Grace when we would not have the Law of God less strict and holy then it is but love it for this very reason because 't is pure strict and holy You would not think a beggar loves you because he liketh your Almes but he is loth to stay with you for your service and live under the orderly Government of your Family Most mens love to the Word is such they delight in the Comforts of it as an Almes but they hate the Duty of it as a task they had rather let the Duties of it alone if it could be without danger and forbear them if they durst Oh but when your hearts consent to the purity of the Law and you would chuse that Life which it points out unto you rather than any life in the World or the most absolute freedom that the heart of Man can imagine so that you love your Master the more because he hath appointed you such work this is true Affection to God and his Word You had rather live in Holiness than Sin if you had your freest choice 't is a sign then you love Holiness for Holiness sake and admire that in the Word which is most worthy its strictness 4. 'T is a Sublime Word Verse 129. Thy testimonies are wonderful therefore doth my soul keep them Here are excellent Truths glorious Mysteries fit to exercise the sharpest Wits in the World a Study fitter for Angels than Men 1 Pet. 1. 12. I do not speak this to stir up Curiosity which is a Moral Itch a lust of the Mind and nothing more opposite to true Love than Lust but to raise men to a due Esteem of the Scriptures which they are wont to contemn for their simplicity and plainnes 't is full of high Mysteries though it may be read with profit by simple People or any who desire knowledge Sensual men that are drowned in Worldly Delights only look to the Comfort of the Animal Life and value all things as that is gratified but those that look to the Spiritual Life and the ennobling of their Souls they will find the only Sublime Wisdom in the Word of God Deut. 4. 6. Keep these statutes and do them for this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the Nations which shall hear all these Statutes and say Surely this great Nation is a wise and understanding people What pitiful Notions had the Philosophers and the wisest of the Heathen concerning God and Angels and Providence and the Creation of the World and the Souls of men and the happiness of the other World and the way to attain it When the Heathen came to be first acquainted with the Iews they wondered at their Wisdom and Skill these things would beget admiration in us if we did meditate on them and contented not our selves with a slight and customary Rehearsal of them here are deep Misteries to exercise the greatest Wits and therefore consider
or proper Reason of this Obedience for all my ways are before thee Whereby he understandeth either the Providence of God apprehended by Faith as always watching over him and all his Affairs for good or a sense of Gods Omnisciency and Omnipresence The Interpretations are subordinate one to the other and in both respects all our ways may be said to be before the Lord Namely as he doth govern and dispose of them according to his Will So 't is said Prov. 3. 6. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths Or that he doth know and see all Iob 34. 21. His eyes are upon the wayes of men and he seeth all his goings And in this double sense may a Parallel Place be expounded Psal. 16. 8. I have set the Lord always before me In point of Reverence and Dependance as Inspector Helper Observer Second But why is it mentioned here Three Reasons Interpreters give for it Either by way of Appeal or as the reason of his Obedience or as evidence of his Sincerity 1. By way of Appeal as calling God to witness for the truth of what he had said Lord thou art Conscious to all my wayes knowest the truth of what I spake Lord thou knowest all things thus Peter useth it Ioh. 21 17. 2. As a Reason why he was so careful to keep all Gods Precepts all my thoughts Words and Deeds are known to thee and so I desire to approve my self to thee in every part and point of my duty 3. Or 't is produced as an evidence of his sincerity that he did all things as in Gods sight and set him before his eyes as the Judge of his doings and so would not offend God to please men for in this Octonary he speaketh as a Man in Trouble and ready to miscarry by carnal Fear Doctrine That walking as in the sight of God is a note of sincerity and a good means to make us keep his precepts In those few Words which God spake to Abraham all Godliness is comprehended Gen. 17. 1. Walk before me and be thou upright Walk before me as in the sense of my Eye and the Confidence of my All-sufficiency behave thy self as in my sight and Presence Let me give you a note or two concerning this walking as in the sight of God 1. All men are in Gods sight but few think of it they forget Gods Eye that is upon them As Iacob saith in another Case Gen. 26. 16. Surely God is in this place and I knew it not God is in them though they do not see God and therefore act as if God did not see them The Apostle telleth us plainly Acts 17. 27. He is not far from every one of us Though God be not far from us yet we may be far from him at a great distance in our Minds and Affections God is near us in the effects of his Power and Providence but the Elongation and Distance is on our parts We do not consider his Eye that is upon us for many dare do that in the sight of God and Angels which they dare not do in the sight of a little Child 2. This walking as in the sight of God implyeth a looking upon God as Witness and Judge as one that seeth for the present and will hereafter call you to an account And so it works upon those two great Articles of present Providence and last Judgment the one Consideration puts an Edge upon the other and maketh it more operative God is to be looked on as one sitting upon his Throne and Solomon telleth us A King sitting upon the throne of Iudgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes Prov. 20. 8. Would a Subject break the Laws in his Sovereigns sight so when God looketh on shall we affront him to his Face the great Judge of all the Earth Iob 11. 11. He seeth wickedness also will he not then consider it As Ahasuarus said Esth. 7. 8. Will he force the Queen also before me The greatest Malefactors will carry it demurely in the presence of their Judge Psal. 10. 14. Thou hast seen it thou beholdest mischief and spite to requit it with thine hand 3. We are not only to remember Gods Eye in the Duties of Piety which we perform directly to God but also in the Duties of Righteousness which we owe to men Luk. 1. 75. In holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our lives Holiness hath relation to God and Righteousness to men in both we must act as before him as in his eye and presence Not only in praying and hearing then we are before him immediately speaking to him but before him as to men all our respects there must be done as in and to the Lord performing duties we owe to men as in the sight and presence of the Lord as 't is often said so as to approve our selves to God who seeth the heart do it unto the Lord heartily Psal. 25. 15. Mine eyes are ever towards the Lord. 4. God doth not only behold our Actions but our Principles and Aims and the secret motions of our hearts He is neither ignorant of man nor any thing in man Men may judge of Actions but not of Principles no further than they are discovered but God judges of Principles when the Action is fair 1 Chron 28. 9. And thou Solomon my son know thou the God of thy fathers and serve him with a perfect heart and willing mind for the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imagination of the thoughts Words that imply an accurate search God looketh to the bottom and spring of Actions not only the matter but the Principle A man that standeth by a River in a low place can only see that part of the stream that passeth by but he that is aloof in the Air in an higher place may see the whole course where it riseth and how it runneth So God at one view seeth the beginning rise and ending of actions whatever we think speak or do he seeth it altogether He knoweth our thoughts before we can think them Psal. 139. 2. Thou knowest my down sitting and my up rising thou understandest my thoughts afar off Before we can conclude any thing a Gardener knoweth what roots are in the ground long before they appear and what fruits they will produce Secondly This is a good means to make us keep his Precepts 1. It maketh for the restraint of Evil the sight of God is a Bridle to us Gen. 39. 9. How shall I do this great wickedness and sin against God Shall we break Gods Laws before his Face we take heed what we say and do before informers and should we not much more before the Judge himself if we be not thus affected t is a sign we never had a sight and sense of Gods Eye 3 Ioh. 11. He that doth evil hath not seen God God taught his People this by the Type of covering their Excrements Deut. 23. 13 14. For the
Precepts that we may order our Practise accordingly There must be an habitual Aim and Purpose to please God 3. Patience a resolute continuance till our service be over This is the way I have chosen and here will I stick until the great reward come in hand Rom. 2. 7. To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for honour and glory and immortality Eternal Life And Luk. 8. 15. The good ground brought forth fruit with patience That distinguished the good ground from all other grounds they had some little liking of it but never came to a serious choice but the good ground though there be several Weathers between Sowing and Reaping it cherisheth the Seed that it is ready at Harvest time so we pass through many Weathers before we come to our Harvest of Happiness and Rest. Doctrine II. That man which makes Conscience of Gods Commands is encouraged to seek help from him in straits First Such a one may be in great straits as David his own hand could not help him therefore he flies to God The Lord permits it that he may be trusted alone in his own hands he will break our carnal Dependancies and that his ways may be chosen for their own sakes and not for temporal Reward and that his Love to his own People may not be shewn too sensibly that the misteriousness of Providence may leave a room and place for Faith therefore doth God darken the Glory of the Godly with Afflictions and put them into straits that their own hand cannot help them Now in these straits those that make Conscience of Gods Precepts they are encouraged to seek help from Gods hand Why Partly because Integrity breeds a confidence so that a man which hath been faithful with God can look him in the face It breeds a confidence in Life 2 Cor. 1. 