if it were burning in hell could be as glorious as in its Salvation and yet would be pleased to powre out his precious bloud for it yet so unworthy To wooe the Soule that hath need of him and yet never praies to him nor ever was a sutor for mercy This breeds love in the Soule And the more the Soule sadomes her owne misery the more yet she loves and admires the Lords mercy and loving thus she leanes upon him Secondly It is one that she pleades some title to and interest in she cals him hers Christ is the Bridegroome of the Soule and the Soule is Christs Bride Beloved in all this Song is taken for the highest degree of love and nearest relation conjugall love therefore Christ elsewhere calls her his Sister his Spouse she hath a title to and interest in him possession of him and in another place I am my welbeloveds and my welbeloved is mine She is his and he is hers they have a propriety each in other But suppose we should put the Spouse to prove her title to him What is thy Beloved more than anothers Beloved Or why is he thy Beloved O beleeving soule more than the Beloved of another shew thy title to him And againe why is she Christs more than another Why should the beleever monopolize Christ and how came Christ to be hers she is his and he is hers by right of gift her heavenly Father hath given her unto him hence is that Phrase of her Saviours Prayer John 17.9 All that the Father hath given me and I pray for them that thou hast given me She hath given her selfe to him Cant. 1.2 Let him kisse me with the kisses of his mouth for his love is better than wine She hath said Draw me and I will run after thee ay and he hath given himselfe to her he hath given his grace unher Gal. 1.6 And his glory unto her The glory which thou hast giveÌ„ me I have given them Her Beloved by right of gift 2. She is his and he is hers by right of bargaine and sale The Ancients had three waies to get themselves wives by gift purchase or desert The Fathers sold their Daughters and the Bridegroome bought his Bride he gave a Dowry for her Hence when Sechem had a mind to Dinah the daughter of Jacob he sayes Aske me what Dowry thou wilt and I will give it thee Christ hath bought his Beloved hence saith the Apostle He hath paid a price for us A bloudy price more than all the world was worth But he would have her because he delighted in her and so she is his and he is hers by right of purchase 3. She is his Beloved and he is hers by right of desert she deserved not him but he deserved her This was a third way by which the Ancients got them wives by some gallant explâ—it or great service Their wives were somtimes given them for wages Jacob served 14. years for Rachell Gen. 29.17 David for his Soveraignes daughter encountred great Goliah and afterwards robbed the Philistines of their foreskins he paid more for her than she proved to be worth By this right the beleeving soule is the beloved of Christ he hath served a long service for her not fourteene but above thirty yeares he hath vanquished the Goliahs of our soules and hath conquered our Spirituall Enemies 4. He is hers and she is his by right of possession he dwels in her and she dwels in him The second person in the Trinity is an inmate with the beleeving soule He dwels under the roofe of her heart He hath a chamber in the soule and hath pitched his tent within her and she is in him too united each unto other this is very plainly exprest Gal. 2.20 I live but yet not I but Christ lives in me I am the Carcasse Christ the Soule the soule moveth the body so Christ moves my soule I move not from any principle in my selfe but from a principle of Grace The life I live in the flesh I live by the life of the Sonne of God who dwelleth in me who loved me and gave himselfe for me Thus you see she may well call Christ her Beloved and Christ may well call her his Beloved He hath a propriety in her and shee hath a propriety in him also hee hath marryed her and dwels with her yea and in her dilectum suum her wellbeloved indeed Thirdly It is her beloved not anothers beloved Every soule hath a Beloved the Drunkard hath his beloved cups the wanton hath his beloved Queanes the Covetous person his beloved gold The soule that leanes upon Christ goes not a whoring after other Gods The Spouse of Christ leanes not upon the Papists beloved merits nor upon the Turks beloved Mahomet nor upon the Pharisees beloved duties nor upon the Idolaters beloved Saints she sayes Abraham knowes her not and Israel is ignorant of her Isa 63.16 but the Lord is her Father Christ is her Redeemer and her Maker her Redeemer is her Husband Creator tuus est sponsus tuus Her beloved not anothers Beloved Fourthly He that is her Beloved not that which was her Beloved She once loved her sins and her lusts were the beloveds of her soul The name of Baalim was in her mouth her lusts were her Lords and they ruled over her But now the name of Baalim is taken out of her mouth she calls the Lord Ishi God alone is her beloved Sin was the dearly beloved of her soule but now shee calls sinne no more Naomi shee calls it Marah that which was once the sweetnesse is now the bitternesse of her soule shee takes no pleasure in it no nor doth she account her