Lord Jesus Christ and this works up his heart to the frame he is in and causeth him to move towards the Lord and makes him unsatisfied without Jesus Christ Now my Friends bring your Soul-state into an examination by this What change is there wrought in your hearts Do not eye your profession so much as your hearts Consider what work hath past upon your Souls Are you spiritually renewed Have you received Life from Christ Is there such a real spiritual Change wrought in your Souls as doth amount to a New Creature And have you received of the Divine Nature from Christ And is there a living Spring that moves your Souls in all your motions towards Christ If so it argues an Interest but if the Spring of your motion be from without it is a sign that it is artificial and not living and so it argues no Interest in Christ Jesus Secondly Interest in Christ mixeth concerns and may be discovered by reciprocal acts in a mutual Interest The Interest that the Soul hath in Christ is never alone but the Soul that is interested in Christ Jesus hath Christ Jesus interested in him so as the Interest is mutual and upon a mutual Interest concerns are mixt so as Christ and the Believer have one concern between them Christ is interested in the Believer's concerns and the Believer is interested in Christ's concerns The Believer concerns himself for Christ and Christ concerns himself for the Believer The Believer is interested in all that Christ is and in all that Christ hath and Christ is interested in all that the Believer is and in all that the Believer hath The Believer hath a room in Christ's heart and Christ hath a room in the Believer's heart The believer hath a propriety in Christ and Christ hath a propriety in the believer saies the Spouse I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine the interest is mutual Jesus is my Jesus saies the believing Soul Christ is my Christ he is my Saviour and I have an interest in his love and grace and I have an interest in his life in his power in his strength fulness and Christ he hath an interest in me also he hath an interest in my love he hath an interest in my heart and in my strength and in all that have and am and the interest being mutual mixing concerns it may be discovered by reciprocal acts that is as Christ makes over himself to the Soul so the Soul makes over himself unto Christ 1 John 4.19 We love him because he first loved us he hath set his love upon us and there will be a reciprocal acting in the Soul towards him he will also set his love upon Christ Christ indeed is the first mover and so the glory must be given unto him but the interest it is mutual and the acting is reciprocal The Lord Jesus Christ he makes over himself to the Soul to be his The Soul he accepts of Christ when tendered and that is not all but he makes a return unto Christ devoting himself unto him yielding and resigning himself unto Christ to be his to walk in his waies Ezek. 16.18 there you may see the actings of Christ towards the Soul saies he I spread my skirt over thee and covered thy nakedness yea I sware unto thee and entered into a covenant with thee saith the Lord and thou becamest mine I sware unto thee there the Lord did pass over himself to the believer Now there are reciprocal actings in the Soul towards him Deut. 26.17 Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God to walk in his waies and to keep his Statutes c. and the Lord v. 18. hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people as he hath promised here are reciprocal acts now Christian if thou wouldst make a discovery of thy state to know whether thou art interested in Christ Consider what interest Christ hath in thee what interest he hath in thy heart what a share he hath in thy affections and what a place he hath in thy life is there a kind of sacredness in thy heart for the Lord Jesus Christ in a holy resignation to him So there is in the Soul that is interested in Christ Cant. 4.12 A Garden enclosed is my Sister my Spouse a Spring shut up a Fountain sealed She is under a peculiar dedication to and reserve for her Lord whom she hath devoted her self unto and is as a Garden enclosed Now Christian if thy heart lieth in common and there be no sacredness upon it and no secret reserve of it it speaks but sadly for thee but where there is a dedication unto Christ and if you can find Christ interested in you it is an evidence that your are interested in Christ for we can never move towards Christ till he first moveth towards us We can never choose Christ until Christ hath first chosen us If that thou canst find thy heart open for Christ and towards Christ it is a clear evidence that Christs heart hath been first opened to thee all our love to Christ is but the reflection of Christs love to us Mary did not call Raboni till Christ first called Mary So as if thou findest thy heart under a dedication to Christ that Christ is thy joy and delight and hath full rule and liberty in thy heart that thy heart is opened or at least opening and there are outgoings of Soul in thee towards the Lord Jesus Christ It doth argue that thou hast an interest in him and that he hath begun to draw thee that he hath cast the skirt of his Grace over thee and made thee his Thirdly The Soul that hath an interest in Christ is brought under the ruling power of Christ so as he chooseth him to be his only Lord. That Soul hath as yet no interest in Christ that despiseth the government of Christ that resuseth obedience unto the Scepter and dominion of Jesus Christ these you know are reckoned among Christs enemies that say concerning him this man shall not reign over us you have a clear Scripture for this Isaiah 63.19 We are thine How did it appear that they were the Lords Because it was implicitely and tacitly asserted that the Lord did bear rule over them And how did it appear that they were none of Christ's and Christ none of theirs Because he did never bear rule over them neither were they called by his name So then those that slight and despise the Scepter of Christ Jesus and refuse allegiance to this glorious King of Heaven are none of his Subjects and so have no part nor interest in him but now that Soul that hath an interest in Christ is brought under the rule of Christ and Christ doth exercise and display an over-ruling power in his heart that brings him unto his foot and he is enabled to live in a professed subjection to the Scepter and Kingly power of Christ Jesus upon this interest the Soul hath in Christ his
sin he takes pleasure therein O! it is his meat and drink to satisfie the lusts of his heart in gratifying this Lord that is over his Soul Now my Friends your Interest in Christ may be discovered by the distance that your hearts stand in from the power and interest of this Lord that Jesus Christ hath overthrown that is a constant enemy to your in-being and standing in Christ And that I may help you to make a right judgment of your state in reference to this particular I shall open to you in several particulars what this distance is that the Soul stands in unto the interest of sin that Jesus Christ hath overthrown in the heart upon his making over himself to the Soul First There is upon the Soul's Interest in Christ this distance unto sin his former Lord that he proclaims war against it and becomes its professed enemy It may be the life of a Christian is not at present a Conquering life ay but it is a Conflicting life Rom. 7.23 But I see another Law in my members warring against the Law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the Law of sin which is in my members Well there is opposition for opposition as sin riseth up against him so he riseth up against sin And as sin upon his Interest in Christ declares against him so he declares against sin and he watcheth it as one enemy watcheth the motions of another and he taketh all waies and useth all endeavours to foil and bring under this enemy Secondly The opposition that is carryed on and managed in the heart against sin it is general It is not an opposition in one part only but it is an opposition that the whole Soul doth engage in and all the powers of the Soul are concerned in it It is not only an opposition in the Conscience but there is an opposition in the Affections as well as in the Conscience and there is an opposition in the Will as well as in the Conscience and Affections and also an opposition in the Judgment both the Conscience and the Affections the Will and the Understanding and Judgment do all discharge against sin and all the renewed powers of the Soul enter into a strict combination against the interest of sin The Conscience that lays loads upon it whenever it appears and the Affections they declare against it and the Will that resolves against it and the Understanding and Judgment do discover it and witness against it The opposition that is made it is general Thirdly In this distance that the heart stands in unto sin upon its Interest in Christ the heart in its most deliberate actings stands in an irreconcileableness unto it The opposition that is made is not upon a sudden motion it is not upon a passion of the Soul that in cool thoughts will be called in again but the Soul in its most deliberate actings stands in an irreconcileableness unto it That the Affections will never be enticed over to sin again the Love will never be invited over to sin again indeed he may be overpowered to sin but he will never be reconciled to sin more his Love and Affections can never be gained to sin again but the Affections are so broken that the distance will ever remain and the Soul will alwaies stand in and act upon an irreconcileableness to it Fourthly The distance of the heart unto the interest of sin upon the Soul's Interest in Christ is universal unto all sin It is not only alienated and drawn from notorious and gross sins that make a great noise in the world or against some particular sins that his walking in will turn to his disadvantage but it stands at a distance from all sin from heart-sins as well as from life sins from small sins as well as from great sins and from such sins as are connatural to us from inclination complexion and condition and employment and the like the heart stands at an universal distance from all sin Fifthly The distance of the heart from sin upon its Interest in Christ is unto sin as it hath a contrary nature in it to the Interest of Christ in him He doth oppose sin not upon a particular but upon a general account he opposeth sin as sin as it hath a contrariety in its nature unto the Lord and the Interest and Dominion of the Lord in his Soul and so he will oppose sin while sin is sin and whilst there is any sin remaining in him The distance that his heart stands in unto sin is unto it as it hath a contrary nature in it unto Christ's Interest in him and his Interest in Christ Sixthly The distance of the heart unto the Interest of sin that Christ hath overturned upon his having an interest in himself it is such as hates sin in the temptation It doth not only hate sin when it is committed and when Conscience lays hold upon him for the commitment of it but it sets the Soul at a distance from sin in the temptation whilst it is a great way off and hence we are commanded to abstain from the appearance of evil and the Saints they hate the appearance of evil that which looks like a disputable evil the gracious heart stands at a distance from it or that which hath a probability in it of being an occasion of sin to him that will the gracious heart stand off from he will oppose sin at a distance and he hates and watcheth against sin in the temptation the heart stands at such a distance from it Seventhly The distance of the heart from sin is such that it chuseth rather to suffer than to sin Nay it will chuse a great suffering before a little sin It will say Lord any thing rather than sin and no burthen will be like the burthen of sin to him no weight like the weight of sin upon his Conscience and therefore he says Lord any condition rather than to be driven upon a temptation whereby I shall sin any thing Lord but sin Eighthly The distance that the heart stands in unto sin upon its Interest in Christ is such as doth discover a great reluctancy of spirit and deep searchings of heart upon the invasions of sin and the Soul 's passive captivities by it Probably he may be foiled and overcome by sin and many times against his will he is overcome ay but when he is so he mourns and he weeps and that bitterly he doth not justifie the fault he doth not extenuate the offence he doth not hide his transgression but his Soul breaks out into mourning by reason of it and that upon the passive captivities of the Soul by it when the Soul against his will is overcome he watches and he strives to keep it under and yet sin is too hard for him and whether he will or no sometimes leads him captive and carries him out of the way he goes mourning into these captivities and he groans when he falls into the hands of sin
Gospel that is consecrated for us to hold and enjoy fellowship with him in and now Christians what a ground of rejoycing is here Friends they die A bosom acquaintance in the flesh is taken from thee they die from thee and their places know them no more but here is Jesus he ever abides upon the Throne clearing the way of communion between God and thee So that God is alwaies thy friend alwaies in reconciliation to thee alwaies ready to make known himself and to impart of his Love and Grace to thee Here is an abiding ground of joy for us in Christ Jesus if we consider him as he is a glorious Person in his Mediatory Constitution SERMON II. Habakkuk 3.18 Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation THE words have been opened unto you and we have given you this Proposition from them Doct. That there is enough in Christ alone for the Soul that is interested in him to rejoyce in whatsoever his case and condition is You need no more than Jesus to make you blessed upon Earth and there is enough in Jesus to make you blessed for ever in Heaven there is enough in Jesus to make you happy in time and enough in Jesus to make you happy to eternity Now here for the Direction of your Faith in looking up to and in dealing with Christ in a dark or low condition we proposed to consider First What Jesus Christ is And here we told you that 1. In the first place He is glorious in his Person I now proceed 2. As he is glorious in his Person so he is gracious in his Nature full of grace full of kindness full of compassion both unto Saints and unto Sinners He might have apâ—eared glorious in his Person and not gracious in his Nature He might have appeared altogether terrible a glorious Person and yet surrounded with terrible Majesty but Jesus Christ is as gracious in his Nature as he is glorious in his Person he is full of compassion unto the Sons of men there is no harshness there is no bitterness in Christ Jesus there is nothing in him my friends that will discourage you if you search him never so narrowly and if you look him through there is nothing in him to discourage you but he is full of love and full of all encouragement I do not mean that he is full of love only as he is God absolutely considered The Apostle says That God is Love he speaks it of God the Father and so as Christ Jesus is God equal with the Father in the Divine Nature it is applicable to the Second Person but that is not all but he is full of grace in his Nature as he is clothed with our flesh and his Love it is alwaies an encouraging Love it is alwaies a heart-casing Love it is alwaies a Soul-satisfying Love You cannot find such an Object upon Earth nor such an Object in Heaven as Jesus Christ is that is so full of compassion and so full of grace as he is and the greatness of his Love as a ground of Joy unto the believing Soul in all conditions is such as First Does break through and conquer all opposings Secondly It heightens under all our sorrows And Thirdly It abides unmixed in all seasons First His Love is such and so great that