12. and in Death Isa. 38. 3. when they are sick weak and know not what to do they can fly to God And then Integrity also it entitles to Gods Protection all that heartily and sincerely depend upon God Prov. 10. 9. He that walketh uprightly walketh surely An upright plain-hearted Man that trusts himself under the shadow and protection of Gods Providence he hath no shifts and tricks this man shall walk safely God is engaged to defend him But the perverse that fly to their shifts God will disappoint them and shew them their folly Gen. 17. 1. I am God All-sufficient walk before me and be thou perfect Do you uprightly serve God and study to please him and you need not seek else-where for a Patron or for one to defend you and plead your Cause And partly too because they are exposed to the greater difficulties because they are faithful with God and trust themselves alone with his protection for so the Apostle 1 Tim. 4. 10. For therefore we labour and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God Faith begets faithfulness their dependance is upon God and their faithfulness costs them dear and so they suffer reproach because they did trust themselves in Gods ways by Gods providence As you stand in need of Gods protection you shall have it God will not forsake us in our greatest needs as the World will but in our greatest extremities when all carnal dependencies fail us he will not then is the time for God to shew himself He hath still a Providence and Fatherly care over thee but his power is especially engaged at such a time If you will take care of your Duty he will take care of your safety for he will either keep you out of Troubles or sustain you under Troubles SERM. CLXXXVII PSALM CXIX VER 174. I haue longed for thy Salvation O Lord and thy law is my delight IN this Verse you have a twofold Assertion or Protestation First Of a Vehement desire of the Salvation promised I have longed for thy Salvation Secondly A great Love and Complacency in the Word of God and thy law is my delight This Verse may be understood either of Temporal Salvation or Eternal Salvation the Words may be accommodated to either sense The context would seem to limit it to the former and so an enforcing of the second request of this portion Verse 170. Deliver me according to thy word Many Interpreters both Iewish and Christian carry it for the other Iewish Rabbi David Kimchi expoundeth it thus thy Salvation soeculo futuro and the last Clause thy law quia medium est ad salutem Christian Chrysostom Theodoret Calvin and because these senses are not contrary but subordinate I shall insist upon both 1. Let me handle the words as they may be understood of Temporal Salvation and so the sense will be I have long expected thy deliverance and yet do desire and wait for it the Preterperfect Tense as Vatabilus noteth includeth also the present for a long time I have expected thy deliverance and do expect help from thee and the other Clause thy law is my delight though this help seemeth to be delayed yet thy counsel is my Consolation and perpetual Delight The Words thus understood yeild us two Points Doctrine I. That Gods people do look to God for deliverance and longingly expect the accomplishment of it Doctrine II. We should delight in the Promise before the Salvation cometh For the first Point That Gods people do look to God for deliverance and longingly expect it The Point shall be discussed in these Considerations I. What Longing for Gods Salvation implyeth II. The Encouragements and Reasons of it III. What singular thing there is in this longing Expectation since 't is natural to all to seek Deliverance out of Trouble I. What it Implyeth 1. A sense of our Impotency or Insufficiency to save our selves and help our selves out of Trouble by any ways and means that we can find out and use Psal. 3. 8. Salvation belongeth to the Lord. Ionah 2. 9. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation and Deliverance of all kinds is Gods Prerogative Royal and Gods proper work none can save and give peace when he commandeth Trouble and when he will save his People none can let 'T is an evidence of mens neglecting a Deity when they would help and save themselves in all Conditions without depending or imploying a God Iob 40. 9 14. Hast thou an arm like God then I will confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee Alass if we look else-where how soon are we disappointed Man is a mutable Creature his Affections change or his power may be blasted an Arm of flesh is soon dried up besides the distraction and uncertainty that we have while we depend upon man and look to man we involve our selves in greater miseries and meet with a shameful disappointment at last Sometimes man will not if he can sometimes cannot if he would If he will and can yet he shall not help us without God for what can the Instrument do without the Principal Agent the sword without the man that weildeth
sometimes called Judgements so also the Rewards of the Righteous as ver 43. of this Psalm The Word pronounceth concerning every mans Condition His delivering of the Righteous Psal. 78. 8 9. Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven the Lord arose to judgment to save the people of the earth The moderation of their Affliction Ier. 10. 24. Correct me but with Iudgment that is his Merciful Judgment according to the New Covenant Dispensations Punishment of Sins that they are Judgments we are sufficiently convinced of and sensible of it Well then he prayeth that That of the Word may be executed either 1. By breaking his Enemies and giving them the Merit of their doings or 2. That his Promises may be accomplished by sending him help and relief in his Troubles 3. This Government is to be observed for it confirmeth the Word Heb. 2. 2. For if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward how shall we escape if we neglect c. And he punisheth them as the Congregation have heard Carnal men attribute all to Chance but Gods People observe his Word II. Now these Judgments must needs be for an help to Gods People because the Word of God speaketh more good to them than it doth to others and if God judgeth according to his Word they may conclude that his Children are never finally forsaken nor will their Enemies escape unpunished There will be an accomplishment of Promises and an execution of Threatnings which is a Comfort to them that walk uprightly 1. In the General Case 't is a Relief to us for God hath a provident care over all those that desire to honour and glorifie him their hopes will not altogether be frustrate keep his Commandments and it will turn to good They shall have seasonable preservation according to Gods promised and wonted Mercies 2. In the particular Case of Contests and Conflicts with the Wicked he will punish Enemies and Reward the Faithful This is the Tenour of the Word And to this Word of God he ascribed his Deliverance Not this power or this means but thy Judgments help me God doth not deceive us with vain Promises when matters are strangely carried on in the World Here is our Comfort SERMON CXC PSALM CXIX VER 176. I have gone astray like a lost sheep seek thy servant for I do not forget thy Commandments THese Words are the close of the whole Psalm In them observe First A Representation of his Case or if you will a Confession of his sin I have gone astray like a lost sheep Secondly A Petition for Mercy seek thy Servant Thirdly A Protestation of Obedience by way of Argument I do not forget thy Precepts The chiefest Matter that needs to be opened is the Representation of his Case I have gone astray like a lost sheep Sheep are animalia gregalia such kind of Creatures as naturally gather together and unite themselves into a Flock many other Creatures live single and apart they may sometimes sort together yet are oftner severed and kept asunder but the property of sheep and their safety is to come together in a Flock but now when they are out of the Flock then they are exposed to all manner of Misery and therefore a stray'd sheep is usually put in Scripture for Misery and Sin Isa. 53. 6. Matth. 15. 24. Lost sheep are represented as those that are ready to Perish Now the business is whether this similitude here mentioned be to be interpreted of Davids Misery or his Sin Interpreters are divided both Ancient and Modern The similitude it self is applicable to either and accordingly used in Scripture sometimes it is put for sin Isa. 53. 6. All we like sheep have gone astray Sheep are Creatures very subject to stray and wander especially if driven by Wolfs or Dogs and sometimes by a Disease a sort of Madness incident to them follow not the rest of the Flock the Arabians call it Tsunall Bochart And so they would have it signifie here his going astray out of Infirmity from the way of Gods Commandments Or else sometimes the Condition of stray'd sheep is put for Misery as Hos. 4. 16. The Lord will feed them as a Lamb in a large place A Lamb that is out of the Fold goes up and down bleating to seek the Fold again and some company with which it may joyn it self It is spoken of them that affected Liberty the Lord by his Prophet tells them they should have Liberty enough but little for their Profit and Comfort leave to wander in the World and should bleat alone bewailing their solitude and danger and be exposed as a Prey to the next Wolf He would not feed them in the flock and body of the Israelites together but would scatter them by Exile and Banishment so that there should be Israelites amidst many Assyrians like a Lamb bleating up and down that is gone out of the Fold Some think David here represents his Misery when he was a banished Exile from the Assemblies of the Faithful not living like a Prince in his Palace but wandring from place to place to shift for his Life as a poor sheep doth that is driven from the Flock exposed to Beasts of Prey and thus it befell him in the Case of Sauls and Absaloms Persecution If this be the meaning the following Clauses must be suitably expounded I have gone astray like a lost sheep seek thy servant that is consider my Affliction and in thy good time relieve me and restore me and the last clause for I do not forget thy Precepts he did not forget his Duty whatever his Condition was If we should follow this Sence it yields us these Points I. That a Believer may be driven from Place to Place in perpetual hazards and distresses wandring up and down like a stray'd Sheep driven by the Wolf and scattered from the Fold 1 Cor. 4. 11. We have saith the Apostle no certain dwelling Place II. In such a Case we may with Confidence go to God the good Shepherd who hears the bleating of the Poor wandring Sheep takes care of them seeks them and reduceth them into the Fold III. That what ever befalls us we should still go on in the way of obedience I have gone astray c. driven up and down and yet I do not forget thy Precepts when God seems to forget us we should not forget his Precepts These Points might profitably be insisted upon But because many antient and modern both Jewish and Christian Interpreters understand it of sinful Errors and the words will commodiously enough bear this sence and it being a similitude very frequently used in Scripture to compare the faithful to Sheep and God to a Shepherd I shall handle the Words with respect to this Interpretation I have gone astray c. We may all of us make this Confession to God we are too apt to straggle from our Duty and we all of us need to