duties her beloved she useth them but shee dares not trust her soule upon them she dares not plead any desert in them though once perhaps she had a Pharisaicall conceit that her duties would be her healing yet when she comes to the Lord Christ to leane upon his Arme though she useth duties and is as full of Prayer and humiliation as ever shee knocks her hand upon her breast and cryes she is a sinner Oh but what remedy the knocking her hand upon her breast shee knowes cannot save her no for that God be merciful to her she leanes upon Christ that is her now Beloved not upon any duties or any other merits that was before her Beloved Fifthly Her beloved not her beloveds The soule that comes to the Lord Jesus Christ loves him intensly and as she loves him best so she loves him onely As nothing shall have her whole heart so neither will she divide her heart betwixt him and another he shall have her heart and he onely shall have her heart and he shall have her whole heart too she dare trust her strength upon Christ and upon him alone she desireth only to be found in the Lord Jesus who is her Bridegroome shee is a Virgin not a Whore she leanes not upon Christ with one hand and
The SPOUSES Carriage in the Wildernesse Song of Solomon Chap. 8. ver 5. Who is this that commeth up out of the wildernesse leaning upon her welbeloved WE have already taken notice of two Travellers in the Text. Christ is a Traveller For had he not come up with his Garments died from Bozra we had been in the wildernesse still And the Spouse is a Traveller The Text saith She commeth up from the wildernesse leaning upon her welbeloved The Text presents us the Spouse in motion Observe first From whence she moves the Terminus à quo that the Text tels us is the wildernesse 2. What her motion is it is ascensive she commeth up 3. Her moving posture it is leaning upon her beloved The Doctrine that yet remaines in the Text which I promised to handle is Doct. 3. That the Spouse of the Lord Jesus Christ being raised by him commeth out of every wildernesse leaning upon her beloved I must take it in pieces and handle the parts severally These foure things be couched in it 1. That the Spouse of Christ hath had and may somtimes have her dwelling in the wildernesse That is implied 2. Though she hath had and may sometimes have her dwelling in the wildernesse yet she rests not there She comes up from it Who is this that comes up 3. She cannot come up alone She must come up leaning 4. She will lean upon her Beloved and he will and only can bear her First She hath had and sometimes may have her dwelling in the wildernesse Here first I must open the tearme Wildernesse Secondly I shal shew you what Wildernesse the Spouse hath had or may have her dwelling in I shall open the first in five or sixe particulars 1. The Wildernesse is an untilled place where wild nature is yet seen that Art hath not yet tamed no pruning hook hath lopt the over-grown trees no plow broke up the soyle to make it fruitfull The husband-man hath not tilled the ground there nor can the reaper fill his hand It is a place just in its naturall state not yet manured 2. The Wildernesse is a losing place no beaten road for the Traveller there to follow no land-marks nothing to guide him in his way he is lost if once in it hee looks on this side and on the other forward backward every way still he sees himselfe lost knowes not whither to goe He is in a Wildernesse and knowes not the way out 3. The Wildernesse is a dangerous place A man in the Wildernesse is a prey to the mouth of every Lion the Lion is the King of those waste places and the Bears Wolves Cockatrices and Adders his lesser subjects There dwells the young Lion the Cockatrice and the Adder together each one searching for his prey It is a dangerous place 4. The Wildernesse is a solitary place where hee that walks as hee hath no path so he hath no company The paths in the Wildernesse are not trodden no beaten high wayes are there no company but the Owles and the Ostriches the beasts of the field and creeping things of the earth Nothing fit to be a companion for man No it is a Wildernesse 5. The Wildernesse is a disconsolate place no curiosities of nature to refresh his spirits with Terror is round about him no pleasure to delight him 6. Lastly the Wildernesse is a place voyd of all provisions There is neither bread for the hungry nor water for the thirsty soule no necessaries much lesse superfluities The expression is very apt such a Wildernesse yea many a such Wildernesse the Spouse of Christ hath had and may have her dwelling in 1. A Wildernesse of Sinne. 