it breaks through all opposings and forbiddings Though there is nothing in Christ to discourage our Love to him yet I must tell you that there is enough in us to discourage Christ's Love to us and indeed there is nothing else in us but that which may forbid the Love of Jesus Christ dealing with us Now whatsoever are the matters of discouragement in us the Love of Jesus breaks through them all it sticks at nothing Let the heart be never so vile let the sinner in himself be never so loathsom let his waies be never so contrary let the principles upon which he acts be never so averse the Love of Jesus Christ breaks through all What is the state of a sinner when Christ Jesus comes to visit him a vile loathsom filthy abominable state You have it set out in the 16th of Ezekiel by all manner of strange expressions that shews the sinner is in a very loathsom state in the 5th and 6th verses Thou layest in thy blood saith he and none Eye pitied thee One casts his Eye upon thee and says There is a loathsom Object I will have nothing to do with him another comes by and casts his Eye There is a loathsom Creature Who would come near such a one Thou wert cast out says he to the loathing of thy person but says Jesus I passed by thee and it was a time of love And in the 10th of Luke you may see it set out in a Parable of the Samaritan one passed by a poor Creature that lay in his blood and would have nothing to do with him and another passes by and would have nothing to do with him but Jesus the good Samaritan he passes by and he pities him and binds up his wounds and heals him You may see what forbiddings this Love of Christ marches through Titus 3 3. For we our selves were sometimes foolish disobedient deceivers serving divers lusts and pleasures living in malice hateful and hating one another Good Lord one would think is it possible that such a Soul as this should be brought home and loved by Jesus Christ that is in such a state and have such a heart and walks in such waies But says the Apostle v. 4. After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared not by works of righteousness which we have done but accoridng to his mercy he saved us c. And 1 Cor. 6.11 Such were some of you but ye are washed c. Jesus he loves you notwithstanding this and continues to love you Nay my Friends this is not all but his love is such as doth not only march through great opposings and forbiddings before grace but high discouragements after grace Why what is the walk of the Soul after grace Is it not very crooked and very perverse Doth not he fall short of the Rule Doth not he offend God in every thing he doth Is there not a great deal of unbelief Is there not a great deal of pride a great deal of carnality and impatience and passion in your hearts after grace Do not you stumble and fall in the Christian walk every day violate the Covenant of your gracestate break the Commandments of God and yet notwithstanding all be continues to love you in the 80th Psalm v. 30.31 Supposing says God there that my Children my Redeemed Ones that I have set my love upon and visited with my grace that they will forsake my Law and walk out of the way of my Commandments that I have called them to walk in and charged them to abide in Now the Love of Jesus Christ keeps up through all therefore says the
Apostle Neither life nor death c. shall separate us from the love of Christ Rom. 8.38 The life of a Believer after grace is full of provocation and it may be he continues to provoke God as long as he lives There are provocations and unkindnesses in his way to the Lord all his life long till he come to the end of his daies and yet says the Apostle Life shall not separate Now this is a great ground of rejoycing that thou mayest look unto thy Jesus and see him alwaies loving of thee Thy waies are very uneven and unconstant and thou canst not keep in so good a frame as thou wouldest do yet still Jesus loves thee thou art full of wandrings still Jesus loves thee why here 's a love that marches through all opposings Secondly It is a Love that heightens under all our sorrows I mean as to the communications and dispenses of it or the actual and saving discoveries of it unto the Believer it heightens under all our sorrows that the greater our troubles are the more he loves and the more pitiful our state is the more compassionate he is he sees a Believer it may be lying under great distresses of body or in great Agonies of spirit why this draws out his love he loves thee more he is the more pitiful and the more compassionate to thee as he sees that thy state is a sorrowful state and thy condition a troubled condition and indeed the Believer never hath such discoveries and evidences of the love and kindness of God to him as when he is in a low condition Jesus Christ he did come you know into a wilderness to walk with Israel And let their troubles be never so many Jesus Christ would not leave them but the greater their troubles were the more was his love discovered and the more did his faithfulness to them appear and they never had such an eminent and signal appearances of God with them as when they were in their Wilderness Travels Jacob a holy man never had so much of God nor never had such a sight of God as when he was in a low condition Gen. 28.15 Behold I am with thee and I will keep thee in all places whither thou goest and will bring thee again to this Land and will not leave thee till I have done what I have spoken to thee of And Gen. 31.42 Here the good man was in a great strait he was afraid that he should be cut off Ay but says he The Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac he it was that rebuked thee yesternight He did charge thee that thou shouldest speak no hurt no evil unto me And when Israel Exod. 3. came into a groaning captivity and bondage when their bondage grew very great and unsufferable then did the Lord wonderfully discover himself v. 7. And the Lord said I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their Task-masters and am come down to deliver them c. And Psa 34.16 The Eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his Ears are open to their cry Here is a supposition of a condition that the Soul is in or may be brought into that makes it groan and cry Well for your comfort know that then in a special manner is the Eye of the Lord upon you and his Ear open to you And Psal 56.18 Thou tellest my wanderings c. Thou tellest my flights so some read it I have never an enemy to pursue me but the Lord takes notice of it and seeth whither the enemy hunts me and drives me he takes notice of the fury of the oppressor that comes out against me Thou tellest my wanderings and puttest my tears in thy bottle Every tear in a sorrowful condition Jesus Christ bottles up he keeps it in remembrance God's Peoples highest visits of favour and grace their choicest experiences and the most comfortable manifestations that they have of God have been when they have been in a low condition In prosperity there God many times lets the Soul walk more at liberty ay and he hath less of God in prosperity then in adversity there he is left to walk by his own light as I may so say and he bears up himself more upon his own comforts he stands then as it were more upon his own legs but in a weak condition and in an afflicted state in a time of trouble then is the Lord present discovering himself more fully to him and hence it is that the Saints have had their highest Joys in the prison and have been made to sing in the flames They have commended the sharpest distress that ever they were brought into in this world to be such as could never separate Christ and their Souls the love of your Jesus is so great that it will leap into a furnace to keep you company It is such as it will come into any strait and hazard to support and bear up your spirits Lo this is your friend your comforter that you have O believer to rejoyce in Jesus his heart is alwaies towards you and the love of his heart it heightens under all your sorrows let darkness grow upon your state the light of his love will shine through it and give you a light that you shall see your way let your disconsolations be never so many in the creature the love of Jesus Christ will countervail all for if the creature be taken away Jesus Christ will be the more and in the want of all things he will discover himself so as shall answer all to your Souls 3. As his love is such as heightens under all our sorrows so it abides unmixed in all seasons as it is a love that cannot be diverted so it is a love that cannot be adulterated but it is alwaies a sweet alwaies a pure love a heart easing a soul pacifying a soul rejoycing love none can throw any bitterness into the love of Jesus but it is alwaies a pure clear Chrystal love that hath no mixture in it it is not thus with the love of friends the sweetest the best the firmest friends that ever man had upon earth there is some mixture in their love They will sometimes rejoyce your hearts and sometimes they will make your hearts sad loving friends may sometimes frown and be churlish and unkind and you may go to them with your hopes and expectations and be disappointed you may soon weary out their love and they may discover such a mixture that their hearts seem sometimes to be alienated But it is not thus with the Lord Jesus but his love is alwaies a pure clear soul satisfying love there is light in him and no darkness at all there is sweetness in him and there is no bitterness at all There are as I said before things that may encourage you but there is nothing that will discourage you in Jesus no not unto eternity now believer this is
shall not they cannot do it and Hosea 2.19 I will betroth thee unto me for ever yea I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in mercy c. I know full well what I do saies the Lord I will betroth thee in judgment I know what the Soul is that I take I take him so as to keep him and to maintain him I will hold him and never lose him I will do it in judgment and it shall be a relation for ever I will betroth thee unto me for ever But now the evidence of the relation that is passable that may be clouded after you have had some clear discoveries of it A Soul that is brought into the light may be turned into the dark again thus it was with Job Job he had a very clear and full sight of his interest at one time that he glories in Christ Jesus I know that my Redeemer liveth and yet the same Job at another time Job 6.4 Tells us that the Arrows of the Almighty did set themselves in array against him the poyson whereof saies he drinketh up my Spirit It was not the terrours of men it was not the terrours of his condition of his poverty or of his sores or of his great disgrace but saies he the terrours of God they are entered into my Soul and so David at one time he rejoyceth in Christ Jesus saies then though I pass through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil Psal 23.4 and another time he cries out Why art thou cast down O my Soul why art thou disquiered within me And in another place hath the Lord forgotten to be gracious are his mercies clean gone he mourns after the Lord and complains as one that was banished from his face though your interest cannot be shaken Christians yet the evidence of your interest may be darkned the love of Christ Jesus to your souls may be so obscured as you may be left without the feelings of it And the Soul that is sometimes under comfortable manifestations and filled with joy with peace and with comfort may at another time be darkned with clouds with vails and with curtains and know not where he is the seal of the Spirit of the Lord may be so defaced as that you cannot tell what to make of it the believer that is built upon the rock can never be washt off the rock yet the wayes may dash against him upon the rock he may be sorely dasht upon the rock though he cannot be washt off though your interest stands sure yet the evidence of your interest is not sure it is a passable evidence 6. Sense of interest is in a soveraign hand and is given out to whom the Lord pleaseth and when the Lord pleaseth The Lord is pleased Soveraignly to act in the sealing and ensuring and comforting of his People sometimes he will come in upon a believer at his first conversion and will fill him with joy and gladness that shall abide upon his Soul many years and sometimes the believer shall wait upon God from ordinance to ordinance and follow him many years in the dark and not have a discovery of his love sometimes the Lord will give a Soul no sight of his interest nor evidence of his relation until he come to die and some believers have walked with the evidence of Gods love in their hearts almost all their daies and when they have come to die they have died in the dark Sense of interest is under a soveraign dispense both as to the persons to whom it is given out and as to the time when and as to the way and manner how 7. Though the interest that believers have and are owned in with the Lord is the same and is not different as to its nature and properties yet the evidence of the interest will admit of degrees in different persons and also in the same Persons at divers times those that are taken into relation with Christ Jesus they are all owned in a near blessed intimate relation as I told you before so that there is no difference in the relation neither is the relation an encreasing relation indeed the benefits of the relation they are encreasing but the relation it 's self is not encreasing A believer is not more a Child of God afterward then he was at first when the Spirit of adoption came upon him but the evidence of the interest that admits of degrees the relation its self is capable of an improvement as to the advantages of it but that is not all but the evidence of the relation is sometimes clearer fuller and more satisfying then at some other times It is said Prov. 4.18 That the path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day A believer hath a little sight of Christ a glimmering of Christ through the cravis this may be improved and it is possible that the Soul may come into a full assurance of its interest in Christ Jesus ay and it is possible you may be assured more at one time then at another Therefore Christian the little joy that thou hast may grow to a great deal and the small apprehensions that thou hast of Christ may greatly encrease in thy Soul and in this respect the day of small things is not to be despised 8. It is possible that believers may disingenuously act upon low principles in their carnest pursuits after sealings and ensurings I pray mark it assurance it is the Flower of Faith it is the growth the improvement the flourishing of Faith it is the fragrancy the odour and the sweetness nay the very brightness of faith the sealings of the Spirit they are the high strains as I may call them of the Spirit in and upon the hearts of believers And yet it is possible that the believer may act upon low principles in his eager pursuits of the sealings of the Spirit that is such an high act Then does the believer act disingenuously in a pursuit after an evidence of his interest when he presseth after the sense of his interest more for peace and comfort then to improve his interest unto more grace and holiness Your interest in Christ hath two streams the one runs with grace and the other runs with peace and comfort now then does the Soul disingenuously act when he presseth more after the stream of peace comfort then he doth after the stream of grace and holiness then is the believer acted upon low principles when he advanceth the sense of interest above the interest or if you will thus when the desires of the sense of interest do over-ballance the desires of more grace and holiness upon the interest Therefore in all your eager pursuits after the sealings of the Spirit consider the principle Christians upon which you act search whether there be no disingenuous actings n your spirits in your eager desires after assurance 9.