535 Affections must be purged and quickned p. 532 Affections sensitive differ from the solid Complacency of the Soul p. 85 Affections when strong are very painful p. 121 Affections strong constant and earnest towards Gods Word a mark of a Child of God p. 121. 898. expressed by 1. Opening the mouth 2. Panting 3. Longiug p. 897 Affections spiritual their Objects End and Properties p. 121 122 Affections carnal to be avoided p. 566 Affection to Gods Word for its innate Goodness and Truth p. 623 Affections false and slashy p. 122 Affections not nullified but rectified by Grace p. 807 884 Affections of the mind usually expressed by Words proper to the bodily senses p. 671. 897 Affections follow apprehensions p. 685. 234 They are good or evil according to their objects p. 1006 Affections spiritual will take all occasions to Remember Gods Name p. 374 Four things about our affections considerable p. 252. 253 Afflictions God is always just in them p. 509. 510. Yet Patient and Moderate p. 510 511 Afflictions long and sharp usually attended with either 1. Impatience or 2. Revenge against instruments or 3. The using indirect means for redress or 4. Despondency or 5. Questioniug our Interest in God or 6. Atheistical and despairing Thoughts p. 555 556. 465. 835 836. 843 Afflictions sanctified advance holy Thoughts p. 526 Prayer p. 714. They are good in what respects p. 484 Afflictions may be long and grievous before deliverance comes p. 150 157. 537. 835. 711 712 713. Three Agents in the Afflictions of Gods People 1. God 2. Satan 3. Wicked men p. 537 538. In afflictions Gods end is to reduce us into the right way p. 463 464. To humble and purge us 711 712. 510 Afflictions of great use to the converted and unconverted p. 464 465. 510 Why God afflicts his Children so sorely p. 711 712 Afflictions their necessity p. 157. 591. 487. And Utility p. 461 462 463 464. 484. 711 712. Afflictions encrease our Comforts in Gods Word p. 888 Afflictions though great are alleviated by the Consolations of the Word p. 148 Choisest Saints have their afflictions p. 965 Afflictions are great Priviledges p. 424. 481 Afflictions work not for good of their own Nature but by the Spirit of God p. 465 466. 487 They should bring us to God by Prayer p. 968 Age one age sees more then another p. 650 Age brings wisdom by experience p. 650 Aged ought to be reverenced p. 654 Aggravation of sin to Vow and not perform it p. 704 Allow we must not allow our selves in the least sin p. 34 Aides of Grace either necessary or liberal p. 221 Alphonsus King of Arragon his Counsellours p. 148 Allurements and Terrors of the VVorld means to draw us from God p. 1031 All sufficiency of God encourageth 1. Our dependance on him 2. Our subjection to him p. 587 588 It makes him the Souls only portion p. 385 Ancients VVho p. 650 Anger wrath envy how they differ p. 520 Anger of God when discovered bespeaks Holy awe and dread p. 808 Anger at the Violation of Gods Law a Note of true Zeal p. 853 Anger and hatred of Sin how they differ p. 878 Anger against the sin and pity to the sinner shews a well tempered zeal p. 931 Anger and Passion in discourse renders it evil p. 1064 Anguish of Spirit even in gracious souls caused by great Troubles partly from Nature Partly from Grace p. 884 Answers of Prayers to be duly observed p. 168 and why Reasons ibid. p. 905 906 907 Answer of Prayer either in kind or value p. 169 167. 908 909 Gods Children are earnest for answers of Prayer p. 905 Answer of a good Conscience what it signifies p. 699. Answer of Prayer neglected proceeds from either 1. Heedlessness 2. Atheism 3. Distrust 4. Disesteem of Gods favour p. 906 Great evil effects of such neglect p. 906 907 Antecedency of Gods work before Mans work p. 221 Antinomians who deny the Law to be a Rule p. 4 Antiperistasis in grace as well as Nature p. 871 Antiquity should not sway against Truth p. 650 Apostacy one ground of it the not Receiving the Truth in the love of it p. 67. Vid. Distrust As also from our inbred Corruption p. 803 Dissuasives against Apostacy p. 871. 341 342 Evil consequences of Apostacy p. 210. 342. Apostacy is bestial and brutish p. 1100 Apostacy caused from 1. Errors 2. Persecutions 3. Scandals p. 343. Vid. Back-sliding Defection Appeal to God on a double account p. 522 No appeal from Gods Judgement p. 38 Many pretend to serve God that cannot appeal to him p. 306 Appetite follows life and holy desires spring from a new Nature p. 304 Application of mercy personally called coming to God p. 517 Application of the Word by Faith p. 768 Application of Providence to their own selves a mark of Gods Children p. 811 Application of Gods mercies to our own souls p. 318. 517 Effectual application of mercy p. 517 Approbation of God a great Comfort under reproach p. 301 Approbation of Gods Law by the sanctified Judgment p. 34. 752 Means to bring our hearts to approve Gods Law p. 877 Approbation of purity without chusing it is not sufficient p. 861. 708. 223 Approbation of that in our selves which we condemn in others an evil character p. 3 Arbitrary God is so in gifts not in Judgments p. 934 Arts and Sciences not comparable to Gods word for the obtaining of true VVisdom p. 650 Arrogance in discourses odious to God p. 1064 Ascribe all to God p. 43. 552 Arguments to prevail with God 1. From his mercy 2. His Truth p. 941 Ask Gods Counsel his Leave and Blessing p. 31 Ask of God saving knowledge of Divine things p. 895 Grounds of it ibid. How Temporal deliverance is to be asked p. 923 Ashamed of God Christ and his Gospel Reasons of it Arguments against it p. 311 Assaults of Satan make assisting grace necessary p. 780 Assurance strengthned by perseverance p. 342 Astray the best of Saints apt to go astray p. 1102 Reasons 1. Present imperfection 2. Remainders of Corruption p. 1102 1103. Not totally and finally p. 1106 Assistance of God necessary to preserve both habitual and actual grace p. 789 Attributes of God in a Conflict about sinners p. 320 Atheistical persons are great deriders of Saints for 1. Their Faith 2. Obedience p. 336 Atheism to observe Gods signal Judgements on the wicked a Cure of it p. 798 A man may have Atheism enough to question Providences when ther 's Faith enough to justifie God p. 836 Avenger God is the Avenger of breach of Vows Oaths and Covenants p. 704. 705. Averseness of the heart from God a Cause of the delaying of Repentance p. 408 Averseness of Heart in coming to God makes us need not only leave to come but power to come p. 953 Audience of God how manifested how procured p. 166 St. Augustines Prayer about the Scriptures That he might neither be deceived in them nor deceive others by
1. Draws the heart from earth to heaven 2. Enlivens the heart in duty 3. Engages the heart against sin p. 787. 1037. Grounded on Gods word p. 927 Hope puts the soul upon diligence in prayer p. 927 1040 Humble carriage becomes us when we have most mercy p. 840 Humbling considerations under mercy p. 840 Humiliation caused by the consideration of the multititude of vain thoughts p. 761 Humiliation under Gods hand gives ground of hope p. 158 Humility caused by the fear of Gods judgments p. 811 Hypocrite appears best when he 's taken in pieces the sincere Christian when he 's taken all together p. 5 Hypocrites zealous about lesser slighty in great matters p. 33 Hypocrites discover'd by scandals p. 1032 Hypocrisie to serve God with the body not soul p. 1045 Hypocrisie to go from sin to sin from duty to sin from sin to duty c. p. 35 Hypocrisie to let God carry the name of our praises when we sacrifice to our selves p. 43. To be speaking of good things without hearts affected with their goodness p. 76. 89. Hypocrisie hateful to God p. 799 I. Idle words weigh heavy in Gods ballance p. 39 None of Gods servants must be idle p. 850 Idle discourses sinful p. 1065 1066 Iealous God exceeding jealous in matters of Worship p. 39. 852 Iewels Gods jewels are the worlds filth p. 141 Illumination by the word p. 629 Illumination of God necessary to a right understanding of Gods word p. 107. 853. A great mercy why p. 1057. A double work of God in Illumination p. 107 Several Uses of Divine Illumination p. 109 110. 852. 235 236. Worth of it in four things p 1059 1060 Imitation of God in his goodness p. 476 Immortality of the soul p. 890 Immoderate sorrow checked from the consideration of Gods justice and faithfulness in afflicting p 510 511 Immutability of Gods word emblems of it and reasons of it p. 574 890 A ground of comfort to Gods people p. 958 A reason of the immutability of our obedience p. 341 Impartiality of God in punishing and rewarding p 39 40. 810 Impatience in waiting for returns of prayer argues 1. Disobedience 2. Weak faith 3. Want of love 4. Want of patience p. 913 Impatience under delays whence p. 550. 913 From an opinion of our own merit p. 937 Impatience makes afflictions sharp and tedious p. 555 It is fed from a double spring p. 967 It causeth fainting under afflictions p 592 Importunity in prayer has great effects p. 911 Impotency of the Creature takes not away Gods right p. 28 Commands of God convince us of our impotency p. 29 We can do evil not good by our own power p. 247 Improvement of afflictions p. 557. By the word p. 592 Imprinting the word on the soul how discovered p. 890 Impudence to sin and not be ashamed p. 37 Inability to return and proneness to err the characters of fallen man p. 1101 Inclination to present things undoeth us p. 337 Inclination of the heart to Gods statutes what it is not what it is p. 752 753. 