2. A Wildernesse of Sorrow 3. A Wildernesse of Affliction 4. A Wildernesse of Temptation 5. A Wildernesse of Desertion Nay lastly This whole life is but a wildernesse to her Shee hath been in some of these and may be in all of them but out of all Shee cometh up leaning Every one of these is the soules Wildernesse and as they come up to Christ they come up from some of them and in their walking with the Lord Christ they goe through some of them and some goe through all of them The first is Eremus peccati The Wildernesse of sinne and every soule is born in this Wildernesse Man at first created dwelt in Paradise but alas he threw himselfe out into the Wildernesse and God lockt the Garden gate against him Sinfull man perferr'd the Wildernesse before Paradise and God allots him his dwelling there There was man thrown all mankind born in it We are all Wildernesse brats by nature Ephes 2.3 You were children of wrath by nature even as others And sinne may well be call'd a Wildernesse it is status naturalis our naturall condition We are in a Wildernesse habit when we are clothed with the raggs of iniquity Ay and it is a state as dangerous as the Wildernesse The Lion claims him in the Wildernesse as his prey and if he scapes his teeth it will be hard to escape the Cockatrice and young Lion and Adder the lesser fry of destroyers If in this sinfull naturall condition we do escape the mouth of the roaring Lion the Devill it is greatly to be feared that the Beare and the Wolfe and the Cockatrice the lesser judgments of God will swallow us up we are children of wrath as well passively as actively in a dangerous condition Lastly as the Wildernesse is a place void of all necessary provisions for the body so is sinne a state voyd of all necessary provisions for the soule We are hungry and naked and bloudy and filthy in our sinnes it is a wildernesse dresse Ezek. 16. As for thy nativity in the day that thou wert born thy navell was not out neither wert thou washed in water to supple thee thou wert cast out in the open field Verse 5. Every spouse of the Lord Christ hath been in this Wildernesse Who is this that cometh up of this I have spoke before and therefore passe it over The second Wildernesse is Eremus contritionis The wildernesse of contrition or sorrow for sinne Every soul is naturally in the Wildernesse but every one that is in it seeth not that it is there Every soul is born blind though most think they see When God opens the soules eyes and shewes it the hell that it treads over every houre and makes the soule apprehensive of its danger it conceives it self in a worse Wildernesse than before the physick works the Patient thinks it is nearer death than before it took it Here it cryes out Oh I am a lost undone creature Oh whither should I goe on one side behold terror on the other side despaire If it lookes up to heaven there is an angry God if downward there is a gaping hell Oh! whither should it goe Now it cryes out with the Iaylor O what shall I doe to be saved I am lost in my sinnes I am lost in my owne righteousnesse I know not
keep the love of the husband the blind man need to keep the love of his guid O Christian thou hast much more need to keep the love of thy Christ It is he that must succour thee at every need he that must make the rugged wayes plaine for thee It is he that must carry the Babe of grace in his armes lest it should dash its feet against the stones of affliction It is he that must lead the child of God upon his hand lest in this world of afflictions it fall and hurt it self O keep close in his armes keep thy selfe warme in his bosome feare that which may make thy God go free from thee Gods departing from the creature is a piece of hell thou knowest not how soone thou mayest need him yea thou alwayes needest him therefore take heed of sinning against him thou wilt anger thy best friend I will assure thee I hasten to the last Use which shall be a word of Exhortation Doth the Spouse of Christ come out of the wildernesse leaning upon her Beloved First O then you that are yet in the wildernesse of sinnes come out come out get this Spouses Beloved and then leane upon him 2. You that are in the wildernesse of sorrow for sinne afflictions temptations desertions leane upon your beloved live leaning and dye leaning you that say you are sinking and you cannot beleeve Oh leane and come out of this wildernesse leaning upon your Beloved A word to the first Is there any before the Lord this day that is yet in the gall of bitternesse and in the bond of iniquity with what arguments shall I plead with such a soule Those are not wanting but with what arguments shall I prevaile with such a soul to come unto the Lord Christ were any here drowning in the water a little Rhetoricke would perswade them to let me helpe them out were any lost in a wood I should not need much entreat them to give me their hand and I would shew them a way out of that loosing place why should I not as much prevaile for heaven this day 1 Consider what estate it is that thou takest such pleasure to continue in first it is a dangerous place more dangerous then the sands to the ship thou art ready to be swallowed up of hell every houre in it A troop of judgments waites upon thee to destroy it how canst thou abide consuming fire or dwell in everlasting burnings Secondly Consider it is a joylesse condition There is no true joy to the sinner though he sings sometimes amongst his drunken cups yet he cannot feed heartily upon a feast of joy because the Sword hangs over his head it is but a fained joy that the sinner hath a sudden short lived flame without any coales underneath to preserve it There is no peace to the wicked saith God and if no peace there can be no joy when the sinner is serious he cannot rejoyce his rejoycing is like