heart Satan he will be alwaies putting the Soul forward to entertain hard thoughts of God and will be making false reports in his heart contrary unto the experiences that his Soul hath had Now when the Soul will take up a report of Satan against a clear and visible demonstration of grace upon the heart and will joyn with Satan and say ay this is true there hath nothing past upon my Soul Christ hath not loved me Christ hath not taken me nigh unto himself neither hath he in truth and reality done any thing yet for me upon the Souls thus falling in with and arguing upon the reports of Satan does he help to darken his own state and to cloud his interest Satan is indefatigably industrious to obscure our interest and to keep us in the dark Now he will alwaies stand by you and be alwaies speaking to you if he see that his testimony is once received and credited Therefore beware how you hearken unto him who is ever an enemy unto your interest and unto your sense of interest Fifthly Darkness of evidence doth arise from our frequent neglects of the Spirit both in a way of duty and also in a way of comfort The Spirit of the Lord doth attend us and he is calling of us up to obedience and spurring of us forward to closer walking with God in obedience to his commands Now when the Soul doth refuse to comply with the Spirit and doth not observe his voice nor obey his commands but is silent unto his earnest motions in it upon this is the Soul more and more darkned for the Spirit does hereupon withdraw when we refuse his aids and assistances in the duties unto which we are called he offers us his help to stand by us and to lead us and to strengthen us and we set by his help and we will venture upon duties in our own strength not resting upon him for strength and power and the Spirit is hereby provoked Or when we neglect him in a way of comfort he would clear our condition to us but we wâ—ll not believe what reports he makes in our hearts he would settle us and we will not be settled he offers us consolation and we refuse his consolation and yet complain of our darkness Job 15.11 Are the consolations of the Lord small with thee Why the consolations of the Lord are small with many Souls for they refuse them and they think they do well to refuse the comforts that are offered them and yet they mourn over their want of comfort hereby they grieve the Spirit and they wound the Spirit and they quench the Spirit and it is not like then that the Soul should be assured You have these expressions in Scripture Ephes 4.30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of Redemption And 1 Thes 5.19 Quench not the Spirit And Isa 63.10 But they rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit wherefore he was turned to be their enemy c. Why my friends this is often our case we rebel against and vex the holy Spirit of God and he becomes our enemy that is he ceaseth to comfort us and he ceaseth to settle us and he ceaseth to establish us he ceaseth to fill us with joy and with comfort in and about our Interest Sixthly Darkness of evidence doth oftentimes arise from and is occasioned by remisness in holy duties wherein God useth to manifest himself unto us When we neglect our spiritual watch and lie under or act under the weight of spiritual sloth deadness of heart carelesness and slightiness of spirit in our waitings upon God This was the Spouses case Cant. 5.3 4. I have put off my Coat how shall I put it on I have washed my feet how shall I defile them My Beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door and my bowels were moved for him Verse 5. I arose to open to my Beloved but my Beloved had withdrawn himself Verse 6. Acts of communion were not ceased The Spouse did not decline Duties and Ordinances but grew remiss and sluggish and slighty and careless in the duties of communion She had put off her Coat and she could not put it on Her Beloved knocked but she could not open to him presently she must make him wait a while Here were some workings of heart and some genuine affections in the Spouse towards Christ for she said My Beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door and my bowels were moved for him There were some movings of heart towards Christ ay but she moved slowly and was careless in her spiritual frame and behold she looks and her Beloved was gone Here was a suspense and darkness grew upon her condition My friends this is often our case we let the fire of the Altar of our hearts go out and our affections they grow dead and we lose our spiritual fervency we lose the spiritual savour of communion with God in Ordinances of Communion and Christ Jesus withdraws There is a suspence of manifestations of favour and darkness encreaseth Seventhly Again Darkness of evidence doth sometimes arise from unkind and unworthy Jealousies of the love of Christ's heart to us notwithstanding long strivings with us The Soul knows not how to believe that Jesus Christ is in earnest with him when it comes unto his own particular case then he entertains hard thoughts of Christ O surely Christ doth not mean me surely Christ is not in the way of Grace with me although he cannot deny being put to it upon a serious examination but that there is a strange alteration in his Soul ay but he is alwaies questioning of the truth of Christ in his way to him not but that he believes that Christ is in good earnest in the design ay but he doth not know how to believe that Christ Jesus is really engaged in a design of love upon his heart no this he questions he thinks that the proposals that he makes are not in good earnest that Jesus Christ doth not mean him That Jesus Christ doth overlook and pass by his Soul and it is others that he is seeking after and others that he is designing upon and by these unworthy jealousies he does provoke Jesus Christ and it is just with Christ to leave the Soul a while to its self that will not be persuaded to have good thoughts of him 8. Again Darkness of evidence doth sometimes arise from and is occasioned by our inconsiderateness of the present state of our own hearts and inadvertency to what hath past vpon us There is a work wrought in him ay but he hath not been so wise as to observe the motions of Christ Jesus in his comings in and in his dealings with him he hath not kept an account of the goings of God with him but hath been very remiss in the observe of the state of his heart as he hath passed on in the way following of Christ and waiting upon him in
Spirit is satisfied in the government of Christ he is reconciled unto all the commands of Christ and he delights in the dominion of Christ and he freely and chearfully resigns up himself unto the Scepter of Jesus Christ Lord saies the Soul here I am rule over me Christ never interests a Soul in himself that he doth not bear the sway in its heart and command the powers of its Soul Psal 110.3 Thy people shall be a willing people in the day of thy power When Jesus Christ makes a willing people that is displays the power of his Grace and brings home a Soul and gives it an interest in himself he subjects the heart unto his Government he makes the Soul freely willing to be ruled by the laws and by the Authority of Christ Jesus no laws seem so desirable unto him as the laws of Jesus no rule no Scepter so pleasant as the Scepter of Christ and all the commands of Christ are chosen by him as being equal righteous holy pleasant and good the Spirit is reconciled to Christ Jesus in the whole of his Gospel Government over the heart of the Christian My Lord and my God saies Thomas these alwaies go together My God and also my Lord. And this particular I ground upon and gather out of my Text he is become the God of my Salvation how shall I know that He is my Lord saies the Prophet I will rejoice in the Lord the title Lord notes Dominion and Soveraignty Now the Soul that is interested in Christ rejoyceth in the Dominion and Soveraignty of Christ Jesus I will rejoice in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation The inference that is drawn from this Scripture for our present purpose is this that the Soul that is interested in Christ will rejoyce in the dominion of Christ or doth receive Christ Jesus as a Lord and as a Lord doth rejoyce in and under him Indeed there may be much weakness in his obedience I don't say that he doth exactly and to a tittle walk up to the rule to fulfill every command of God No I know there is a great deal of weakness in the strongest believer upon earth and through the strength of corruption and the violence of temptation he may sometimes be fovled and born down ay but when he is so still his heart is right and he loves the commands of Christ that he cannot come up to and he honours the rule of Christ and to his utmost makes way for the sway of the Scepter of Christ in his Soul though he may be born down by temptation yet his love remains still unto every command of Jesus Rom. 7.25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord so then with my mind I my self serve the law of God but with the flesh the law of sin Saies Paul I am born down I am overcome but I don't justify my self herein but I bless God saies he that my heart is secured my love doth not abate I have not waved a command through my dissatisfaction in it I have not been disobedient to a command because I judged it unreasonable or were dissatisfied in it No but my heart that stands right for those commands that I cannot reach in my life with my mind I my self serve the law of God So Romans 1.9 saies the Apostle For God is my witness whom I serve with my Spirit in the Gospel of his Son so as you see the Spirit that stands clear and is under a constant and full engagement though it may be the life doth not discover that evenness that it should with my Spirit saies he I serve the Lord. It may be said in the case of the temptation of a believer as was said concerning the Spouse I sleep but my heart awâ—kâ—th thus it is with many a poor Soul he may be brought into a sleepy condition and he staggers and stumbles in his way he finds it so difficult but saies he while I sleep my heart awaketh his declensions do not arise from dissatisfaction but his love is reconciled to the command still and he honours those precepts that he is not able to come up to Now Christian bring your condition to this touchstone if thou hast a heart that doth slight the government of Christ and if thou canst not bear the strict rule and dominion of Christ Jesus over thy Soul if that thou hast thy exceptions against the Scepter of Christ Jesus being lifted up in thy heart it is a sign that thou art not yet interested in Christ thou never didst bear rule over them they were not called by thy name I pray remember that that rule that thou despisest is the only saving rule and that power that thou refusest to stoop to is the only saving power the only blessed and blessing power But on the other side if thou canst find that thy heart is open unto the Lord Jesus Christ as he is the Lord as he is invested with all power as the Father hath given all Authority unto him if thy heart be open to him and thou dost love his Laws in their holiness and strictness and his Government and Rule for its closeness and if way be made in thy Soul for the Throne of Christ to be set up it argues thou art interested in Christ for those that are Christ's doth the Lord bear Rule over Fourthly The Soul's Interest in Christ may be known by the distance that the heart standeth in from the power and interest of his former state that Christ Jesus hath overturned The Soul before his coming over to Christ was under the Rule of another Lord and was in subjection to another Interest to the power and interest of sin and that bore sway in his heart and commanded his life he yielded up himself a servant to sin and devoted himself unto the service of sin This the Apostle speaks out Rom. 6.16 17. Know ye not that to whom ye yield your selves servants to obey his servants ye are to whom ye obey whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness but God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin but ye have obeyed from the heart the form of Doctrine which was delivered to you And in 19 and 20 verses you have it again And says he When you were the servants of sin ye were free from righteousness He doth plainly shew that they were formerly servants to another Interest they were engaged in the service of sin they acted sin as in a service as a servant observes and respects and obeys his Master so doth the natural heart observe respect and obey sin and it is his Lord it hath the commanding power of his Soul and it is a most pleasant service to the sinner though he will find it a sad service in the latter end yet it is a most pleasant and a most delightful service therefore a sinner's walking in sin and gratifying the lusts of the flesh is called his pleasure the pleasures of
great reflection upon a passive captivity upon an active surrender he may when he hath sold himself to work wickedness he may be made ashamed of his folly Ay but a Hypocrite a false heart will never deeply mourn for a passive captivity but there he will say Well I could not help it it was not my fault and so will be excusing of it as the Woman did The Serpent beguiled me I intended no such thing I was seduced and overcome a passive Captivity bears no great sway in a false heart but an upright Soul he mourns over sin how passive soever he is in the prevailings of it when he cannot prevent sin he will mourn over the prevailings of it It will be his constant grief that he was led Captive and that when he would do good evil was present with him and that he is overcome when he strives to overcome And again consider Soul whether there be any thing less then the returns of death will satisfy thee in thy pursuits of sin for the gracious Soul that is interested in Christ will pursue sin unto death restraining grace will not serve him pardoning grace won't do but he will be for the crucifying of the lusts of the flesh for the mortifying of sin in his Soul for the utter ruine and extirpation of it Now Sirs if you can find those things in you it doth speak for you and will help to clear your interest in Christ Jesus Fifthly The Soul that is interested in Christ will prize the least of Christ above the greatest enjoyments out of Christ A little of Christ will be more to him then a great deal of the Creature nay a little of Christ will be more to him then all the Creature a little of Christs grace a little of Christs love a little of Christs Spirit a small income from Christ the least love token from Christ the least saving Gospel manifestation and discovery of Christ O 't is the sweetest discovery and the most blessed enjoyment that ever his Soul had Thus it was with David if he be the Author of Psal 73. and Asaph only the Pen-man David at once overlookt his Crown and his Kingdom and all his Treasures that he had in the world and the whole world that was before him and saies he Lord whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee Psal 73.25 And so the Apostle Paul saies he I count all things but dross and dung in comparison of Christ Jesus my Lord Phil. 3.8 Christ was more to him than all other things and verily Christians so will it be with you if your hearts be right a little of Christ will be more to you then all the treasures pleasures and the glories and enjoyments of this whole world and you will esteem your selves more honourable with a little grace in your hearts then with your Houses full of wealth Now to close do but bring thy heart to this touchstone and do but consider what it is that thy heart is most set upon and what it is that will satisfy thee if this world and the comforts of it can satisfy thee without Christ thou hast no part in Christ nay if thou preferrest other enjoyments before a participation in Christ thou hast none of Christ if thou hast a saving interest in Christ the manifestations of Christ to thy Soul will be the most blessed manifestations O the least incomes of Christ will be as life from the dead The least love token the least intimation of his love the least saving effect and operation of his grace upon thy heart and the encrease of communion with him These things will be the life and the joy of thy Spirit If thou canst find it thus with thee really and in truth that a little of Christ is prized in thy heart above the greatest enjoyments out of Christ it is a sign and evidence that thou art interested in Christ It may be Soul thou hast but a little of Christ in thy heart very little of Christ but a little of the grace of Christ and but a little of the Spirit of Christ and canst do but little for Christ ay but the least incomes of Christ they are the sweetest incomes to thee and thy enjoyments of Christ are the most satisfying enjoyments and thy Soul will prefer an opportunity of communion with the Lord Jesus before great advantages otherwise If it be thus with thee it is an evident sign that thou art interested in Christ and thou mayest take comfort in thy present standing in him SERMON VII Habakkuk 3.18 Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation THe Proposition is this Doct. That there is enough in Christ Jesus alone for the Souls full rejoycing and triumph whatsoever his condition and exigency is in this world This we have cleared to you and are now upon clearing up of the Souls state that he may know whether he hath interest in this full Jesus We have already given you five particulars that may be as so many evidences of a Christians interest in Christ and shall now proceed Sixthly In the sixth place The Soul that is interested in Christ is under an over-ruling influence from Christ that secures the habitual inclinations of his Soul for Christ against all contrary invitations and drawings Particular acts are not a sufficient conclusive ground of our state one way or another A Soul that hath no interest in Christ may seem choice and singular in some actions and there may be a seeming lovely desirable sanctity upon him and a Soul that is really interested in Christ may by the power of a temptation be drawn into some unbecoming acts so as particular acts are no sufficient ground of an interest and if you judge by them you may easily be deceived but he that is really united to Christ is under a divine influence from Christ that secures the habitual inclinations of his heart for him that so the blass of his heart is towards Christ and the full purpose of the Soul in its secret breathings and inclinings are after the Lord Jesus alone It may be when the temptation comes he may be almost staggered but yet his heart stands right for Christ in the main in whom he is interested and though temptations may have a great power upon him yet the biass of his heart will winde through all temptations unto Christ alone thus it was with Paul there were contrary drawings in the heart of Paul and the temptations that he met withal from the remains of indwelling sin were very great yet his heart under all stood right and the habitual inclinations of his heart were for and towards Christ Jesus and this was the Characteristical note of his in-being in Christ Romans 7.15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22. You may see it at large For that which I do saies he I allow not for what I would do I do not but what I