247 1. Negatively 1. It is not a simple approbation of the word 2. Nor a bare desire or wish 3. Nor a hypocritical will to the word 2. Affirmatively 1. It is a determination of the judgment for God 2. The will powerfully swayed to the word 3. Seconded with endeavours after new obedience p. 752 753 Inclination of the heart either from the world or to Gods testimonies is of the Lords grace p. 248 249 How God inclines the heart and how man p. 251 252 Indifferency in Religion reproved p. 206 Indirect means not to be used for relief p. 555 Indisposition of soul a Case whether we are to set upon duty under indispositions and deadness of soul resolved in eight Propositions p. 160 161 Indwelling of sin p. 18 19 Infinitely good God alone is so p. 384 Influence of Gods grace is not the warrant but the help of the soul in duties p. 160 We need continual influences of grace p. 979 Infirmities great sins may be but infirmities and smaller sins may be damnable transgressions how p. 19. 1107. Christ bears our infirmities p. 1107 How to distinguish between sins of infirmity and willful breaches of our Covenant p. 703 836 Infirmities unavoidable by the best p. 1102 They are to be watched against and repented of p. 1107 Ingenuous and open dealing with God procures audience p. 166 Ingratitude not to repent how that is p. 409 Inheritance of believers full sure lasting p. 744 745 Vid. Heritage Iniquity what it is to do iniquity who are they that do iniquity in God account p. 17 18 Iniquity comes to its height 1. when general 2. impudent 3. incorrigible 4. against nature c. p. 858 859 Injudiciousness either total or partial p 452 Injustice to God not to turn to him Now p. 409 Innocency gives holy boldness in prayer p. 36 136. 523 Innocency till it be lost a Christiâ—…n is not overcome p. 416 Innocency may be pleaded against men not God p 8â—…3 Innocent persons may be sore oppressed c. p 818 Inordinate desires of having more wealth than the Lord allows in a fair way of Providence is a main branch of covetousness p. 254 It is a natural evil the effects of it p. 257 258 259 Instruments of troubles too much eyed provoke God to anger p. 414 Whoever is the instrument God is the principal in all our afflictions p. 158 Insulting enemies not to be insulted over when Gods judgments fall upon them p. 810 Insulting over others in affliction reproved p. 812 Integrity and sincerity the whole heart p. 15 Integrity of parts p. 59 Inticements to sin what use may be made of them p. 738 Intimacy with few friendship with all that are godly p. 434 It must be improved for edification p. 434 Interest of God in the world lyes 1. In his Truth 2. His Worship 3. His Servants p. 851 852 Interest of God oftentimes stands alone yet God can carry it on though all the world be against it p. 143 Interest of God must be uppermost in the soul in prayer p. 903 Interest of a Christian is to keep in with God p. 152. 645 Interest in â—…d necessary that he be our portion p. 384 Interest in 〈◊〉 hearts of Gods people a rare mercy p. 504 Iourney to Heaven bespeaks provision against all weather Intermission of duty loseth ground p. 340 Interposition of God lawful to be desired in dangers Reasons p. 821 822 Only so far as may be for our good p. 823 Ioy of heart arising from a believers heritage 1. From the portion it self 2. From the disposition of a believers heart 3. From the dispensation of God p. 749 750. It is communicative p. 50 Ioy in Gods word must be mixt with reverence p. 100 Ioy in Gods word is 1. real 2. cordial 3. great 4. pure 5. it ends well 6. perverts not the heart 7. Overcomes sense of affliction p. 149 150 It 's
not allowed a ground of Comfort p. 37 All Sin must be refrained 1. notorious and plausible 2. inward and outward 3. pleasant as well as not pleasant 4. sins against both Tables 5. great and small p. 660 661 Sin weakens both Grace and Comfort p. 663 1040 Heynousness of sin in breaking Gods Law striking at Gods being contradicting his Soveraignty p. 686 Sin removed 1. in Justification 2. Sanctification p. 185 Sin its Dominion p. 917 918 919 920 Differences of Sins p. 920 921 Sin brings trouble two ways 1 meritoriously 2. effectively p. 315 316 Sincere prayer must be sincere as well as fervent p. 902 909 910 Sincerity in prayer implies 1. Seriousness 2. Affectionateness 3. prevalency of those affections 4. universal Care to please God p. 903 Sincerity of Sanctification what it is p. 5 Marks of Sincerity 1. Carefulness to practice what we know 2. inquisitiveness to know more of our duty 3. to stand in awe of Gods Word p. 6 11 It makes God judge of its heart p. 627 Sincerity may be accompanied with failings p. 11 Sincerity and Integrity constitute the whole Heart p. 15 It aims at universal Obedience p. 33 59 It is to be asked of God with earnestness p. 530 It gives confidence with God p. 6 533 It keeps us good in bad times p. 866 Two Notes of Sincerity 1. the manner 2. the principle of Obedience p. 1042 Sinking under Burdens by looking on the bare Affliction p. 591 Prevented by considering that God is 1. Wise 2. Just 3. Good in afflicting p. 884. 885 Sinners the greatest when converted are the greatest mourners for the sins of others p. 930 Reasons ibid. Slander not only in the Deviser but the Receiver p. 141 299 300 Sleep there 's a surfeit in sleeping as well as eating p. 926 Slight prayers argue low thoughts of God p. 899 We are apt to be slighty in our prayers p. 915 Sluggish prayers teach God to deny p. 29 899 Snares of the Devil and wicked Men of several kinds p. 735 736 What use we are to make of these Snares p. 137 Song Gods word is our song in the house of our Pilgrimage p. 358 359 vid. Rejoycing Sorrow wasts the natural Spirits p. 554 176 It must be proportionable to sin p. 405 Sorrow of Gods Children greater than others why p. 177 Sorrow affect solitude joy company p. 503 Soveraignty of God must be submitted to p. 119. 789 God sometimes forsakes his people out of Soveraignty p. 51 Soveraignty of God in distributing wisdom p. 648 653 Soul is the Man p. 43 1093 God must be served with the Soul as well as the Body p. 1043 1044 Soul-Blessings are special Blessings p. 43 they are pledges of eternal Blessings ibid. to take ones Soul in his hand what the phrase imports p. 726 Souls life is Gods favour p. 518 Soul is 1 fons actionum ad extra 2. terminus actionum ad intra p. 1044 Soundness of heart what it is p. 530 531 532 Speedy turning to God necessary why p. 402 403 Pressed in general and particular p. 410 Speeding with God should make us come again p. 168 How to speed with God p. 162 H. Spirit is a spirit of Peace 1. as a Sanctifier 2 as a Comforter p. 1027 Spirit of God our Guide as the word is our Rule p. 8 152 153 Spirits work to draw the heart from earthly things to God p. 3 H. Spirit beareth witness to the Gospel p. 9 H. Spirit gives help as Christ gives leave to come to God p. 15 Spirit VVater and Blood how they bear witness p. 9 Spirit Word and holy Heart agree p. 934 H. Spirit gives 1. direction how to apply the Rule 2. to make a good choise 3. to act Grace 4 to manage civil Affairs p. 31 H. Spirit gives Liberty 1. from slavish Fears 2. from potent Lusts p. 304 H. Spirit encreaseth our delight in Gods Commandements p 316 H. Spirit the Author the Scripture the Means of Light p. 694 Spiritual seeing requires 1. that the object be clear 2. that the Organ be right p. 694 Spiritual Blessings call for praise why p 1057 Spiritual Blessings give us a heart to praise God temporal Blessings only give us an occasion p. 43 Spiritual sense and Life p. 671 672 673 It differs from the bare understanding p. 673 Spiritual Delight exceeds that in worldly things p. 87 593 There are three spiritual Senses chiefly 1. seeing 2. tasting 3. feeling p. 671 672 Spiritualizing common and earthly things p. 90 763 Springs of Comfort all in God by the word p. 514 Stability of the earth an Emblem of the Stability of Gods word p. 582 and of his Being 588. Stability of Gods Testimonies p. 889 890 620 956 957 Stability of Gods word opposed to the Creatures Vanity p. 618 620 Stablishing of the word to us two ways p. 284 how to get the word stablisht to us p. 287 288 Statutes of God what what it is to seek them p. 987 Strangers on Earth the Condition of all Gods Children p. 114 Men may be strangers on earth as to their Condition who are not so in Affection p. 114 Why Gods Children are and account themselves to be Strangers p. 114 115 116 How to carry our selves as Strangers in this world p. 118 119 Straights he that makes Conscience of Gods Commands may boldly seek help from God in his straights p. 1079 In all straights we are to delight in Promises p. 1035 Strength natural and spiritual both may fail as they are ours p. 538 Strength spiritual what it is how given out how God is concern'd therein p. 181 182 How to get spiritual Strength p. 182 183 Study the word but take God for your teacher p. 42 Arguments to study the Word p. 652 653 Study the word 1. not out of curiosity 2. nor meerly to be able to teach others 3. nor meerly for delight c. but in order to practice p. 68 68 Study Gods Name 1. what 2. how Stumbling preservatives against it p. 1032 v. scandal Stupidity under the Rod a great evil p. 159 It argues Stupidity to be careless in Prayer p. 906 907 Stupidity not to be affected with Gods Judgments on others p. 812 Subjection to God to be chosen before liberty p. 707 Subjection to God pressed from two grand Motives p. 308 309 Submission to Providence advanced by thanksgiving for received Mercies p. 421 Submission to Gods disposing and commanding Will p. 588 Submission to God 1. for the mercy 2. for the time of the mercy 3. for the way and means of it p 826 Suffering for Christ very reasonable who suffered such hard things for us p. 870 Suffering better than sinning p. 148 525 842 731 732 928 Sufferings are like to be long 1. when Reformation is rejected 2. when Deliverance would be a greater mischief 3. when there is a damp on the Spirit of Prayer 4. when god is about to punish us and we go not about to reconcile our selves to