the skipping of mad men that know not what they doe Thirdly Consider it is a starving condition The sinners soule starves whiles he feasts his body like a glutton his soule dyes for thirst when his body is overslowne with drunkennesse It is impossible the puffe-past of iniquity should nourish a soule Doth an Angell feed upon the earth doth a Saint feed upon hell The soule is of an Angelicke substance it cannot feed upon sinne sinne starves it Dost thou love to be in the middest of thornes dost thou delight to lye downe in sorrow canst thou endure to see thy better part starved whiles thou pamperest thy filthy Carcasse O let this deterre thee from the wildernesse of sinne and perswade thee to come out of it unto Paradise There First Thou shalt be in a safe condition Out of the feare of judgements out of hells gunshot There life or death will be either peace temporall or else eternall either grace or glory unto thee here thy soule shall be in a harbour if thousands fall at thy left hand and ten thousands at thy right none shall make the afraid thou shalt laugh at trouble when it comes Thou shalt be sure to goe to heaven either by land or water If thou goest through the fire thou shalt be sure to have Christ with thee Heaven is a security in all estates a protection from all Arrests if the King of glory hath a mind to sue thee thou shalt not be arrested like other men with a writ of wrath but invited to sup with him in glory onely by a letter of love and he will send his Ushers of glory to waite upon thy soul to the chambers of glory Luke 16.22 The soule of good Lazarus was carried by Angels into Abrahams bosome you shall not live like other men haunted with the blood-hounds of wrath nor dye like other wretches that goe out of the world haled by the Sarjeants of hell to everlasting prison but quietly sleepe and awake againe one day in glory O who would not desire such a protection for himselfe such a security for his soule who would not throw off his raggs of sinne to put on Christs livery of grace when Christs badge upon his shoulder shall free him from all Arrests That he shall walke up and downe and nothing shall make him afraid Secondly Consider that Heaven is a place as full of joy as ever the wildernesse was full of sorrow and trouble of this I spake before O thinke of the joy of the Saints you children of vaine pleasure you mad-men of the earth that can dance over the hole of the Aspe and put your hands on the Cockatrices den Your false and flattering joy is nothing to the reall joyes of heaven There is joy like the joy of the harvest like the joy when men divide the spoyle The yoake of their burthen is broken and the rod of the oppressour O you that love your drinking meetings and dancing dayes that you would but love heaven where you might drink new wine with your Lord Christ where you might dance in glory and make all your dayes dayes of joy and every houre an houre of pleasure Thirdly consider that there and there onely is provision for your soule Christs robes is the only cloathing that will cover the nakednesse of it his flesh is meat indeed and his bloud is drinke indeed there my friends Eate and drinke and be merry there you may have wine and milke without money or without price O spend not your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which profits not Here you may eate that which is good and let your soule delight it selfe in fatnesse Here is a Feast of fat things The fatlings are killed O come to the wedding Why should your roomes be emptie in the day of the Lords Espousals You shall bee welcome to my Masters Table Now O now Behold he stands at the doore and knocks Lord breake where thou knockest If any man will heare his voice and open the
what to doe If I stay in my sinnes I perish if I go out of the world I perish Here stands the soule turning it selfe every way and seeing comfort no way till the Lord Christ bowes the heavens and thrusts out his arme of salvation his shoulder of merits and takes the soule by the hand saying Come my Beloved I will tell thee what thou shalt doe I am the way out of this wildernesse come out leaning leane thy arme of faith upon the shoulder of my merits Free grace is able to beare thee I am thy Welbeloved and thy Welbeloved is thine And ordinarily the soule when it comes to the Lord Christ comes through this wildernesse this losing place of conviction and contrition and weeps her selfe a path where she would drown in the waters of Marah if Christ did not hold her up Indeed God could have brought the Israelites a shorter Journey than through the wildernesse to Canaan and sometimes God miraculously drawes a soul to himselfe onely by the cords of mercy God is not tyed alwayes to bring a soule the same road to heaven Elijah was carried to heaven in a fiery chariot but the more ordinary way is by Jacobs ladder The common way to heaven is by the gates of hell the way to life is through the chambers of death through a wildernesse Who is this that commeth up out of the wildernesse The third Wildernesse in which Christ's Spouse may somtimes have her dwelling in is the Wildernesse of affliction bodily afflictions I meane A Wildernesse is a place full of bryars