stay upon any righteousness but upon Christ's righteousness in whom he is interested as you may see Phil. 3.8 9. Yea doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ and be found in him not having my own righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the Faith of Christ c. Now Christians examine your own hearts by this also What is it that you live upon Is it upon Christ or Is it upon your selves If you can satisfie your selves with a righteousness short of Christ's that is a righteousness of your own it is a sign you are not yet interested in him if you do not go wholly out of your selves to make loss of all for Christ it is a fign you are not yet interested in him if you act by your own strength and do not look up to Christ for strength it is a sign you are your own men that you are not yet in Christ and if your greatest care be not to please Christ it is a sign you are not yet in Christ but those that are in Christ they live upon Christ they do not live upon duties they do not feed upon bare Ordinances but they feed upon Christ Jesus and they trust only to his righteousness and they eye his merits and consider his faithfulness and act Faith upon his Offices they trust in him and they have reference to Christ at all times Eleventhly Again The Souls that are interested in Christ will with boundless desires be alwaies pressing after Christ and never think they have enough of him Not only will they be restless in their pursuits after Christ till they can compass something of him but there are boundless desires in them after Christ and after more of Christ a little of Christ will not satisfie a soul that is interested in him but though he have a little of Christ he will still bepressing after more think all that he hath received is but little he must have more of him more communion with him and he must be brought into a higher conformity to him he cannot rest with a little of Christ his desires will be boundless that he will alwaies in his participation of Christ be still looking forward pressing after perfection and reaching and designing to apprehend as he is apprehended A Soul that is interested in Christ hath alwaies a rising reaching desire in him after Christ This you may see Phil. 3.12 13 14. Not as though says he I had already attained either were already perfect but I follow after c. I press towards the mark for the prize of the high Calling of God in Christ Jesus What an enlarged heart had this man Paul he was come to a very high pitch in Christ Jesus to make loss of all for him and to glory in him and in his righteousness and yet Brethren says he I I count not my self to have apprehended O! says he What have I yet of Christ What have I received yet of the Spirit of Christ O how unlike am I yet unto Christ how unsuitable is my heart yet unto Christ how little of Christ is yet in my heart Brethren I count not my self to have apprehended but this one thing I do I am reaching forward says he The Soul that is interested in Christ will have noble genuine workings of heart suitable to his inbeing in Christ he will alwaies be desirous of him and pressing after more of him never satisfied with any thing that he hath though he will bless God for the least he hath yet he will not be satisfied with any thing that he hath but will be pressing after more and his language is alwaies Give Give Now Christians do you examine your own hearts by this if you have really an interest in Christ it will have such an influence upon your Souls as alwaies to prompt you on to a pressing after more of Christ to get further into him and to know more of him and to be filled with the Spirit of Christ A little grace grace enough to carry you to Heaven will not satisfie you but your desire will be to be made to abound in all grace your desire will be to be holy as he is holy and to be pure as he is pure in all manner of conversation and you will never leave craving and desiring whilst there is a corner in your hearts to fill and whilst there is room for a hungring and thirsting desire to rise in your hearts after the Lord Jesus Now if that you can satisfie your selves with any thing of Christ and sit down with a bare profession of Christ without any thing of Christ in your hearts if you have not these holy hungrings and thirstings in your Souls after high measures and full enjoyments and manifestations of Christ it doth speak very sadly but if there be such boundless desires as we have told you after Christ it is some sign of Interest Twelfthly Again The Soul that is interested in Christ values himself persons and things as they are in or have of Christ in them He measures all persons and things by their reference to Christ and he judges that it is Christ Jesus only that makes them to differ and whatsoever is excellent in any person or in any thing it is from Christ Jesus and it hath no more excellency in it than what it hath in and from the Lord Jesus he doth not value himself by his outward enjoyments he doth not value himself by his gifts and by his natural accomplishments though they be very great and large he doth not value himself by his priviledges in his Gospel-state but he counts that he is what he is in Christ Jesus I am says he what I am by the grace of God and if he cannot espy the grace of Christ in him he yet counts that he hath nothing and if he cannot find some hopes of an Interest in Christ he counts that he is nothing he owns and makes reckoning of himself as he stands in and hath reference to Christ If Paul would have made a judgment of himself by his gifts who had greater If Paul would have judged himself by his priviledges who had higher but he judgeth these nothing By the grace of God says he I am what I am And so he reckons of all others he esteems of persons as they are in Christ and those that have most of Christ in them are most excellent he loves a poor mean Soul in Christ more than the greatest and richest man in the world out of Christ if any persons have more of his love more of his heart than others it is those that have most of Christ in them The most sincere Christians and the most growing Christians and the most upright Christians these are the persons that he most loves and values and
delights in and as to all Ordinances he values them not but as he meets with Jesus Christ in them if he finds not Christ in an Ordinance he counts the Ordinance as no Ordinance And if a Lord's Day doth pass without some communion with Christ he counts 't is no day to his Soul And the Gospel of Christ Jesus that he prizes so much it is because it is Christ's Gospel and the Truths of the Gospel that are so dear to to him that he can venture all for it is because they are Christ's Truths Now Christians examine your state and condition by this also what is it that you value your selves by Do you value your selves by your bare professions Do you value your selves by your enlargement Do you value your selves by your gifts Do you value your selves by the name that you have amongst men Those that are in Christ do not value themselves thus but by what they apprehend themselves to be in and to have received from Christ Jesus Thirteenthly Again The Soul that is interested in Christ rises and falls in its spirit according unto the sensible manifestations or withdrawings of Christ in his heart he rejoyces as Christ doth appear and he is saddened as Christ doth withdraw and his joy is coming and going as Christ is coming and going in his heart an appearance of Christ makes day in his heart and the withdrawings of Christ makes night in his Soul When there is a Curtain drawn between Christ and him then he is in the dark and then his Soul sits in sorrow then he is covered over with mourning but upon the return of Christ his Soul leaps within him and he is filled and satisfied as with marrow and fatness Isa 61.10 I will rejoyce in the Lord my Soul shall be joyful in my God Why so because Christ doth appear and puts on something of his own clothing and giveth out something of himself to me he comes as a Bridegroom decketh himself with Ornaments and makes me as his Bride and decks me with his Jewels Now this doth cause me to rejoyce in the Lord and makes me joyful in my God Days of communion and seasons of manifestation they are the festival days that his Soul enjoys and nothing causes so great a damp upon his heart as when Christ draws off This was seen in David he rises and falls in his spirit as were the manifestations or the withdrawings of Christ there Lord says he thy loving kindness is better than life Ay there was his joy and gladness And Lord says he at another time thou didst but hide thy face and I was troubled there was his sorrow for Christ's absence And says the Spouse Cant. 1.2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth By kiss here is meant some visible manifestation of Christ unto his Soul some discernable token of his love Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth for thy love saies he is better than Wine Wine you know was to be given to those that were of a heavy heart by Solomons direction Proverbs 31.6 and Psal 104.15 Wine that maketh glad the heart of man and Oil to make his face to shine So as Wine it is to be given to those that are of a heavy heart it is that which is to make joyful and to exhilarate the Spirits Now saies David Lord thy love is better then Wine there is more in a little communication of Christ Jesus then in the greatest refreshment and heart chearing in the world for this love that is better then Wine is not love simply considered but the effects of love in gracicious manifestations as John 14.21 22. He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest my self unto him and saies Judas not Iscariot Lord how is it that thou wilt manifest thy self unto us and not unto the world This love was a love of manifestation now saies he Let him kiss me mith the kisses of his mouth Let love be manifested and this manifesting love is better than Wine O it will make all other things dainties to him and sweets to be bitter in his Spirit this is sweet indeed and an abiding ground of joy and comfort to his Soul upon the evidence of his love and upon the sight of his face and communion with him Now Christians examine your hearts by this if that your joy be determined upon something else then upon Christ and if that the withdrawments of Christ don't cause the greatest sadness unto your Spirits it is a shround sign that you have no interest in Christ But now where Christ Jesus is lookt upon as the very joy of your Souls and you most of all joy in his presence and you are most of all troubled at his departure and at the hidings of his face it is a sign of interest O it is a sign that that Woman doth intirely love her Husband that cannot bear that he should be long absent from her and is most of all pleased in his company so it is a sign that that Soul is married unto Christ Jesus that cannot bear the withdrawments of Christ and that is never so much troubled and tossed and discomforted and afflicted in his Spirit as when Jesus Christ stands behind the Curtain and refuseth to make answer to his Soul when he is crying after him SERMON VIII Habakkuk 3.18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord I will Joy in the God of my Salvation VVE proposed to give you some notes of evidence whereby you may come to know that this Jesus is your Jesus and that you are interesced in him We have already gone through 13 particulars and shall now proceed Fourteenthly The Soul that is interested in Christ hath constraining abiding endearments in his heart unto Jesus Christ so as no discouragement shall turn him off from Christ but he will cut the way through all opposition to come to the enjoyment of him My Friends if you are really interested in Christ and have upon an interest tasted how gracious the Lord is difficulties in your way to Christ will be no difficulties so you may enjoy him the Soul in Christ will be contented to be reproached for Christ so he may enjoy him and the reproaches that he meets withal in the way of Christ will be no great matter to him so Christ and he may keep together You may see what was the Spirit of an old Testament Saint in Heb. 11.24 25. By Faith Moses when he was come to years refused to be called the Son of Pharaohs Daughter chusing rather to suffer affliction with the People of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season v. 26. Esteeming the reproaches of Christ greater riches then the Treasures of Egypt Persecutions won't part Christ and the real sincere Christian but though he shall be persecuted for Christ yet if Christ and he
can but keep close together he will think all is well Rom. 8.35 and so on Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall Tribulation or Distress or Persecution or Famine or Nakedness or Peril or Sword c. Why saies he we can bear all this for Christ we can bear tribulation we can bear distress we can bear persecution famine nakedness peril sword Lord any thing rather than to lose Christ saies the sincere interested Christian he Will suffer losses for Christ rather than to lose Christ Lord say the Disciples We have left all for thy sake and it is said of the primitive Christians that they took joyfully the spoyling of their goods let men frown and let Devils frown still the heart of the sincere interested Christian will be working Christ-ward he will have constraining abiding endearments in his heart that will cut through the difficulties of his way he will be willing to lose any thing rather than to lose Christ this is the frame of a Soul interested in Christ when he is under deliberate actings for Christ I am sensible that an honest heart by the strength of a temptation may be suddenly surprized as Peter was ay but it will be but for a moment and he will rise again he won't quit his interest in Christ he won't sell his part in Christ when he comes to reflect and consider Christ and he cannot live asunder and his interest in Christ will have such an influence upon his Soul as will cause him to abide in Christ that whatsoever he meets withal yet he desires above all to enjoy Christ and will go through fire and through water if that be the way and the only way that in the circumstances of providence in divine over-rules Christ is to be enjoyed Phil. 1.29 I pray mark the connexion there It is given to you to believe and also to suffer upon the Souls believing is his interest struck up with Christ and he is oned with Christ Now saies he those that believe that is those that are interested in Christ they will also suffer for the sake of Christ and the same power that helps them to believe doth also bear them up against the frowns and against the discouragements that they meet withal in the way of Christ Well Christians examine your own state by this particular how stand your hearts affected and endeared to Christ in a day of suffering when difficulties look you in the face reproaches they are like to befal you losses and breakings in your outward condition are like to come upon you Can your hearts say whatsoever comes O let us have Christ Christ is more than all and what we shall enjoy in Christ is more then we can lose for him there is a constraining abiding endearment in the heart that is really united to Christ that will cut the way through all opposition It is not thus with one that is not interested in Christ The young man in the Gospel made a very fair profession of Christ and comes and pretends to be his most forward Disciple but saies Christ to him can you live upon me alone and can you suffer any thing for the enjoyment of me And will you value and prefer a naked interest in me before all your possessions No Lord saies he I have great possessions What must I forgo all these in hand to live upon I know not what and I know not who and so he takes his leave of Christ And saies the Apostle Demas hath forsaken me having imbraced this present world Their comforts and their enjoyments and their outward possessions and their outward peace will be more to them then all that they ever thought of Christ that are not really interested in him but now that Soul that hath made its close with Christ his heart is so engaged and he hath tasted so much sweetness in Christ Jesus as whatever it cost him Christ and he shall never part though he be stript naked for Christ yet he will have Christ and though he die for Christ yet he won't give up his interest in him Now examine your Souls by the strong endearments of your hearts unto Christ when there is an oppressing interest that seems to come between you and Christ do your affections then divide and do you then deliver up Christ and quit your part in Christ By a close examination of your hearts under this head you may come to some knowledge of your present state as to your interest Fifteenthly Again in the last place The Soul that is interested in Christ prefers the glory of Christs interest before his own private advantage if you be indeed joyned unto the Lord then the interest of Christs glory is a swaying interest in your hearts it is a ruling captivating interest that doth bind and engage you to the glory of it that the Soul will prefer Christs glory before any thing of his own his life will be under a peculiar dedication to advance and promote the glory of Christ Jesus and he will be alwaies upon an advancing design to exalt Christ in his heart and to exalt Christ in his house and to exalt Christ where he hath to do and with whom he hath to do he will exalt Christ though it be upon his own name and upon his own interest he will deny his own name for Christ and will believe for the advancing of the glory of the interest of the Lord Jesus Phil. 1.20 21. To me to live is Christ and to die is gain The Apostle he sums up all in this Christ is my all if I live I desire not to live to my self but to Christ and if I die I desire to die to Christ that Christs interest and the glory of his interest may be exalted by me both while I live and when I die Now Christians examine your selves by this what sway doth the glory of Christ bear in your hearts If that you cannot deny your selves for Christ if that your own names be more to you then Christs name and if that your own honour be more to you then Christs honour and your own interest be more to you then Christs interest it is a very ill sign that things are not right in your hearts but if the interest of Christ be the ruling swaying interest that you are all upon the advance of the glory of Christ whatever become of your selves and whatever become of your interest and whatever you suffer in the way yet O that Christ might be magnified and O that Christ might be glorified Christs glory is uppermost in your hearts and is the only interest that you would prefer it is a sign that you are indeed interested in Christ otherwise your hearts would never be so much concerned about Christs interest and about the glory of his interest And a little further to help and direct you do but consider these few things First In searching your own hearts for an evidence of interest If you can find