compared with Wealth p. 489 490 491 619 It teaches many excellent Lessons p. 592 593 It deserves Love for the Author Matter Use p. 622 It 's a full Declaration of Gods mind p. 8 153 It 's a certain Declaration of his Mind and Will p. 8 It declares 1. what we must do 2. whether we do it or no 3. what we may expect from God p. 9 It is self-evidencing p. 9 It will excuse or accuse in the day of Judgment p. 6 It 's not only a Direction but an Injunction p. 24 349 It 's a Light by day a Lamp by night p. 687 688 why 689 It s a rule and an Instrument p 53 688 In it we are to consider 1. the Authority 2. the Ministry of it p. 488 892 It 's a Glass to shew us our spots and water to wash them away p. 54 Three main uses of the Word of God p. 491 It 's 1. the Sts. Direction 2. their Support 3. their Charter p. 97 491 619 866 867 It makes rich and happy p. 86 488 489 490 It is an Antidote against sin and a Cordial against sorrow p. 120 151 152 688 359 333 It is Comfort in two Respects p. 688 354 359 It is Bread and Water p. 124 126 How we are to be affected towards the Word p. 620 It is pure in many Respects 1. in it self 2. it makes the Soul pure and that 1. as 't is the appointed Instrument of the spirit 2. as 't is a proper Instrument for Purification 3. as it proposes Precepts Examples and other helps for Purity p. 857 858 It is Righteousness all Righteousness c. p. 1068 It ought to be our Meditation p. 576 It 's a Light proved from 1. the Autâ—…or 2. Instruments 3. the ends of it p. 690 691 It is our Comfort in the day of outward Trouble and inward Anguish It gives these Comforts 1. the Priviledges of the afflicted 2. the blessedness of another World acceptation with God p. 887 619 v. Commandements Believers may humbly challenge God upon his word p. 324 It may be hidden in two Respects 1. in respect of the outward Administration 2. in respect of the inward Influence and Efficacy p. 151 152 It is as good as Gods actual Performance or Deed p. 444 There are wonders in Gods word to be seen when God opens the Eye p. 112 880 881 882 What Gods opening the eyes contributes to the sight of them p. 112 Words idle words weigh heavy in Gods Ballance p. 39 Words are the Female Issue of the Soul Works the Male Issue p. 89 Works Covenants of Grace and Works wherein they agree and wherein they differ p. 906 907 908 909 Word of God upon the Soul may be mentioned before him and pleaded to him in Prayer and how p. 60 61 When God intends to work he sets Prayer on work p. 860 Work of God in what respects and sense ascribed to the Creature and why p. 751 God is always at work for us p. 340 World not our home not to be abused p. 117 It is preserved for the Elects sake p. 859 The spirit of this World p. 572 The spirit of God and the spirit of this World differ p. 478 Love of worldly things two great causes of it 1. A distrust of Gods Care 2. discontent with Gods allowance p. 255 present world p. 1089 Worship false worship severely punished p. 39 Worship of God his Interest therein p. 852 True Zeal appears for purity of Worship and against the corruption of it p. 852 Worship corrupted by Papists p. 205 206 False Worship makes men 1. subtle 2. cruel p. 739 Wounding and healing Gods Praerogative p. 511 Wrath of God They that walk closely with God are discharged from it p. 7 Y. YOkâ—… of Afflictions to be born from the youth p. 883 Young and raw Christians have much Zeal little Knowledge p. 452 Young Christians may have more true Wisdom than aged Persons p. 653 654 Young Men exhorted to beware of evil Company as the Pest and Bane of Youth p. 776 Young men not to be discouraged nor despised p. 654 655 Encouragement to Youth and to those that educate them p. 655 Youth regardless of serious work p. 52 God must be remembred in youth Reasons of it p. 52 53 Youth is tainted with sin p. 52 How a young man may cleanse his ways p. 55 Advantages of remembring God in Youth p. 397 Z. ZEal for false Worship quenches the fire of real Godliness p. 5 It is a high degree of Love It consumes the natural Spirits p. 849 Zeal great and pure becomes those that have any Affection for the ways and word of God p. 650 It is hottest in cold times p. 865 Zeal Spiritual and Carnal their differences Carnal Zeal is faulty in the 1. Cause 2. the Object 3. Measure p. 850 Zeal spiritual described 1. by its Causes 2. Object 3. Effects 4. usefulness to publick Reformation 5. use in private Christian Exercises p. 851 852 Blind Zeal a cause of Persecution p. 144 Iâ—… makes a man a prey for the Devil p. 685 Young Christians have much Zeal but little Knowledge p. 452 Zeal shews it self for purity of worship p. 852 Zeal now is less when there 's more light p. 657 Zion Mourners in Zion and Sinners in Zion p. 929 FINIS
Comforts are God's Comforts and so more powerful and authoritative 2. It is a strong Comfort Heb. 6. 18. That the heirs of promise might have strong consolation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Other Comforts are weak and of little force they are not Affliction-proof nor Death-proof nor Judgment-proof they cannot stand before a few serious and sober thoughts of the World to come but this is strong Comfort that can support the Soul not onely in the imagination and supposition of a Trouble when we see it at a distance but when it is actually come upon us how great soever it be If we feel the cold hands of Death ready to pluck out our hearts and are summoned to appear before the Bar of our Judge yet this Comfort is not the more impeached that which supported us in Prosperity can support us in Adversity what supports in Life can support us in death For the Comforts of the Word endure for ever and the Covenant of God will not fail us living or dying 3. It is a full Comfort both for Measure and Matter 1. Sometimes for the Measure the Apostle speaketh of Comforts abounding by Christ 2 Cor. 1. 5. and Acts 13. 52. The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost And the Apostle Paul 2 Cor. 7. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am filled with comfort and am exceeding joyful in all your tribulations Paul and Silas could sing Praises in the Prison and in the Stocks after they had been scourged and whipped Acts 16. 30. And our Lord Iesus Christ when he took care for our Comfort he took care that it might be a full Comfort Ioh. 15. 4. These things have I spoken that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full The Joy of Believers is a full Joy needing no other Joy to be added to it 'T is full enough to bear us out under all discouragements If Christians would improve their advantages they might by their full Joy and Chearfulness entice carnal Men who are ensnared by the Baits of the World and the Delights of the Flesh once to come and try what Comforts they might have in the Bosom of Christ and the lively expectation of the promised Glory 2. For the Matter it is full because of the Comprehensiveness of those Comforts which are provided for us There is no sort of Trouble for which the Word of God doth not afford sufficient Consolation no Strait can be so great no Pressure so grievous but we have full Consolation offered us in the Promises against them all We have Promises of the Pardon of all our Sins and Promises of Heaven it self and what can we desire more We have Promises suited to every State Prosperity and Adversity what do we need which we have not a Promise of Prosperity that it shall not be our ruine if we take it thankfully from God and use it for God for to the pure all things are pure Tit. 1. 15. But especially for Adversity when we most need there are Promises either of singular Assistance or gracious Deliverance In short the Word of God assureth us of the gracious Presence of God here in the midst of our Afflictions and the eternal Enjoyment of God hereafter that he will be with us in our Houses of Clay or we shall shortly be with him in his Palace of Glory and so here is matter of full Comfort 1. His Presence with us in our Afflictions Psal. 91. 15. I will be with him in trouble and Isa. 4. 3. When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee and many other places Now if God be with us why should we be afraid Psal. 23. 4. When I walk thorow the valley of the shadow of death I will not be afraid for thou art with me and in many other places We see in the Body if any Member be hurt thither presently runneth the Blood to comfort the wounded part the Man himself Eye Tongue and Hand is altogether employed about that part and wounded Member as if he were forgetful of all the rest So we see in the Family if one of the Children be sick all the care and Kindness of the Mother is about that sick Child she sits by him blandisheth him and tendeth him so that all the rest do as it were envy his Disease and Sickness If Nature doth thus will not God who is the Author of Nature do much more For if an earthly Mother do thus to a sickly and suffering Child will not our heavenly Father who hath an infinite incredible and tender Love to his People Surely he runneth to the Afflicted as the Blood to the hurt Member he looketh after the Afflicted as the Mother to the sick Child This is the difference between God and the World the World runneth after those that flourish and rejoyce and live in Prosperity as the Rivers run to the Sea where there is Water enough already but God comforteth us in all our tribulations 2 Cor. 1. 4. His Name and Style is He comforteth those that are cast down 2 Cor. 7. 6. The World forsaketh those that are in poverty disgrace and want but God doth not withdraw from them but visiteth them most hath communion with them most and vouchsafeth most of his Presence to them even to those that holily meekly and patiently bear the Afflictions which he layeth upon them and one drop of this Honey is enough to sweeten the bitterest Cup that ever they drank of If God be with us if the Power of Christ will rest upon us then we may even glory in Infirmities as Paul did 2. Of our presence with God when our Afflictions are over that is our happiness hereafter we shall be there where he is Iohn 12. 26. There where I am shall my servant be And Iohn 17. 24. Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me When we have had our Trial and Exercise we shall live with him for ever Therefore is our Comfort called everlasting Consolation 2 Thess. 2. 16. Who hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace Nothing more can be added or desired if we have but the patience to tarry for it that we may come to the sight of God and Christ at last Surely this will lighten the heart of that sorrow and fear wherewith it is surcharged here is an everlasting ground of Comfort and if it doth not allay our Fears and Sorrows the fault is not in the Comfort for that is a solid and eternal Good but on the Believers part if he doth not keep his Faith strong and his Evidences clear 4. It is a reviving Comfort which quickneth the Soul Many times we seem to be dead to all Spiritual Operations our Affections are damped and discouraged but the Word of God puts Life into the dead and relieveth us in