and thornes and through such a wildernesse the holy Ghost tells us lies the Saints way to heaven By much tribulation much pricking of thrones thornes in the flesh somtimes must we enter into the kingdome of God The Spouse hath a dirty way to go to marrying in and when shee is marryed she hath a dirty way home too A wildernesse on either side The Apostle speakes plain Heb. 11.37 38. They wandred about in Sheep-skins and Goat-skines being destitute afflicted tormented they wandred in deserts and in mountaines and in dens and in caves of the earth And who were these that wandred thus in the wildernesse They were such of whom the world was not worthy the Spouses of the Lord Christ And truely afflictions may be called a wildernesse for the disconsolacy of them too they are times of sorrow no delights please the spouse in affliction is in a wildernes 4. A fourth wildernesse that the Spouse sometimes dwells in is the wildernesse of temptations The Bridegroom himself was in this wildernesse He was led into the wildernesse to be tempted of the Devill The spirit took him thither Matth. 4. vers 1. and Paul was in this wildernesse troubled on every side this is Satans wildernesse that he leads many a poore soule into and it had been a sad wildernesse had not our WAY been their first If the Devill could have lost our Saviour in it we should never have found the way out of it A dangerous a disconsolate place well tearmed a wildernesse as the Saint will tell you that hath been in it 5. A fifth Wildernesse that the Spouse is sometimes in is the Wildernesse of desertion Here 's a sad wildernesse a desert indeed Quum Deus deseruit When God hath forsaken or withdrawne himselfe from the Soule this Desert Christ himselfe was in Eli Eli lamasabachthani My God my God why hast thou forsaken me was the voice of the Lord Jesus hollowing in the wildernesse such a wildernesse was the Spouse in when she sought him but found him not Cant. 3. v. 2. In this desert the soule is solitary her God is gone and she knowes not what is become of him the soule never calls any company her company if her God be not there David was in this wildernesse too he is often crying out of the wildernesse he was in when God hid his face from him The soule that belongs to the Lord Jesus goes through many a wildernesse in this world but scarce any which Christ hath not walkt in before it and hewn a way through it through every wildernesse we may follow the Lamb in his own path 6. Nay lastly The Saints whole life below is but a wildernes Earth is a Christians desert while she lives here she lives in widowhood it is a sinfull place a dangerous place a thorny place and a place where she finds an abatement of the joyes she shall be swallowed up in in glory Mortality is but Meshech and her best habitations are but tents of Kedar nothing to the temple of Glory she shall worship her God in hereafter and the former deserts are but as severall corners of this wildernesse but she commeth up out of every wildernesse That is the next branch of Doctrine I hasten to Branch 2. That though the Saint of God hath had and may have her dwelling in the wildernesse she rests not there but commeth up out of it She cometh up It seemes to argue a propriety in the motion as if she were not driven nor drawne up nor made to come but of her selfe came and of her owne strength and yet not of her own strength neither her owne leggs would not beare her for the text tells us she comes up leaning she had fallen had she not leaned Here is the Question stated what the soule doth towards its conversion what power of doing any thing tending towards its conversion before it is sanctified or after it is sanctified whether it may meerly passive what she may doe what she cannot doe how far she may come where she must lean Whether hath the soule any power to come up out of the wildernesse of sinne to the Lord Christ to move one step heaven ward of it selfe And here I have a narrow path to tread betwixt the Pelagians and Arminians on the one side that would make the soule have more power than it hath and the Antinomians and Sectaries on the other side that are so farre from holding that the soule hath no power to come to Christ that they would make us beleeve she hath no power to come to Church neither I shall not know how to determine this Question better than in the words of pious and learned Bishop Davenant Determ Q. 9.49 Non potest quodvis opus ex divina promissione ad impetrandam peccatorum remissionem aut adeundam possessionem regni coelorum ordinatum The soule cannot doe any thing that is ordained by God or hath the promise of God to obtaine pardon of sinnes or possession of the Kingdome of heaven she cannot savingly beleeve repent love c. for these are the acts of grace and God is the fountain and donour of all grace 1. But first she may by Gods generall restraining grace without speciall and saving grace abstaine from grosse sinnes the heathens did so the light of nature which God keeps from none will shew her that this is darknesse 2. Secondly She may by Gods exciting