discouraging providence and you will immediately see and find a strange alteration in your hearts you will find those graces that are weak begin to gather strength and you will find those graces to arise and appear and shine forth that you could scarce discern faith exercised upon the Lord Jesus Christ will have a mighty influence upon your love to raise that when the Soul is got into Christ and can improve his interest in Christ O how will his Soul be enlarged and his heart burn in love to him who is the Lord of his interest and of his comforts faith exercised upon the Lord Jesus will have a mighty influence upon your hopes that were even just giving up the Ghost to your apprehensions faith exercised upon the Lord Jesus will have a mighty influence upon your patience to strengthen and quicken that when a frowning providence comes that would royl your Spirits and put you besides your selves and drive you out of a Christian frame faith will raise up your patience and learn you to be quiet under the hand of the Lord faith exercised upon Christ will have an influence upon your joy it will cause a mighty and wonderful rejoycing in your Souls that you have such a full Jesus to live upon faith exercised upon the Lord Jesus will have an influence upon your zeal and will wonderfully excite you and stir you up unto all duties of serving and following the Lord so as Christians do but lay these considerations together and you will see what great encouragement you have to glory in the Lord Jesus Christ whatsoever your outward condition is and you will see the way of living by faith upon Christ to be clear and to be the only way that the Christian should walk in Well having premised these things we shall now come to give you some particular directions how you may get up your faith and your Spirits in the exercise of faith unto a glorying and rejoycing in the Lord Jesus Christ whatsoever your saddening outward providences are And here 1. If you would come to live upon Christ Jesus alone in the saddest providences of your state then entertain and keep up low thoughts of the great things of this world Truly Christians you may think of it what you will but while you have hearts that are magnifying and adoring of the things of the world and the enjoyments of the world and counting these great things you will never come gospelly to live upon the Lord Jesus your thoughts must be altered in and about the comforts of this life and you must possess your hearts with this that they are the smallest comforts of your state and the blessings of this life they are the least blessings that the Lord hath given you you must have very low thoughts of the world and of the comforts of it if you would come to live by faith upon Christ Jesus alone whilest you have vast thoughts oâ— your creature enjoyments and creature comforts and creature conditions and suppose your comforts to lye here and your comforts to lye there short of Christ alas you will be driven out of all the exercise of faith in an emptying providence I will give you two instances for this in the eleventh Chapter of the Hebrews the first is that of Father Abraham in the 8 and 9 verses By Faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance obeyed and went out not knowing whither he went by faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange Countrey dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaac c. Here Abraham was called to leave the possessions of his natural place the possession that he was born to and to follow Christ whither he would lead him and to accept of that condition that Christ would place him in and to stand to the allowance of God let it be more or less this Abraham was called to Now it is said Abraham by Faith did obey this command and call of God and went out why how did faith help him here doubtless by shewing of him Christ Jesus for faith in every exercise hath to do with Christ and therefore his faith carried him up to Christ and when he was once got up to Christ then behold how low were these things to him my Countrey Lord saies he what is my Country to thee I will leave my Countrey to follow thee and my Friends are nothing to me and my possessions are nothing to me I will leave all to follow thee what a low esteem had he of these things And the other instance is that of Moses in vers 24 25 26 27. By faith Moses when he was come to years refused to be called the Son of Pharaohs Daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season esteeming the reproaches of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt for he had respect to the recompence of reward Here are great things that Moses left for the sake of Christ he left the Court yea he probably left the Crown of Egypt and all the glories thereof now he did this by faith the Creature was of a low esteem with him O alass what is it to be called the Son of Pharaohs Daughter and what is it to be an heir of an earthly Crown and to be King of Egypt I had rather be afflicted and spoyled and destitute in my outward condition with Christ then to enjoy all these things without him Christians you must get mortified affections to all enjoyments on this side Christ if you would come to live upon and glory in Christ alone 2. Acquaint your selves more with the royalties of Christ and the greatness of his Gospel-glory as he is proposed the object of your saith if you would come to glory in him alone and live upon him in an empty condition One great reason why we can take no more comfort in Christ in an empty condition is because we are such strangers to the fulness of Christ Jesus we don't know what is in Christ we know not what Christ can do what is in his heart and hand to give forth to you Christians if you would live more by faith upon Christ then view Christ in his royalties of Grace Look into the length of Christ and into the breadth of Christ and see what he is the owner and possessour of what the Father hath betrusted him with view the extent of his Offices and consider the largeness of his power and what he is able to do for you study and acquaint your selves with the royalties of Christ as he is proposed an object for your faith to fix upon there is no condition but he can comfort you in it let the condition be never so comfortless in its self study the fulness of the Lord Jesus 3. Get by faith upon the all sufficiency of Christ and there take a prospect of your losses
Mat. 18.23 c. The Lord there gives us a Parable of a Servant The Lord had compassion on him and forgave him the debt and the same servant went out to his fellow-servant that owed him an hundred pence and he took him by the throat saying pay me that thou owest me c. Here is set forth the spirit of the children of men they would have forgiveness from others but they will not forgive themselves Well but when Peter came to Christ and said Lord how often shall my Brother sin against me and I forgive him till seven times Jesus saith unto him I say not unto thee until seven times but until 70 times 7. As often as he doth offend so often thou shalt forgive Use 6. Again This Doctrine calls for an abhorrence of all Papal Masses as propitiatory Sacrifices for sin You that have heard any thing of the grace of God in the forgiveness of the New Covenant do you detest and defie the Idolatry and the abominations of the Church of Rome who would pretend to forgive sins What is this but to wrong the grace of God What is this but to trample upon the blood of the Covenant as an insufficient thing No pardon of sin doth not come in at so cheap a rate as to be bought with money but it comes in at the door of free Grace through the blood of Jesus Thousands of Rams ten thousand of Rivers of Oil the first-born of the body for the sin of the Soul will not satisfie for they and their money will perish together that would buy pardon of sin with such a price Bless God that you know better and let it raise up in you an abhorrence of that Religion that would thus corrupt you Quest Ay But some poor Soul will be saying Ah! But how shall I come to get God's discharge sealed upon my Soul O! had I but the evidence and witness of this all would be well Ans 1. In the first place Come before God with confessions in thy mouth Bewail and spread thy transgressions before him Psal 32.5 Says David I acknowledged my sin unto thee and my iniquity have I not hid I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin I confest says he and I said I would confess He came and judged himself before God he came and lamented his sinful condition and his sin-guiltiness before God he lamented and bewailed he poured out his confessions before God and the Lord he came and visited his Soul with pardon with the sense of forgiveness 2. Plead with God for his pardon and urge his promise for forgiveness This is that which the servants of the Lord have done when they have wanted the sense of pardon Psal 51.1 Have mercy upon me O God! according to thy loving-kindness according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions When sin lay against Israel God began to threaten Moses steps up and pleads with God for pardon that God would pardon their sin So the Servants of the Lord have all along pleaded with God for pardon in the want of it Do you do thus and urge God with his promise of forgiveness 3. Have your Eye upon Jesus Christ Pardon comes through his blood it is merited it is purchased by Jesus Christ look unto him and put forth renewed acts of faith upon him and in the renewing of thy close with him and in the resignation of thy self by faith to him thou mayest come to have thy pardon sealed 4. Wait upon God in sealing Ordinances It may be thou hast wronged thy Soul to this day that thou hast walked at so great a distance from God in his sealing Ordinances if thou hadst gone thither and attended upon God it may be thou hadst had some hint of his pardoning love to thee that would have more satisfied thy Soul I remember what God said to Gideon I only allude to it Judg. 7.10 11. Go and listen says he and thou shalt hear something that will strengthen thee So I say wait upon God in those Ordinances where God gives out strengthening grace and where God seals up his love to his People and there thou mayest have something that may be a feast to thy Soul there mayest thou meet with something that may confirm this love of God to thy Soul and put all out of doubt more to thee than ever And you that have the sense of God's discharging love in your hearts I have two or three words to leave with you 1. Improve it improve the sense of it unto an influence to all duties and to all obedience to God Let the sense of his kindness to you be so improved and wrought upon your hearts as it may constrain you to devote and dedicate your selves to God in your whole course to lay out your selves in all duties of obedience to God more than ever And know that you can never serve this God enough you can never do for this God enough that hath done so much for you labour to do more for him than ever and to serve him with a better heart and with a better spirit to pray more in your prayers to pray with more fervency and to confess with more sincerity and to walk with God in more exactness lay out your selves to the utmost in this work 2. Extend your pity and compassion unto those that are yet in a condemned state Your Souls should mourn over those that are yet in their sins You know what it is to be under sin and you know what it is to be under grace and therefore your hearts should be full of compassion to those that are yet in that state that by grace you are delivered from Ebedmelech's compassion and tenderness to the Prophet is recorded Jer. 38.11 That he took men with him and went into the house of the King under the Treasury and took with him old cast clouts and old rotten raggs and let them down with Cords into the Dungeon to Jeremiah O Sirs your bowels should work towards those that are yet in their sins I remember what David promiseth to God Psal 51.12 13. Restore to me the Joy of thy Salvateon and uphold me with thy free Spirit then shall I teach transgressors thy waies and sinners shall be converted unto thee He would then make it his business to turn sinners to God he would make it his business to convince and awaken and draw others out of their sinful state that is to labour with them if by any means the Spirit of God may work upon them be you full of compassion to others in a state of condemnation And 3. And lastly Keep up a humble sense of your great transgressions that God hath forgiven you I say keep up and walk under a humble sense of those transgressions that God hath forgiven you Sirs though God hath forgiven your sins yet you should remember them you should remember them so as to walk humbly and softly before God all your daies that you did ever provoke so gracious a God by such heinous provocations and inormities FINIS A Catalogue of Books Printed for and are to be sold by Edward Giles Bookseller in Norwich near the Market place A Discourse of Divine Providence A Word in Season Defensive Armour A Discourse of the Ordinary Matter of Prayer Sermons upon the whole first and second Chapters of the Canticles Allen's Way of the Spirit in bringing Souls to Christ The Glories of Christ set forth with the Necessity of Faith in several Sermons By Thomas Allen late of Norwich Several Sermons of Timothy Armitage late of Norwich Lougher's Precious Promises the Portion of Overcommers The Saint's Ebenezer By Francis English late of Norwich Directions for the Learned to Spell English right The History of the Protestant Reformation as it was begun by Luther The Dead Saints Speaking A Sermon Preached upon the Death of Mr. Newcomb The English Presbyterian