14 15. For the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if one died for all then were all dead and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose again And therefore Praise and Thanksgiving is a greater help to the Spiritual Life than we are usually aware of For working in us a sense of God's love and an actual remembrance of his benefits as it will doe if rightly performed it doth make us shie of sin more carefull and solicitous to doe his will for shall we offend so good a God God's love to us is a love of Bounty our love to God is a love of Duty when we grudge not to live in subjection to him 1 Iohn 5. 3. His Commandments are not grievous 2. Submission to his Providence There is a querulous and sowr Spirit which is natural to us always repining and murmuring at God's dealing and wasting and vexing our spirits in heartless complaints Now this fretting quarrelling impatient humour which often sheweth it self against God even in our prayers and supplications is quelled by nothing so much as by being frequent in praises and thanksgivings Iob 1. 21. The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. It is an act of Holy Prudence in the Saints when they are under any trouble to strain themselves to the quite contrary Duty of what temptations and corruptions would drive them unto When the temptation is laid to make us murmur and swell at God's dealings we should on the contrary bless and give thanks And therefore the Psalmist doth so frequently sing praises in the saddest condition There is no perfect defeating the temptation but by studying matter of praise and to set seriously about the Duty So Iob 2. 10. Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil Shall we receive so many proofs of the love of God and quarrel at a few afflictions that come from the same hand and rebel against his Providence when he bringeth on some needful trouble for our tryal and exercise And having tasted so much of his â—…ounty and love repine and fret at every change of dealing though it be useful to purge out our corruptions and promote our communion with God Surely nothing can be extreamly evil that cometh from this good hand as we receive good things chearfully and contentedly so must we receive evil things submissively and patiently 3. It is a most delightful Work to remember the many thousand mercies God hath bestowed on the Church our Selves and Friends To remember his gracious Word and all the passages of his Providence is this burdensome to us Psal. 147. 1. Praise ye the Lord for it is pleasant And Psal. 135. 3. Sing Praises unto his Name for it is pleasant Next to necessity profit next to profit pleasure No necessity so great as spiritual necessity because our Eternal well being or ill being dependeth on it and beggery is nothing to being found naked in the great day No profit so great as spiritual that is not to be measured by the good things of this World or a little Pelfe or the great Mammon which so many worship but some Spiritual and Divine benefit which tendeth to make us spiritually better more like God more capable of Communion with him that is true profit it is an increase of Faith Love and Obedience So for pleasure and delight that which truly exhilarateth the Soul begets upon us a solid impression of Gods love that is the true pleasure Carnal pleasures are unwholsom for you like luscious fruits which make you sick Nothing is so hard of digestion as carnal pleasures This feedeth the Flesh warreth against the Soul but this holy delight that resulteth from the serious remembrance of God and setting forth his excellencies and benefits is safe and healthful and doth chear us but not hurt us Use. Oh then let us be oftner in praising and giving thanks to God Can you receive so much and beg so much and never think of a return or any expression of gratitude Is there such a being as God have you all your supplies from him and will you not take some time to acknowledge what he hath done for your Souls Either you must deny his being and then you are Atheists or you must deny his Providence and then you are Epicureans next door to Atheism or you must deny such a Duty as Praise and Thanksgiving and then you are Antiscripturists for the Scripture every where calleth for it at our hands or else if you neglect this Duty you live in flat contradiction to what you profess to believe and then you are practical Atheists and practical Epicureans and practical Antiscripturists and so your condemnation will be the greater because you own the Truth but deny the Practice I beseech you therefore to be often alone with God and that in a way of Thanksgiving to increase your Love Faith and Obedience and delight in God Shall I use Arguments to you 1. Have you received nothing from God I put this Question to you because great is our unthankfulness not onely for common benefits but also for special deliverances the one are not noted and observed the other not improved Humble persons will find matter of Praise in very common benefits but we forget even signal mercies Therefore I say have you received nothing Now consider is there no return due You know the story Luke 17. 15 16 17 18 19. Christ healed ten Lepers and but one of them returned and with a loud voice glorified God and fell down at his feet giving thanks and he was a Samaritan And Iesus answering said were there not ten cleansed but where are the nine There are not found that returned to give glory to God save this Stranger and he said unto him Arise go thy way thy Faith hath made thee whole All had received a like benefit but one onely returned and he a Gentile and no Jew to acknowledge the mercy They were made whole by a miraculous Providence he was made whole by a more gracious dispensation thy Faith hath made thee whole he was dismissed with a special Blessing God scattereth his benefits upon all mankind but how few own the supream Benefactor Surely a sensible heart seeth always new occasions of praising God and some old occasions that must always be remembred always for Life and Peace and Safety and daily Provision and always for Christ and the hopes of Eternal Life Surely if we have the comfort God should have the Glory Psal. 96. 8. Give unto the Lord the Glory due unto his Name bring an offering and come into his Courts He that hath scattered his Seed expecteth a crop from you 2. How disingenuous is it to be always craving and never giving thanks It is contrary to his directions in the word for he sheweth us there that all our
Prayers should be mingled with a thankful sense and acknowledgment of his mercies Psal. 4. 6. In every thing let your requests and supplications be made known with thanksgiving Do not come onely in a complaining way Col. 4. 2. Continue in Prayer and watch in the same with Thanksgiving They are not holy requests unless we acknowledge what he hath done for us as well as desire him to do more Nothing more usual than to come in our necessities to seek help but we do not return when we have received help and relief to give thanks When our turn is served we neglect God Wants urge us more than Blessings our Interest swayeth us more than Duty As a dog swalloweth every bit that is cast to him and still looketh for more We swallow whatever the bounty of God casteth out to us without thanks and when we need again we would have more and though warm in Petitions yet cold rare unfrequent in gratulations It is not onely against Scripture but against Nature Ethnicks abhor the ungrateful that were still receiving but forgetting to give thanks It is against justice to seek help of God and when we have it to make no more mention of God than if we had it from our selves It is against Truth we make many promises in our affliction but forget all when well at ease 3. God either takes away or blasts the Mercies which we are not thankful for Sometimes he taketh them from us Hos. 2. 8 9. I will take away my Corn in the time thereof and my Wine in the season thereof and I will recover my Wool and Flax why She doth not know that I gave her Corn and Wine and Oyl and gave her Silver and Gold Where his kindness is not taken notice of nor his hand seen and acknowledged he will take his benefits to himself again We know not the value of Mercies so much by their worth as by their want 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A thing too near the eye cannot be seen God must set things at a distance to make us value them If he take them not away yet many times he blasts them as to their natural use Mal. 2. 2. And if you will not hear and if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name saith the Lord of Hâ—…sts I will even send a curse upon you and I will curse your blessings yea I have cursed them already because you do not lay it to heart The Creature is a deaf-nut when we come to crack it we have not the natural blessing as to health strength and chearfulness Acts 14. 17. or if Food yet not gladness of heart with it Or we have not the sanctified use it is not a mercy that leadeth us to God A thing is sanctified when it is à bono in bonum if it cometh from God and leadeth us to God 1 Cor. 3. 22 23. All things are yours whether Paul or Apollo or Cephas or the World or Life or Death or things present or things to come all are yours for you are Christs and Christ is Gods You have a covenant right an holy use 4. Bless him for favours received and you shall have more Thanksgiving is the kindly way of Petitioning and the more thankful for Mercies the more they are increased upon us Vapours drawn up from the Earth return in showrs to the Earth again The Sea poureth out its fulness into the Rivers and all Rivers return into the Sea from whence they came Psal. 67. 5 6. Let the People praise thee O God yea let all the People praise thee Then shall the Earth yield her increase and God even our own God shall bless us When Springs lye low we pour a little water into the Pump not to enrich the Fountain but to bring up more for our selves It is not onely true of outward increase but of Spiritual also Col. 2. 7. Be ye rooted in the Faith and abound therein with thanksgiving If we give thanks for so much Grace as we have already received it is the way to increase our store We thrive no more get no more victory over our corruptions because we do no more give thanks 5. When God's common Mercies are well observed or well improved it fits us for acts of more special kindness In the story of the Lepers Luke 17. 19. thy Faith hath made thee whole he met not onely with a bodily cure but a Soul cure Luke 16. 11. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous Mammon who will commit to your trust the true riches When we suspect a vessel leaketh we try it with Water before we fill it with Wine You are upon your tryal be thankful for less God will give you more Means or Directions 1. Heighten all the Mercies you have by all the circumstances necessary to be considered by the nature and kind of them spiritual Eternal Blessings first the greatest Mercies deserve greatest acknowledgment Eph. 1. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Christs Spirit Pardon of sins Heaven the way of Salvation known accepted and the things of the World as subordinate helps Luke 10. 20. Notwithstanding in this rejoyce not that the Spirits are subject to you but rather rejoyce because your names are written in Heaven Then consider your sense in the want of Mercies what high thoughts had you then of them The Mercies are the same when you have them and when you want them onely your apprehensions are greater if affectionately begg'd they must be affectionately acknowledged else you are a Hypocrite either in the supplication or gratulation Consider the Person giving God so high and glorious A small remembrance from a great Prince no way obliged no way needing me to whom I can be no way profitable a small kindness melts us a gift of a few pounds a little parcel of land Do I court him and observe him There is less reason why God should abase himself to look upon us or concern himself in us Psal. 113. 6. He humbleth himself to behold the things that are in Heaven and in the Earth We have all things from him Consider the Person receiving so unworthy Gen. 32. 10. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant 2 Sam. 7. 19. Who am I O Lord God and what is my house that thou hast brought me hitherto Consider the season in our greatest extremity is Gods opportunity Gen. 22. 14. In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen when the knife was at the throat of his Son 2 Cor. 1. 9 10. We had the sentence of death in our selves that we should not trust in our selves but in God which raised the dead who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us Consider the end and
are easily carried away There may be knowledge where there is not assent there may be assent where there is not Love there may be some slight perswasion of the truth of Evangelical Doctrine but if the heart be byassed with Lust and sin a man doth but lie open to temptations to Apostacie Therefore until the heart be drawn out unto Love to the truth it can never be stable with God 3. This is that which will give you a clearer understanding in the mysteries of godliness The more we love the word the more we study it and the deeper insight and more spiritual discerning we have in the mysteries thereof It is not acute parts but strong affections to divine things that maketh us to understand them in a spiritual manner If a man hath acute parts but yet if he hath vile affections and carnal passions these will becloud the mind and fill us with prejudicate opinions so that we cannot discern the mind of God in many cases nor spiritually discern it in any Men are darkned with their own lusts their minds are darkned with carnal lusts then in seeing they see not in hearing they hear not they do not hear what they hear Let me set it forth by this similitude a blunt Iron if it be throughly heated in the fire will sooner pierce through a thick board than a sharper tool that is cold so in the order of the affections when a mans heart is heated and warmed with Love to divine things then it pierceth through he hath such a sight of divine things as they shall affect and change his heart more than he that hath great parts It is not acuteness of parts so much as entireness of affection which gives us a spiritual discerning of the mysteries of Godliness For when the heart is weded to carnal lusts the judgment is corrupted and partial but when we have an affection to holiness we shall sooner discern the mind of God Knowledge that breeds Love and Love that increaseth knowledge for it fortifieth and strengtheneth the other faculties of the soul that they may be more ready in operation Let this persuade you to get this Love to the word of God Ay but how shall we do to get this Love 1. Direction I told you before it 's the fruit of Regeneration yet a little to quicken you hereunto Consider all the Arguments which are brought as whose word it is it is God's word and if you love God will you not love the word of God Surely your best affections are due to him and if you bear any affections to him you will bear an affection to his word Isa. 26. 8. Our desires are to thee and to the remembrance of thy name First to thee and then to the remembrance of thy name or as it is in the Original to thy memorial If you have desires to God then you will love that blessed book wherein you shall read and hear of God where God hath displayed his name to you And then consider what benefits you have by the word It serves 1. To enlighten us and to direct us This is our Light in a dark place and to guide us upon all occasions Solomon saith Eccles. 11. 7. Light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the Sun If Light natural be so pleasant what is Light spiritual And therefore the Psalmist compares the word of God to the Sun Psal. 19. First he speaks of the Sun when he displayeth his beams upon the earth then presently he comes to speak of the word of God The world can no more be without the one than the other without the word of God no more than without the Sun for as one doth revive the drooping plants and chear and refresh nature by his comfortable beams so the word of God doth rejoyce refresh and revive the hearts of God's people by its light and influence Psal. 19. 7 8. Oh! it 's a comfort to have light to see our way When men begin to have a conscience about heavenly things they will judge so Paul and his companions in the great storm at Sea when they saw no Sun for many days and when they were afraid to fall upon rocks and shelves with what longing did they expect to see the Sun So a poor bewildred soul doth experiment such another case when his way is dark and hath no direction from the word of God what course to take But when he can get a little Light from the Testimonies of the Lord to guide him in his way how sweet refreshing and reviving is this to his heart 2. It serves to comfort us in all straits The word of God is as Basil saith A common shop of medicaments where there 's a salve for every sore and a remedy for every malady a Promise for every condition God hath plentifully opened his good-will and heart to sinners whatever the burden and distress be still there is some remedy from the word of God Look as David Psal. 48. 2 3. bids them to view Zion on all sides to see if there were any thing wanting necessary for Ornament and defence So may we say of the word of God go round about see if there be any thing wanting for the comfort of a Christian. There are promises of wisdom to manage our business 1 Iames 5. promises of desence in the midst of all Calamities Heb. 3. 5. Promises of sustentation and support in Gods storehouse blessings enough for every poor soul. Then the word of God serves to support and strengthen us in our conflicts either with sins or with afflictions to strenthen us against corruptions and quicken us to duties the sword of the spirit which is the word of God the choicest weapon in the spiritual warfare Eph. 6. 18. Here a Christian fetcheth his all from hence Therefore if you would have these affections to the word think what a great deal of benefit is to be had by it Light Comfort and Strength 2. Direction Secondly Be in a capacity to love the word If you would have this strong affection David speaks of you must be renewed and reconciled 1. Renewed for this Love is an affection proper to the new nature Rom. 8. 5. They that are asier the spirit do mind the things of the spirit It is in vain to think of any such love to God's word untill we be renewed by God's grace A man as a man may delight in the knowledge of the word but to receive the word of God as the word of God there must be somewhat of the divine nature or you will not have such a relish and savor to spiritual things 2. Be reconciled to God A guilty creature what comfort can he take in the word of God where he can see nothing but his accusation and his doom when he looks into it it shews him his natural face A natural man cannot delight in the word of God for it only revives his fears and offers to his
Indeed men that wholly forget God in Prosperity will not find his Word a delight in Adversity Psalm 30. 6 7 8. In my prosperity I said I shall never be moved Lord by thy Favour thou hast made my Mountain to stand strong Thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled I cryed unto thee O Lord c. 2. They prepare us for them The sweetness of the Word is best perceived under the bitterness of the Cross God and his Word are never so sweet to the Saints as in Adversity Psalm 94. 19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my Soul And 2 Cor. 1. 5. As the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. Use. Let no Calamity drive you from the Commandements for there you will find more delight than trouble can take from you 1 Ioh. 3. 1 2. Shall the Reproach of Men have more power to make us sad than the Honour of being Gods Children hath power to make us Joyful Let us be ashamed that we can delight no more Iames 1. 2. My Brethren count it all Ioy when yee fall into divers Temptations Matth. 5. 12. Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven For so persecuted they the Prophets which were before you And 1 Thes. 1. 6. Yee became followers of us and of the Lord having received the Word in much Affliction with Ioy of the Holy Ghost SERMON CLXI PSALM CXIX VER 144. The Righteousness of thy Testimonies is Everlasting give me Understanding and I shall live IN these Words First The Excellency of the Word is again acknowledged The Righteousness of thy Testimonies is Everlasting Secondly A Prayer is thereupon grounded give me Understanding Thirdly The Fruit and Benefit of being heard in that Prayer and I shall Live Because the Righteousness of the Word is Everlasting therefore we should beg Understanding and this sound Understanding maketh way for Life First He beginneth with the Praise of the Word the Righteousness of thy testimonies The Word of God is contemned by none but such as know not the Excellency of it both in its own nature and the fruits of it The sum of the whole Octonary is here repeated Doctrine That the Righteousness and everlasting Righteousness of Gods Testimonies should be deeply imprinted on our Minds and often thought of by us This stuck so in Davids Mind that he could hardly get off from the Meditation Here I shall shew you I. Wherein the Everlasting Righteousness of Gods Testimonies consisteth II. What it is to have them deeply imprinted upon our Minds and when they are so III. Why they should be deeply imprinted upon our Minds I. Wherein the Everlasting Righteousness of Gods Testimonies consisteth Answer In two things in the Tenour of them and in the Effects 1. In the Tenour And In that those Terms which God dealeth with us are never Repealed but stand in force to all Eternity 'T is an Everlasting truth that he that believeth in Christ shall be saved and that without Holiness no man shall see God The Moral part of the Word is unchangeable and shall never be altered the same Duties and the same Priviledges do alwayes continue Our Lord telleth us Matth. 