her owne Merits with another no nor dares shee leane upon the Merits of another shee durst not trust the weight of her soule upon the wings of an Angel nor to the Prayers of a Saint she relies upon God and upon God onely The Papists leane upon Christ but not upon him alone shee knowes it wil be a dishonour both to her and her husband to take any thing in partem amoris to share with her husband in his love shee will keep her honour in being the wife of one Husband And so I have shewed you how she leanes what is her hand who it is she leanes upon what title she hath to him what rules she observeth in her leaning I have but one thing more and that is to shew you what strength there is in the Lord Christs shoulders to beare her how she leanes even in every wildernesse and what fulnesse of strength there is in her husbands arme to keep her up from falling The first wildernesse you may remember was the wildernesse of sinne Here the Spouse cannot be said properly to leane upon her beloved for she wants the hand of faith to lay hold upon Christ and indeed she is not weary yet I doe not know why in some sense even in this estate the elect soule is not beholding to free grace he is her Christ here though he hath not yet manifested himselfe to be her Jesus her Saviour The elect soule in sin is elect and decreed to be saved though shee be not declared to be elect she is beloved in decree though God hath not actually manifested his love unto her he is not her beloved but the soule is his beloved not actually but decretally he hath thoughts of good to her but his thoughts are kept within himselfe till he is pleased to reveale them to her at his best time she is his beloved though there be no correlation she is in his thoughts his Spouse aye and positively not conditionally The Arminians falsely dreame of Gods conditionall decrees because they comprehend not the wayes of God Beleeving is necessarily required yet it was not a condition in Gods decree The soule is his beloved though yet there be no correlation though she be not his wife yet yet she is intended for his wife To speake according to the wayes of men I may intend to make a woman my wife before I actually declare my intentions to her she is my wife in my determinations and thoughts before I wooe her though not actually my wife bâ—fore I have wooed her and she hath â—â—elded too there lyes only this difference my determination must be but conditionally if she will accept of my proffer'd love There lyes a power in her to refuse We may therefore make the simile a little higher A great Emperour buyeth a woman that is a slavâ— which he intends to marry and will whether she will or no yet he will wooe her and if it be possible marry her will as well as her person yet whether she will or no he will and may marry her for she is his purchase she is his wife in his determination before he hath married her But yet even this simile is lame Every simile comparing the wayes of God with the wayes of man must at least halt of one foot for though this Emperour hath power to force the womans body to the action yet hee hath no power to force her will to be willing to the action The will is alwayes independent sui juris but God hath power not only to marry the soule which he hath bought from being a slave to the Devill but to make her willing to marry him yet she is in Christs decree his Spouse before he hath actually revealed his decree unto her so though strictly and properly the soule cannot be said to lean upon Christ in the wildernesse of sinne yet she may be said to be beholden unto the Lord Christ and that thus 1. Every soul hath the like principles of corruption and would act to the full of it's depraved operations were it not for Gods preventing and restraining grace She is beholding unto God for his preventing and restraining grace though here she is meerly passive Secondly She is beholden unto God for his exciting grace The soule heares and fasts and prayes meditates of her owne sad condition though for the substance of the action it is her owne yet it is Gods exciting grace makes her willing to heare fast pray though not his speciall saving-grace yet his common grace But this is not the leaning meant in the Text she leanes here upon Christ but not upon Jesus a Saviour upon God but not as her Beloved And here the soule is brought into a second wildernesse 2. The wildernesse of Sorrow Contrition Repentance call it what you please though I know the later tearme Repentance be controverted by some Yet I know not why we may not say That a man may repent without saving-grace And for that Repentance which they say must be the effect of faith If I were a School-man I should rather call it Godly Sorrow but I desire not to play upon tearmes And for their defining Repentance To be a sorrow for sinne out of the sense of the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ it is a definition they have devised for their owne purpose And give them their premises according as they please they would be poore Logicians if they made the conclusion to displease them For from hence they argue If the love of God be the ground and cause of Repentance viz. the love of God manifested and sensible to us we having apprehended it by faith the speciall love of God then faith must goe before Repentance viz. an apprehension