A TREATISE OF Rejoycing in the Lord Jesus in all Cases and Conditions Wherein is manifested 1. What the Lord Jesus Christ is to and doth for Believing Souls which may be a constant ground of their Joy and Rejoycing 2. What are the grounds of that Darkness which is upon Believers about their Interest in Christ hindering this Rejoycing 3. What Believers should do in the interim until they can have the evidence of their Interest clear 4. How Souls may know their Interest in Jesus Christ Together with A Christians Hope in Heaven in one Sermon and Freedom from Condemnation in Christ in two Sermons being the last Preached By Robert Asty late Minister of Jesus Christ in Norwich Phil. 4.4 Rejoyce in the Lord always and again I say rejoyce LONDON Printed by Tho. Snowden for Edward Giles Bookseller in Norwich near the Market-place 1683. TO THE Congregational Church of Christ In the City of Norwich Dearly Beloved IT is much to be lamented in any day if many of the righteous are taken away by death Isa 57.1 as being signal of evil to come more when many Eminent Ministers of the Gospel are so removed whereby Vision faileth and most of all when the Sin of a People and impending Judgment threaten their being benighted and no prospect is given of others to fill up the places of those who are transplanted to Eternity I know you cannot but have many searchings of heart for your deep share in this matter of Lamentation the Lord having in so short a measure of time called home to himself from among you so many faithful Teachers as that Spiritual man Mr. Armitage Judicious Mr. Allen and now this Laborious Mr. Asty who served you in the Gospel But it is some matter of refreshment that they being dead yet by their Printed Labours they still speak to you It was the earnest desire of some amongst you that the ensuing Sermons of Mr. Robert Asty might be Published they were taken from his mouth by the Pen of a Ready Writer and not polished by his own hand yet may be exceedingly useful to all for the promoting of Faith Obedience and Comfort Indeed the chief purport of this Treatise is to raise the Joy of those who are interested in Christ and that in every state and condition It directeth unto the right Object of Joy the Lord and so to an everlasting ground of Rejoycing I shall add a few words of Counsel to you for whom I have a great respect 1. Improve the remembrance of those Gospel Truths which you heard from the mouths of your Ministers now at rest Their Labours were not intended by the Lord only for a present relief to your Souls during their speaking but for afterward Rev. 3.3 Remember how thou hast Received and Heard and hold fast Beware of losing or growing indifferent as to the practical owning those Gospel Principles which you have been grounded in be tenacious there hold them fast for Christ addeth If thou shalt not watch I will come on thee as a Thief and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee 2. Keep up lively Affections towards God when your Gospel-Ministers are withdrawn from you When David was exiled from the Ordinances of God yet then had he the most earnest pantings of Soul after Enjoyments of God Psal 42.1 2. 63.1 2. O God thou art my God early will I seek thee Beware of coolings in Affection to the Institutions of Jesus Christ when you want them and let nothing short of God satisfie when you enjoy them Beware of leaving your first love Rev. 2.4 5. 3. Maintain frequent Spiritual Communion each with other when some Gospel Administrations are wanted This is prescribed as a means for the prevention of Declinings or Departures from God Heb. 3.13 Exhort one another daily while it is called to day Daily Converses each with other duly managed may not only preserve from Spiritual Decaies but quicken Affections and blow up the spark of your graces into a mighty flame 4. Wait uncessantly in Prayer for the Return of God's Ark to you The less you have of Preaching the more should you be in Praying and others for you that Gospel-Light may shine among you as in former daies and the Answer will rejoyce many and should grieve none for what hurt can it be to any real Christian that Christ is Preached to others I shall only add 2 Cor. 13.11 Finally Brethren farewel be perfect be of good comfort be of one mind live in Peace and the God of Love and Peace shall be with you So prayeth he who is Yours in the Lord Jesus Sam. Petto Octob. 23. 1681. SERMON I. Habakkuk 3.18 Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation OF the Stock and Parentage of this Prophet we have no clear account in Scripture It may be implicitly to hint unto us that we should alwaies look more to the Message than to the Messenger and that nobleness of birth and greatness among men do not greaten the Word of God Indeed Epiphanius tells us with some confidence that this Prophet was of the Tribe of Simeon and that he lived in the time of the Babylonish Captivity but there is but little grounds for this conjecture The time also of this Prophet's Prophesying is very uncertain Some Hebrew Writers do expresly tell us that he lived in the time of the Reign of King Manasseh and there is some probability for this assertion but however this is clear that he comes from the Lord of Hosts he was his Prophet and he speaks in his name in much power and plainness to this people not fearing the face of man and spares not to deal closely with that incorrigible Spirit that was among them who had slighted the Lord's Message that was delivered by his Predecessors before him and was now near unto destruction Whether it was in the time of the Reign of Manasseh or any other King modern Expositors are very modest in their conjectures and apprehensions not seeing the thing clearly and absolutely determined in Scripture but this is certain it was at that time when God was about to raise up that bitter sharp cruel fiery fierce enemy the Chaldeans to come out against this people as you may see chap. 1. v. 6. It was at that time when God had born so long with their provocations that the time of his patience was even almost expired It was at that time when their sins were so multiplied and encreased as that they were near unto ruin destruction and desolation was at the door Now this Prophet understanding the mind of God and seeing upon good grounds that the Decree was past against this people as one who was faithful unto their interest among whom and unto whom he was the Lords Prophet as one that would approve himself faithful unto the Lord he takes upon him the boldness to expostulate the case with God why he should suffer such a
For the Lord is not slack concerning his Promises as some men count slackness but is long-suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance Why in Christ Jesus God he is patient and God he glorifies his Patience that he might be known to be gracious Fifthly The Love and Goodness of God out of Christ is not relieving for 't is at an end The Soul may think well his love is at an end he hath no more love for me I am his enemy Man when he had sinned must turn out of Paradise he must pack away and be gone See my face no more says God But now in Christ Jesus is the Love of God revealed and the Goodness and Mercy of God revealed Sixthly The Immensity and Benignity of God out of Christ is not relieving What though God may give thee a considerable portion in the world he may fill thine hands with wealth and thy house with treasure and fill thy chest with store But all this is given in anger and displeasure there is nothing of love in it and thy fulness is but fitting thee for the slaughter There is the Curse of God upon all thy store and plenty this will not at all avail thee But now in Christ Jesus the Immensity and Benignity of God is reconciled and how doth it speak out love and grace God is an Immense God and he gives out according to his own Immensity And what then are the gifts of his Love and Grace they are such as cannot be weighed they are such as cannot be measured there is a height and depth and length and breadth in all his goodness that cannot be fathomed And all this he is to the Soul through Christ And Seventhly If you consider his Eternity out of Christ it is no way relieving That God is my enemy says the Soul and is an everlasting God he will be my enemy for ever and all that is in God will be engaged against me for ever his Justice his Wisdom and his Power and all his Attributes will be engaged against me for ever But now in Christ Jesus the Eternity of God is matter of great comfort to thee because he is an Eternal God being thy God he will be thy God for ever thy dwelling place for ever and thy portion for ever he will never depart from thee he will never leave thee he will never cease to be what he hath promised to be because he is an everlasting God and thus you may run over all the Attributes of God the glory and the fulness of them is exhibited and unfolded published and revealed by Christ Jesus unto us and hence it is that in Scripture ordinarily there is no great mention made of the mercy and kindness of God to sinners but through and with respect to Christ Jesus Eph. 1.3 Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus And hence is it said that we with open face behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ 2. Cor. 3.8 and 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 knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and hence is it that Jesus Christ is said to be the brightness of the Fathers glory and the express image of his Person Heb. 1.3 So as here is another thing that is an abiding ground of joy and rejoycing for us in Christ Jesus he is the exhibiter revealer and unfolder of the fulness of all the blessed and glorious properties of Gods nature in a salvation way hence when God comes to enter into Covenant with a believer he doth not enter into Covenant with him absolutely but in and through Christ Jesus and hence is it that all the promises of the Covenant that are Gods gifts of grace to us they are yea and Amen in Christ Jesus now do but consider this you may see that Christ is one your Souls may take comfort in consider the glory of his Person as he is Mediator and consider the graciousness of his nature as he is full of love and consider how he is the exhibiter and unfolder of the fulness of all the blessed and glorious Attributes of God in a saving way And whatsoever discouragement Christian thou hast here below look up to Jesus and thou mayest see encouragement have you men that are engaged against you look up to Jesus and you may see God in him engaged to be your God Gods power engaged for you Gods mercy Gods name and Gods glory all engaged for you Thus as to the first particular what Jesus Christ is 2. We shall now proceed to speak something to the second and that is what this Jesus hath you have seen what he is we will now consider what he hath and there are but two things that I shall glance upon under this head that may be relieving to us in our looking up to Jesus 1. He hath an irresistible power 2. He hath an unexhaustible treasure 1. Jesus in whom we should rejoyce at all times hath an irresistible power A power over all flesh over all Creatures over good Angels and over bad Angels a power over men a power over every creature in the whole Creation of God Col. 2.1 Ye are compleat in him which is the head of all principalities and powers and Mat. 28.18 All power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth Jesus Christ hath an absolute dominion over all Creatures as he is God and this is a dominion that he received not by gift from the Father but he hath it from the right of Creation as he is with the Father God over all blessed for evermore But there is a delegated power as I may so say a power that is committed to Christ Jesus by special grant from the Father as he is Mediator over the whole Creation of God Eph. 1.21 22. Far above all principalities and powers and might and dominions and every name that is named not only in this world but in that which is to come and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church Now Phil. 2.9 10 11. there you may see that he received this power from God Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name c. and 1 Cor. 15.27 For he hath put all things under his feet and Psal 8.6 Thou hast made him to have dominion over the works of thine bands Christ hath an universal power as Mediator over the whole Creation of God Now that which is for thy comfort in it is in that this power is imployed and improved 1. For the overcoming of all thine enemies And 2. For the over-ruling and filling up of all thy wants 1. This great and universal power that Christ hath received over all creatures is improved and imployed
Ans In speaking unto this inquiry we shall observe this method 1. To premise several particulars to you by way of introduction unto the resolving of the inquiry 2. We shall shew you the grounds and the occasion of the darkness that is upon the Spirits of believers generally in and about their interest in Christ 3. We shall shew you what the believer should do in the interim until he can have the evidence of his interest clear And then 4. Give you some discoveries how you may come to know whether you be indeed and in truth interested and stated in Christ Jesus 1. As to the premises 1. In the first place you may consider that Christ is enjoyable and only enjoyable upon an interest in and Gospel relation unto him There are many that comfort themselves in a general notion of Christ that he is a Saviour and please themselves well with the thoughts of it but they will not find this relieving another day It is only upon interest and relation that Christ is savingly enjoyed It is propriety and interest that gives the Soul real ground of glory and rejoycing in Christ in the worst of conditions And all the saving benefits of Christ they are dispensable and only dispensable upon a Gospel interest A Soul can lay no claim to any thing that Christ hath I say he can lay no saving claim unto any of the sacred blessings that Christ hath to dispense out but upon a Gospel interest in him neither can the thoughts of Christ be really comforting unto the Soul without respect unto this relation that we are speaking of Jer. 31.33 But this shall be the Covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those daies saith the Lord I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people and so Zach 13.9 I will say it is my People and they shall say the Lord is my God here you see is a mutual interest and relation the Lord doth make over himself unto his people And the Lords people they are owned in a near and intimate relation with and unto the Lord now this becomes the ground of the dispensing of all the saving benefits of Christ and this becomes the solid and the foundational ground of all the believers hopes and expectations from Christ I say this interest and relation it is the ground and visible foundation upon which the Grace of Christ is dispensed and the saving blessings of Christ are communicated Do but see what interest and relation carries with it Ezek. 16.8 And I entered into a Covenant with thee saith the Lord and thou becamest mine and then saies he washed I thee with water yea I thorowly washed away thy blood from thee and anointed thee with Oil c. And in Ezek. 34.11 12.13 14 15. For thus saith the Lord God behold I even I will both search my Sheep and seek them out as a Shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is amongst the Sheep that are scattered so will I seek out my Sheep c. You see here the Lord does manifest a signal care and it is grounded upon interest upon relation They are my Sheep saith the Lord and therefore I will seek them up therefore will I gather them They are my Sheep therfore will I preserve them from Wolves They are my Sheep therefore I will feed them and lead them into green pastures by the still waters and John 17.9 10. I pray for them I pray not for the world but for them which thou hast given me for they are thine and all mine are thine and thine are mine c. I pray for them saies Christ and I will see after them whilest they are in the world that they shall not be devoured and destroyed there and what is the ground of the prayer of Christ and of the care of Christ Why they are mine saies he they were thine Father saies he and thou hast given them me and now they are mine and they are thine still saies he and therefore Father look after them also and then interest and relation it is the solid ground of our great expectations from the Lord in all our goings to him and dealings with him I am thine saies the Psalmist O save me and Isa 63.8 9. For he said surely they are my people Children that will not lie so he became their Saviour in all their afflictions he was afflicted and the Angel of his presence saved them in his love in his pity he redeemed them c. And v. 18. We are thine thou never bearest rule over them they were not called by thy name And Joel 2.17 18. Let the Priests say spare thy people O Lord and give not thy heritage to reproach that the Heathen should rule over them wherefore should they say to the People where is their God It is interest you see that they ground their expectations from God upon it is upon a Gospel interest and relation that the Grace of Christs fulness and the sacred blessings and priviledges of all his offices are given out and dispensed unto Souls and without this interest and relation the thoughts of Christ would not at all be comforting nor relieving but the Soul might think on Christ Jesus and be troubled as you have it Psal 77.3 I remembred God and was troubled I complained and my Spirit was overwhelmed And so a person remembring Christ Jesus and knowing no interest in him must needs be troubled to think that there is such a Saviour and he hath no interest in him to think that there is such a glorious fulness in him and he hath no right to approach to that fulness and to expect from the all-sufficiency of Christ Jesus the thoughts of this must needs trouble a poor Creature Thus all the blessings of Christ Jesus and all communicable grace is dispensed upon an interest and relation so as it is of great weight and importance for every one of you to consider whether you have an interest in Christ or no for if you have no interest in him you can have no solid ground of expectation from him 2. A believer that hath an interest in Christ may yet be without the sense of that Interest Interest and evidence of Interest do not alwaies go together but a Soul that is in Christ may be full of fears and doubts and questionings of spirit in and about its Interest Interest is absolutely necessary to Salvation but the sense of Interest is not so Sense of Interest is indeed necessary to our consolation in Christ Jesus but sense of Interest is not absolutely necessary to our safe state in Christ Jesus but a Soul that stands sure in Christ may be in the dark in and about his standing A Soul that is under the everlasting and unchangeable Love of Christ may yet be in the dark in and about that Love that is glorified