5. 18. Till Heaven and Earth pass away one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law till all be fulfilled The truth of the Doctrine of the Law and Prophets is more firm and stable than the frame of Heaven and Earth Heaven and Earth may be dissolved and made void but his Law shall never be made void both in that part wherein he comforts us by his Promises and that part wherein he sets down our Duty we are Eternally obliged to Obedience and God hath Eternally obliged himself to Reward and Bless There is an Everlasting and Unchangeable Ordinance by which we are bound to God and he hath bound himself to us We should not change and God will not having past his Word to us The Everlasting Obligation on us dependeth on Gods Authority the Everlasting Obligation on Gods part dependeth on his own Truth and Veracity And though we are poor changeable Creatures God hath interposed his Authority Mal. 3. 6. I am the Lord I change not Iam. 1. 17. In him there is no change or shadow of turning God would change if his truth was changed but that is Everlasting 'T is not in the Power of men to annihilate and change the Law they may break the Law but they cannot annihilate and change the Law Though it be not fulfilled by them yet it shall be fulfilled in them and upon them And God will not Annihilate the Law for God cannot change or deny himself in those things wherein he hath ingaged his Truth to the Creature he is Immutable and Infallible Another Expression is Ier. 33. 20 21. If you can break my Covenant of the day and my Covenant of the night that there shall not be day and night in their Seasons then may also my Covenant be broken with David my Servant the one shall not fail no more than the other God compareth the firmness of his Covenant with those things that are most unalterable the standing of Heaven and earth the constant Course of Night and Day The Ceremonial Law was not abrogated till fulfilled in Christ. This is Gods last Will the Terms of Life and Salvation are still the same other Conditions are not to be expected 2. In regard of the Effects These Testimonies endure for ever both in a way of Grace and Glory In a way of Grace the Word worketh in the Heart an Eternal principle and carries us beyond Temporal things 2 Cor. 4. 18. 1 Pet. 1. 23. Being born again not of corruptible Seed but incorruptible the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever The Word worketh in us an Eternal Principle which will abide with us as the root of Everlasting Blessedness They that have served God faithfully shall not be deprived of Eternal Glory Now in Glory the Word abideth for ever for though the Souls of men are Immortal yet they have not in them a principle of Blessed Immortality Sin is the root of Eternal Perdition but Grace of Incorruption and Eternal Happiness The Wicked though the substance of their Soul and Body shall not be annihilated but upheld unto all Eternity by the mighty Power of God in the midst of Eternal Torments yet all their Glory and Pleasure shall be consumed and they themselves shall ever languish under the Wrath of an highly provoked and then irreconcilable God 1 Ioh. 2. 17. He that doth the will of God abideth for ever The wicked shall indure by the Word of God 't is a living death in regard of the execution of Eternal Wrath upon them that reject it and the performance of Everlasting Blessings which are promised to them that receive and obey it this will abide when other things fade The Word of God keepeth the Godly and
Wicked alive in some sense II. When is the Word deeply imprinted upon our Minds That is discovered by two things sound Belief and serious Consideration when 't is strongly Believed and often duly Considered 1. When 't is strongly Believed or else it worketh not for all things work according to the Faith we exercise about them 1 Thes. 2. 13. The Word of God which worketh effectually also in you that Believe Did we believe that our Eternal Condition did depend upon the observance or non-observance of this Rule we would regard it more Psal. 119. 66. Teach me good Iudgment and Knowledge for I have believed thy Commandments Lord I believe I must stand or fall by this Rule and therefore let me know all my Duty so Heb. 11. 13. Being perswaded of these things they imbraced them We have not a thorough perswasion about these things our perswasions about Eternal things are very weak when Gods expressions about it are very clear and strong Most men guess at a World to come but are not thoroughly perswaded They have a loose or general opinion that the Scripture is the Word of God the Rule by which they shall be tryed but do not soundly assent to it and receive it as the Word by which they shall be Judged at the last day Iohn 12. 48. Christ pronounceth as the Word pronunceth There is a Non-contradiction but not an active and lively Faith this and nothing but this bindeth the Will and Conscience to obedience 2. Often Considered David still insists upon this the Everlasting Righteousness of Gods Testimonies 'T is as if he had said I have said it already and I will repeat it again and again 'T is constant thoughts are Operative and musing maketh the fire burn Green wood is kindled not by a flash or spark but by constant blowing Deep Frequent and Ponderous thoughts leave some impression upon the Heart the greatest matters in the World will not work much upon him that will not think upon them All the Efficacy is lost for want of these ponderous thoughts Why are all the offers and invitations of Gods Grace of so little effect Math. 22. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they made light of it they would not take it into their care and thoughts Why do all the injunctions and precepts of God work no more Men will not consider in their hearts Deut. 4. 39 40. all the Comminations of God Psal. 10. 22. and therefore he calls upon them Now consider this ye that forget God lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver It 's for want of this that all the promises of God of Heaven and Happiness work so little upon us 2 Tim. 2. 7. Consider what I say and the Lord give you understanding in all things The truth lieth by neglected unimproved till consideration take it up and lay it in the view of Conscience and then it worketh Till we take it into our thoughts we have no use of any truth therefore set your hearts seriously to consider of these things III. Why the Everlasting Righteousness of Gods Testimonies should be deeply imprinted in our Minds 1. It Establisheth our Judgments against vain Fancies and the humour of other Gospeling The Apostle saith Gal. 1. 8. Though we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel to you then that we have preached unto you let him be accursed 1 Tim. 6. 3. If any man teach otherwise c. There are some that expect speculum spiritus sancti a greater measure of light beyond what the Spirit now affordeth new Nuntioes from Heaven to assoil the doubts of the perplexed World No the present Rule leadeth a Believer all along in his way to Heaven other and better Institution shall not be cannot be Christ promised to bless this Doctrine to the Worlds end Matth. 28. 20. I will be with you to the end of the World to guide and succour them Christ prayed for no others but those that believe through their Word Ioh. 17. 20. this Word which the Apostles have consigned to the use of the Church An Angel is accursed if he should bring any other Doctrine Gal. 1. 8. There is no other way of Salvation given or to be given Act. 4. 12. if an Angel should hold out another way believe it not The Apostle propounds an Impossible case to shew the certainty of this way 't is good to be sure of our rule now this Consideration helpeth that 2. Because it bindeth and helpeth to Obedience partly as it sheweth the absolute necessity of Obedience because the terms of Salvation are indispensibly fixed and will Everlastingly stand in force therefore I must yield to God or perish The soul cometh off most kindly to the wayes of God when 't is shut up unavoidably without all hope of escape and evasion but by yielding to Gods Terms The Lord will have the World know that there is no hope of a dispensation Mark 16. 16. He that believeth shall be saved and he that believeth not shall be danined The Terms are peremtorily fixed there is no relaxation in the Gospel-Covenant Now this doth bind the heart exceedingly to consider verse 152. of this Psalm Concerning thy Testimonies I have known them of old thou hast founded them for ever And partly as it urgeth to speediness of Obedience You will not get better Terms for the Righteousness of Gods Terms is Everlasting as good yield at first as at last The Laws of Christianity are always the same and your heart is not likely to be better by delay Your standing out were more Justisiable in the account of Reason if you could get better Terms Partly as it ingageth to seriousness whilst it carrieth the mind off from the vanities of the World into the midst of the World to come I am not to mind what will content me for the present but what will profit me for ever Holiness will abide when other things fade My ways are to be scanned by an eternal Rule some distinctions will not outlive time as Rich and Poor High and Low but the distinction of Holy or Un-holy Sanctified or Un-sanctified these abide 1 Pet. 1. 24. All flesh is grass and the glory of Man as the flower of grass the grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away but the word of the Lord indureth for ever Nothing stirreth us up more to provide for a better Life than to consider the uncertainty of the Worlds Glory and the Everlastingness of Gods Approbation according to the rule of his Word When all things are dissolved we are to be tryed by a Rule that will never fail Our Pomp and Honour and Credit and all things that we hunt after in the World are soon blasted but the Gospel tells us of things that are everlasting Everlasting Torments and Everlasting Bliss and therefore our thoughts should be more about them Isa. 55. 2. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which