full my Jesus is full though I am robbed he is not robbed though I have little or nothing Jesus Christ he hath all and Christ is all and all his fulness is mine Sense of Interest will raise your hopes and expectations upon Christ Jesus My friends now we look upon Christ and have low thoughts of him we look upon Christ and our expectations are not raised upon Christ We come to an Ordinance where Christ is discovered and displayed in the riches of his Death and in the glories of his Life and our hearts are not raised upon this why but because we have not the sense of our Interest The sense of Interest will raise your expectations and will comfort you against the thoughts of death Now Lord says good old Simeon lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy Salvation Luk. 2.29.30 And says the Apostle I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is best of all The sense of Interest will lay you in against all fears of the approaching Judgment instead of being afraid of it it will make you long for it when the Soul comes to see and know and be ascertained that the judge of the Court is his friend and is in relation to him and hath loved him so as to lay down his life for him and hath ever been designing upon him in a way of love and grace this Soul will not be afraid to appear before him but will long for the day when he shall come to see his Jesus clothed with glory So as a clear evidence of interest in Christ obtained maintained and gospelly managed will be of singular advantage unto a Christian in his whole Christian course SERMON V. Habakkuk 3.18 Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation THe Proposition was this Doct. That there is enough in Jesus Christ alone for the Souls full rejoycing and triumph whatsoever his state and condition is in this world Now we proposed First To give you several introductory particulars by way of premise These we have dispatched And shall now proceed to consider what are the grounds of a believers darkness about his interest 2. It may be said in the second place if there be such solid and substantial grounds of joy in Christ Jesus for the believing Soul at all times and in all conditions what is the reason then that believers are so often in a dark dubious uncomfortable shattered state that they are seldom able in any stedfastness of spirit to look up unto Christ Jesus and glory in him Ans 1. I answer The darkness of the believers interest doth oft-times arise from a looking more unto such things in the examination of himself as argue the height of an interest then to such things as do discover the truth of an interest They do fix upon such things as are discoveries of a grown state in Christ when as they should fix upon such things as do discover an in-being in Christ they propose to themselves that corruption must be so and so brought under and mortifying work must be carried on to such a height or else they can have no grounds of their interest in Christ they propose to themselves such a measure of love as must be flaming to Christ at all times or else they think they have no love at all they think they must have such a measure of faith as to believe without staggering or else they have no part in Christ Now hereby they â—o ensnare their own Spirits and encrease their darkness But you should look more at such things as argue the truth of an interest then at those things that do argue the growth and improvement of that interest Secondly Darkness of evidence doth oft-times arise from the believers viewing his wants and overlooking his present receits Jesus Christ hath done a great deal for him and hath given out a great deal to him and hath made a wonderful change in him he cannot deny it if he be put to it but he overlooks all this and considers his present wants his weaknesses his short comings his failings his smallness of strength his staggering before a temptation the uncertainty of his Spirit in his walking with God and he bears the stress of his condition upon his present wants not considering what Jesus Christ hath already done nor considering that the work is gradually carried on Now Christians if you would lay your selves fair for the Spirits Gospel evidence in your souls then you must take in the encouragements of your condition as well as your discouragements you must not only insist upon your discouragements but consider also what Jesus Christ hath done and what a change he hath begun to work and what have been the movings of your souls towards him from divine influences upon your Spirits Thirdly The darkness of evidence or obscurity of interest do oft-times arise from the prevailings of sin in the heart upon which Christ suspends Sin that rallies that gathers head in the Soul that presses forward and the Soul gives way to the temptation and is overcome and upon it darkness does arise this was Davids case David was assured ay but sin prevailing in his heart drove him into the dark that all the joys of the holy Spirit were for a time taken from him 2 Sam. 12.7 8 9. And Nathan said unto David thou art the man thus saith the Lord God of Israel I anointed thee King over Israel and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul c. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight I have done all this for thee saith the Lord thou hast despised my commandment and done evil in my sight So the Lord Jesus speaks unto the Soul I have thus and thus manifested my self to thee I thought it not too much to take thee into communion with my self I thought it not too much to dandle thee upon my knee and to give thee the assurance of all that I have done for thee But thou hast wickedly departed from me and broken my Commandments and it is just with the Lord now to suspend prevailings of sin will cause a suspense You know that Absolom upon his rebellion was excluded for a while from his Fathers House he must not see his Fathers face just thus it is with a Soul when it hath turned aside into some way of folly after it hath provoked the Lord the Lord he hides himself from him he won't let him see his face he must not come into his presence to see him and to rejoyce in the light of his countenance as formerly he had done The prevailings of sin after Grace do many times cause a suspense Fourthly Darkness of evidence is occasioned from the Souls crediting the reports of Satan that lead him to deny what Jesus Christ hath done for him and in him upon undenyable demonstrations of the power of his Grace in his
unto those that are companions with you in darkness and pray with them and pray over them and express the affections of your Souls to them in all your remembrance of them and in a little while the Lord may come in for to lead you forth into the company of those whose hearts are made to rejoice and be glad in the light of his countenance and in the evidence of their own interest in Christ SERMON VI. Habakkuk 3.18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord I will Joy in the God of my Salvation FRom hence we have observed Doct. That there is enough in Christ Jesus alone for the Soul 's full rejoycing and triumph whatsoever his state and condition is in this world We told you in nine particulars what the doubtful Soul should do in the interim until he can clear up his own interest and standing in Christ Jesus We shall only superadd one particular more Tenthly If thou beest Soul stil in the dark in and about thy Interest after narrow and deep searches and enquiries resign up thy self unto the Lord Jesus and stand to his allowance and be willing to work in the dark whilst the Lord shall keep you in the dark Be not your own chusers and carvers in this thing but leave the Lord to chuse for you Indeed we are not to rest satisfied in our spirits without an evidence of our Interest because it is attainable but as to the comfort of our Interest and the Joy and Peace of our Souls upon the Interest we should resign up our selves unto the Lord Jesus and leave him to make the dispose of our state and this is the way to come unto a speedy settlement and assurance But I shall not enlarge here but proceed unto the fourth thing proposed Fourthly And that is to give you some Signs and Evidences of your Interest and standing in blessed Jesus And as we say generally Causes are best known by their Effects Trees are best known by their fruit Life is best known by motion so interest in Christ is best known by the effects of Interest And that you might know what Jesus Christ hath done in you and is doing for you do but consider First In the first place That there is upon the Soul's Interest in Christ a Divine Principle of Life infused into the heart by the Lord Jesus unto whom he is united which becomes the spring of his spiritual motions towards Christ and of his profession of Christ Interest in Christ is a Life-Interest and there is a Divine Principle of Life that upon it is infused into the Soul that becomes the spring of his spiritual motions This Principle of life is variously set out in Scripture sometimes it is called the New Creature If any man be in Christ he is a new creature 2 Cor. 5.17 A New Creature denoteth life sometimes it is set out by the word life He that hath the Son hath life 1 John 5.12 Sometimes it is called the Divine Nature Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 Now there is life in the Divine Nature the Divine Nature infused becomes a Life-Principle in the heart where it is infused and is the spring of its spiritual motions This is set out sometimes by ingraftment as the Syence is ingrafted into the Stock there is a conveyance of life upon the ingraftment and upon the union Thus the Graft or the Syence doth receive sap nourishment from the Root whereby it comes to live Now says Jesus Christ in your spiritual union with him I am the Vine says he ye are the branches John 15.5 He that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit And Rom. 11.17 And if some of the branches be broken off and thou being a wild Olive Tree be grafted in amongst them and with them partakest of the Root and fatness of the Olive Tree Abraham is only instrumentally here spoken of as God was pleased to own him and honour him to be the Father of all Believers but Christ Jesus is principally and effectually the Root the Stock that Believers are ingrafted into he is the Root that both Abraham and all Believers stand in and grow upon and they partake of the sweetness and fatness of that good Olive Tree Sometimes it is expressed by an incorporation as the Head and the Members do make up but one Body and every Member united unto the Body it doth receive life spirit sense motion and strength from the Head Now says the Lord Jesus Ye are all Members of my Body 1 Cor. 12.12 13. We are all Members of the same Body and so have the same Head from thence is life spirit and grace and nourishment conveyed into every part Now from hence it is that Jesus Christ is called the Life of Believers Gal. 2.20 I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me And Col. 3.4 When Christ who is our Life shall appear c. So as Christ he doth convey and infuse a Principle of Life into the Soul that is interested in himself and upon that account he is called a quickening spirit 1 Cor. 15.45 The second Adam was made a quickening spirit that he might give Life to all those that are united to him and interested in him And this spiritual Life that we receive from Jesus Christ is the Life of our Life and the very Soul of our Soul in all our motions God-ward and it becomes the spring of our spiritual profession and of all our movings towards God The Soul that is interested in Christ is not moved by an artificial spring but he doth act and move from a life spring from a living spring which is the Principle of Divine Life that in his Interest in Christ he receiveth and this it is that puts him on this it is that constrains him this it is that moves and acts him in all his bendings and inclinings God-ward They that are interested in Christ they do desire Christ and move towards Christ upon a Principle of Life so as they cannot be satisfied without Christ 1 Pet. 2.2 As new born Babes desire the sincere Milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby The Babe or Infant does cry after the Breast upon a natural Principle of Life natural Life is the Principle of its crying So doth the Believer move towards and make after Christ from a spiritual Principle of Life and that Principle of Life that he hath received from Christ is the Divine Spring of all his Divine Actions or of his Religious Actings The Soul is not moved only upon a Principle to satisfie and silence his Conscience nor yet to get himself a name to live to make himself honourable among the people that make a profession of Christ nor yet upon the account of any secular advantage but there is a Divine Spring in his Soul of spiritual Life that he hath received from the
and when he is at any time taken a prisoner Thus it was with Paul Paul had an honest heart he did labour against sin what he could and yet says he I find that when I would do good evil is present with me and there is a cursed Law in my members that leads me captive to the Law of sin whether I will or no he strove and conflicted and watcht and did his utmost yet says he I find a Law that when I would do good evil is present and I am taken captive but he groans under it O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Rom. 7.24 It was one of the deepest and most sorrowful complaints that ever the Apostle Paul made and thus we find Scripture Saints upon Record when at any time they have been overcome and led captive it hath been a time of great sorrow darkness mourning and bitter complaint to them Now this is another part of the distance that the Soul stands in from sin Ninthly The heart stands upon his Interest in Christ at such a distance from sin that nothing will satisfie the Soul but the returns of death upon it Sin that seeks the ruine of grace and the destruction of the Soul and the Soul that is interested in Christ stands at such a distance from sin that he seeks and designs and labours to the utmost to hate sin and to pursue it unto death It is not the pardon of sin that will satisfie a true Believer Let me say thus much that if you be at no greater distance from sin than this that if the Lord will pardon you all is well and you will lay down the Cudgels it is a sign your heart is not right with Christ If you have an Interest in Christ you will be at a greater distance from sin than so the pardon of sin will not satisfie you if sin should be driven into the secret retirement of your Soul and should there remain among the stuff yet this will not satisfie you The Soul that is interested in Christ is set upon the death of sin as its enemy and that is the meaning of those Scriptures wherein we are called upon to mortifie sin and to crucifie sin that is to destroy sin to be the death of it Ephes 5.14 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts They are doing of it sin is dying and mortifying and crucifying and it shall be crucified and mortified and slain and appear to be wholly dead ere long This is that that the Soul is set upon the death of this body of death the utter ruine and destruction of it it will not be satisfied that sin is a mortifying and dying in it but the distance of the heart from it is such that it will not bear the being of it Though it cannot drive out all these cursed Canaanites to have the Land at rest and peace when it will yet it will maintain the war and abide the field and never give over till sin be wholly dead Now I beseech you Christians you who are desirous to clear your own state bring your condition to a tryal upon this head and examine what that distance is that your heart stands in unto the Interest and Power of your former state which Jesus Christ hath overthrown examine the distance that your hearts stand in unto sin in these nine particulars Is the distance such as that you have proclaimed engaged in an holy war against it Or do you only speak slightly of sin before men and hide it in your hearts Again consider Is the Conflict that you profest to be engaged in against sin general Or is your opposition against sin only in your Conscience Verily a natural man will oppose sin thus A Hypocrite's Conscience may check him for sin a carnal man's Conscience may sometimes wound him for sin and speak high against it but is the opposition from the Affections from the Will and from the Judgment as well as the Conscience Do all the powers of the Soul engage against it And do they all combine against sin to bring it under If so Christians though sin yet live in you and sometimes prevail over you to your grief and disadvantage yet you are of the better side and have a promising evidence of your Interest in Christ And again doth your heart in its most deliberate actings stand in an irreconcileableness unto sin It may be the opposition thou makest against sin is only in a passion or only some sudden motion upon a disadvantage that thou meetest with in thy sinful waies but consider whether your Souls do deliberately stand in an irreconcileableness unto sin and whether your Affections be so engaged that they refuse to receive this object because your Souls loath it Again Is this distance universal to all fin It may be Soul there are some sins that thou wouldest pick at and be willing to part with them but there are some others that you are ready to say of them O! they are but little ones Good Lord spare them Is the distance thy heart stands in to sin to all sin to heart-sins as well as to life-sins to little sins as well as to great sins to those sins that are most connatural and that thy heart and thy disposition doth most close with And then again Is thy distance to sin as sin as it hath a contrary nature in it to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his blessed Interest in thy heart then the Conflict will be abiding as long as there is sin remaining in thy Soul Again How stands thy heart unto sin in the temptation This verily is a discriminating Character of a Saint Those whose hearts are not rightly engaged they may oppose sin and speak highly against it when it is committed and when they have seen the ill consequents and effects of it but do you oppose sin in the temptation when it is a great way off And do you shun and avoid and flee from the occasions of sin that which may probably be an introducement unto sin do you avoid that and arm your selves against that This will be an evidence to you that you are interested in Christ And again Do you chuse rather to suffer than to sin Verily this is also a discriminating Character of the reality of your Interest in Christ Another man may chuse to avoid sin when he receives a prejudice by it or when he cannot apprehend an advantage to the lusts and desires of his own heart Ay but the gracious Soul that is interested in Christ it stands afar off from sin so as it says Lord any condition rather than sin any burthen rather than the burthen of sin any affliction any grief rather than sin And then Do you consider what reluctancies are in your spirits against the irruptions of sin and the passive captivities of the Soul by it Where the heart is not right it will have no
assurance Jesus Christ doth not take the less care of you because your interest is very dark and cloudy for the present but his care over you is the same he is alwaies opening his watchful eye upon you and he is alwaies doing for you alwaies defending of you see what he saies Isaiah 40.11 He shall feed his flock like a Shepherd he shall gather the Lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with young O alass they are scarceble to believe that they are Lambs in the flock of Christ they would hope so and they dare not wholly deny it but that Christ hath a part in them and hold of them but it is all they can do to say so but be it so they are under as much care as any He will carry them in his arms he will gently lead those that are with young Christ Jesus in one single act doth equally respect all those that are interested in him be their evidence of interest more or less clearer or more clouded Thirdly Again The comprehensions of Christ upon the union are not proportioned unto but do far exceed our apprehensions of him in the union Christ doth not say I will be unto you as you are unto me and as you do so will I do and as you be so will I be and according to your apprehensions so will I be unto you but he does exceeding abundantly for us above our faith and above our hope it may be we can but say unto him Lord help and though we are so weak he will not do the less but he will prosecute and manage the interest on his part upon your Souls though your apprehensions may be very small of him you have a very full satisfying Scripture for this Eph. 3.20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above what we are able to ask or think according to the power that worketh in him So that Jesus Christs actings towards us and dealings with us and comprehendings of us are not proportioned to our apprehensions of him not according to our faith and hope and not according to our prayer but saies he he is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we are able to ask or think and that according to the power that worketh in him So that though you cannot at all times make faith of that power yet that power is working and though your apprehensions be very small yet the comprehensions of Christ are very great it is in Heaven that we shall know as we are known we are fully known here but our selves know but in part Fourthly The weaknesses discovered upon your interest and the provocations given will be covered and forgiven by the Lord Jesus in the strength of the love of his relation to you or interest in you The Soul that is in relation is not able in a clear Gospel way to live up unto his standing in Christ Jesus but he oft-times walks very dishonourably unto his interest and very unbecomingly to his hopes of evidence well Soul though it be thus the Lord Jesus Christ will display such love on his part as shall cover and forgive all the Father will not disinherit his Child because he doth provoke him and because he doth grieve him by many foolish and unchildlike acts but the love of the relation on the Fathers part will forgive the Child The Husband won't give a bill of divorce to his Wife because he finds failings in her waies but the love of the relation doth bind him and influence him to cover all her weaknesses and continue his kindness to her if we have a member that is full of pain and puts us to a great deal of smart and puts us much out of order we do not presently call for the cutting off of this member but we bear with the pain and smart remembering that it is a member now thus it is my friends between the Lord Jesus Christ and you though there are weaknesses discovered in your waies yet he will remember that you are interested in him and though he meet with provocations from you yet he will remember that you are his Children and that you are in relation and that will engage him to cover and forgive all though I speak not this to give any a liberty to indulge themselves and I hope none of you will abuse discoveries of grace so I am sure an honest heart will not but for your terrour if your temptation be thereunto know that though Jesus Christ will not proceed in the utmost of his displeasure against you to give you a bill of divorce yet there are rebukes and there are frowns that are as bitter as death that the Soul may meet withal from Christ upon his high provocations though we don't presently cut off a member that is full of pain yet we may see cause to send for the Surgeon to make an incision and so verily will Jesus Christ be forced to do in your hearts that give your selves such an allowance Psal 89.31 32 33. If his Children forsake my laws and walk not in my judgments if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments then will I visit their transgressions with the rod and their iniquity with stripes nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail c. Fifthly Know that your interest in Christ is not dissolvible as the evidence of your interest is loosable Christian it may be the Lord hath singled out some word that he hath made use of by his Spirit to give you some hopes in and about your interest in and relation unto Christ I would hope that all hath not been spoken to you in vain but if the Lord hath given you some hint by his word of your interest possibly within a little while all this will be lost again and thou maist be as much in the dark as ever thou wert since thou camest into Christ well Christ will not disown thee and Christ will hold thee up that thou shalt never be left to disown him still thy interest is sure in Christ Jesus though light is coming and going in thy Soul and thy evidence is sometimes coming and sometimes going yet know that thy interest is firm and inviolable Sixthly Thy present interest in and relation unto Christ in a state of Grace is a certain and infallible pledge of thy future possession of Christ in glory Christian thou hast now a little hope through grace O make much of it thou dost not know what is in it There is not only matter of consolation in it but it contains a pledge of Heaven and of thy full possession of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory for ever therefore saith Christ He that believeth on me hath everlasting life believing that gives the interest thereby the Soul is united to Christ now upon the union he hath everlasting life he hath the pledge of it his union is the
in against him at last that after-reckonings may undo all No saies God when I forgive sin I do it with this resolve of grace never to remember it more and therefore Psal 103.12 As far as the east is from the west so far hath he removed our transgressions from us east and west can never meet together so the sins of a believer that are forgiven by God shall never return again never return again to his Condemnation The sense of them may return again and again for his humiliation but the sins themselves shall never return again unto Condemnation for God having once blotted them out will never more write them down therefore Rom. 11.29 The gifts and callings of God are without repentance God doth all in wisdom in righteousness and in judgment he knows what he doth he sees all before and he sees after at once and therefore there can never be any repentance in God for him to recede from his own act of grace but having once absolved the poor sinner he shall remain so to eternity Micah 7.19 Thou wilt cast their iniquities into the depth of the Sea That which is thrown in at the Havens mouth may be washt up again but now take a milstone and carry it into the vast Ocean and cast it into the depth of the Sea and it will never be seen more and thus the Lord to illustrate his own grace doth make use of such comparisons to speak to our understanding This act of his grace is done in Judgment and God will never repent of it it is an irrevocable act Rom. 8.1 There is therefore now no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus VVE made entrance upon these words and gave you this Proposition from them Doct. That all those that are in Christ are acquitted absolved and discharged by God We have given you the properties of this discharge that God gives out unto the believer in Christ And shall now proceed Object But you will say if that believers be thus fully and irrevocably discharged by God how comes it to pass that they are the persons that God doth so much afflict in the world that they are seldom free but followed with adversity upon adversity trial upon trial and yet all their sins done away Ans I answer Though Gods People are the People of affliction and adversity ordinarily in the world yet their afflictions are not from wrath but from love and consistent with his pardoning grace you must distinguish between punishments that are satisfactory and punishments that are monitory You must distinguish between wrathful proceeds from justice and fatherly corrections and chastisements God doth afflict his people upon two accounts in the world sometimes for sin and sometimes for the trial of grace God I grant doth sometimes Chastise his people for sin that Scripture clears it to me Psal 89.30 31 32 33. If his Children forsake my law and walk not in my Judgements if they break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments then will I visit their transgressions with rods and their iniquity with stripes nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail c. Here you see God doth chastise for sin he hath reserved to himself a power so to do that if his Children break his law if they transgress and walk contrary to it they shall hear of it they shall feel the smart of his rod ay but it is such a chastisement and visitation as is consistent with the stability of his Covenant for that is not shaken thereby it is such a chastisement as is consistent with unchangeable love and grace and by these afflictions God carries on his work in them the more to humble them and to recover the Soul and to bring it to a due consideration of its self and waies in order unto a closer walking with God and sometimes again afflictions are for the exercise the trial and the improvement of grace and all that God might be the more glorified 1 Pet. 1.6 7. Now for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations that the tryal of your faith being much more precious than that of Gold that perisheth may be found unto praise and honour c. Afflictions stir up patience and patience that encreaseth experience and experience hope so as under the trial grace is made to abound and much glory is brought forth to God Obj. Ay but you will say further The believer is taken near to God and forgiven but he sins again don't his renewed transgressions break his pardon Ans Renewed and repeated transgressions they are found in those whom God pardons and they may break their peace and take away the comfort of their pardon but they don't null the pardon of God Their pardon that is continued that is renewed as their transgressions are renewed so as the obligation to punishment obligation to Hell and the wrath of God that returns no more upon their head really before God it returns no more for the pardon that is given forth of God takes it off but the sense of the pardon and all the comforts of the pardon may be lost for a considerable while This seems clear to me from that of the Prophet 2 Sam. 12.13 David said unto Nathan I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David The Lord also hath put away thy sin thou shalt not die God had blotted out the sin of David and yet if you look into the 51 Psalm you will find there that the comfort of his pardon was gone he was not able to read it nor to make Faith nor to take any joy from it O says he Verse 8. Make me to hear joy and gladness That seems to be a strange voice in his ears the voice of joy and gladness that he had so often heard from the Lord he was a stranger to O! says he that I could hear that voice again Restore unto me the joy of thy Salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit V. 12. The joy of his pardon was out of sight and till God returned again to him with fresh consolations and till the Comforter came again to visit him he was not able to apply a Promise nor to take in the comfort of his pardon although the Prophet had told him that God had pardoned him But the obligation to condemnation that doth not return For says the Apostle 1 Joh. 2.1 If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous Christ lieth there in Heaven to secure the state of a Believer and he keeps up the torrent and stream of God's love to the Soul though the manifestations of that love are under a soveraign over-rule and dispose But 3. We proposed to give you the ground upon which God doth proceed in the giving out of this discharge unto those that are in Christ And that is the merits and the satisfaction the propitiation and atonement
Jesus Christ amazed when he saw all the wrath that was to be poured out upon him And do you see all the grace that the Gospel hath brought forth for you Do you see all this grace and doth it not amaze you That God should do so much for such a sinner as you are for one so unworthy for one so undeserving for one so provoking as you are I remember how Abigail was taken with the kindness and condescension of David when he sent to her to take her 1 Sam. 25.41 She arose and bowed her self on her face to the Earth and said Behold let thine Handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord. O what Doth King David send to me What! David the the Lord 's Anointed send after me It is more than I deserve should he make me but a Handmaid to wash the feet of his servants she was amazed at his love and condescension And Sirs Doth not all the grace of God that is laid out on you in freeing you from Hell and in blotting out of all your transgressions that they shall never be remembred against you Doth not all this grace amaze you I remember a passage of Solomon 2 King 8.27 When God afforded his presence in the Temple but says he Will God indeed dwell on the Earth Behold the Heavens and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him how much less the house that I have builded Will God indeed dwell on the Earth O! he was taken with the condescension of grace that God should stoop so low as to fill that house with his glory that he had built for him O Sirs hath God filled your hearts with his glory with the glory of his pardoning love and grace O say what Lord Wilt thou dwell with me What! Lord Dost thou pass by all my rebellion and all my backslidings and wilt thou receive me into thy love and favour O! do you magnifie and admire and live in the admiration of this grace that hath thus wrought for you Use 4. Hath the Lord pardoned and discharged your Souls that there is now no condemnation for you Think with your selves what returns of love you ought to make unto this God that hath done so much for you If you were taken captive by the Turks and were cruelly used in their bondage and a friend should hear of your misery and captivity and should come to you and pay the price of your Redemption and set you free and bring you home into your own Country you would never forget the love of this man if you had any gratefulness in you I am sure you could not but all the love that you could manifest to him you would alwaies think too little and would come far short of his to you But Sirs what is the love of such a friend in such a case unto the love of God in your Soul's case he hath taken off the sentence of condemnation that was against you when you were ready to die he saved you from wrath and Hell and assured you that none of your sins should ever rise up to your condemnation not any thing shall ever be laid to your charge because God hath discharged you all that you can do for this God is but to love him and you will manifest ungratefulness indeed if you do not stir up your love to this God Psal 31.23 O love the Lord all ye his Saints Ay! they have reason to do it What! saved from Hell delivered from going down to the Pit thousands and thousands of transgressions forgiven at once O! it becomes those that are thus dealt withal to love God Sirs you should love him with a heart-love you should love the Lord with all your hearts and withall your souls here the whole strength of your affections should go out you should love God with a transcendent love you should love him above all you should love him with an abounding love It is said of Mary that she loved much Luk. 7.47 Wherefore I say unto thee her sins which are many are forgiven her for she loved much Many sins forgiven and much love aboundings of love upon it The higher your sins were the greater is your pardon and the greater should your love be you should love God with a love of complacency so as to joy in him and to take up your delight in him God loves you with such a love He is said to rest in his love towards us Zeph. 3.17 The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty he will save thee he will rejoyce over thee with joy he will rest in his love Now shall God take complacency in such a poor vile creature as thou art and do so much in the greatness of his love for thee and wilt not thou take up thy delight in God You should love God with an abiding love you should dwell in your love to God you should live in love to God Says the Apostle Jude v. 21. Keep your selves in the love of God Your love to God you should love and cherish at all times that you should alwaies live in love to God and you should do all that you do in love to God love him with an abiding love Use 5. Again You whom the Lord hath discharged be alwaies ready to discharge and forgive others wherein they provoke and offend you As the Apostle says concerning love 1 Joh. 4.11 Beloved if God so loved us we ought also to love one another So I may say in this case if God hath forgiven us we ought to forgive one another Solomon tells us and truly I think it is a Scripture that a great many do not understand in the practice of it Prov. 19.11 That it is the glory of a man to pass over a transgression Many do not think so but they think that it is the nobleness of their spirits to stand to it and to argue out the point and to have satisfaction upon such an injury and such an injury or upon such a provocation and such a provocation and he is counted of a poor pusillanimous spirit that passeth over such things that will bear affronts and make nothing of them But says Solomon It is the glory It is the crown of a man to do it because the more you forgive others the more you manifest the sense of the grace of God in forgiving you We are taught of Christ to pray Luk. 11.4 Forgive us our debts as we also forgive every one that is indebted to us Canst thou say so in thy heart when thou goest unto God for forgiveness that thou hast forgiven freely thy Brother thy Sister thy Neighbour that hath offended thee that hath wronged and injured thee Luk. 17.3 4. Take heed to your selves if thy Brother trespass against thee rebuke him and if he repent forgive him and if he trespass against thee seven times a day and seven times in a day turn again to thee saying I repent thou shalt forgive him And