of Gods saving love and reliance upon it But I answer the definition which they give us of Repentance is deceitfull it is a definition of a Species in stead of a Genus as we say in Logick As some unwary Divines define Faith to be an assurance of Gods love in Iesus Christ This is true but this is a faith of the highest stamp and many a precious soule is without this faith to his dying day Faith of adherence is another thing as if I should goe to define a man to be a reasonable creature skil'd in all sorts of Learning Any man would understand me that I did not goe about to describe a man in generall but this or that particular man And I say once againe if I were a School-man I should rather call this A godly sorrow and define Repentance in generall to be A sorrow for sin there is the genus and differentia Or if there be required a fuller definition with the ground though I conceive such a definition would be more proper to give of Repentance in it's severall kinds than of Repentance in generall yet we may give it thus It is a sorrow for sinne arising out of the feare of Gods wrath or apprehensions of Gods love And I know
not why we may not say That a man may repent without saving grace Bishop Davenant sayes A man by exciting the grace of God may Peccata propria considerare ad sensum corundem expavescere liberationem ab hoc metu exoptare tremble for his sinnes and mourne for them and desire deliverance out of them and if this be not Repentance I know not what is not taking Repentance for the whole worke of conversion as sometimes it is taken in Scripture but taking Repentance for a wearinesse of sinne and sorrow for it But those of our Brethren here that are so afraid of Babylon that they will run quite beyond Jerusalem so afraid of being Arminians or Papists to ascribe any desert to duties or tye that God hath to concurre with our duties that they are resolved they will not be sober Protestants So afraid of being Heterodox that to avoid it they will not be Orthodox tell us that this is a legall not a saving Repentance It sounds ill to distinguish between a legall and saving Repentance I will digresse a little to rend this Fig-leafe being all they have to cover the nakednesse of their opinion I would faine understand that tearme saving Repentance in what sence they take it the Scripture warrants no such distinction 1. If they meane by saving Repentance such a repentance as merits Salvation or such a Repentance as God is tyed necessarily to concurre with with his saving grace I say no Repentance can be saving repentance No Repentance saith Learned Davenant can so dispose the heart Ut ex merito câ—ngrui teneatur Deus gratiam cuiquam infundere 2. If they meane by saving Repentance such a repentance as of it selfe without any more adoe shall be sufficient to Salvation I say againe no Repentance can be called a saving Repentance For Without Faith it is impossible to please God 3. If they meane by saving Repentance a repentance that conduceth to Salvation I say this kind of Repentance let them call it legall or what they please is a saving Repentance 4. If they meane by saving Repentance such a repentance as is wrought ordinarily in such as shall be saved I say in that sense this Repentance is a saving Repentance Now Whether it ought not to be preacht as Well from law as Gospell-motives is a question lyes not in my way to determine only I here my Saviour though he were Gospel it self preaching it from a Law-motive Luk. 13.2 Except yee repent yee shall all likewise perish Let the unprejudiced Reader judge if damnation be not there preached as a terrible motive to Repentance Surely I then may learne to preach from the Best of Preachers and preach Repent or you will goe to Hell Repent or you will be damn'd as well as Repent because God hath loved you Yea and John too preached repentance as well because The axe was laâ—d to the root of the tree and whatsoever tree brought not forth good fruit should be hewn down and cast into the fire as because The Kingdom of Heaven was at hand I dare not learne contrary to Christ and the Baptists Coppy I will preach Mercy and Judgment The Law and the Gospell go well together let me not be accursed for separating what God hath joyned But Lastly I conceive Wee cannot call any Râ—pentance saving Repentance til the worke of conversion be wrought fully in our souls Nay I make a question whether any man without the grace of Assurance can properly call his Repentance saving Repentance till he comes in Heaven And for my owne part I am full in the Negative But I have digressed too farre to convince some who I feare are not so willing to suffer the word of conviction as I to speake it We left the Spouse in the second wildernesse The wildernesse of sorrow 't is time we now return to her and comfort her and shew you how she comes out of that leaning upon her Beloved Here now the beloved Soule is mourning like a Turtle and crying O what shall I doe to be saved I am lost oh how shall I finde the way out of this wildernesse O my sins pull me back I cannot set a step forward Sin trips up my heeles The Devill tels me I am his and my sins beare witnesse to his words Now she that is not the Spouse of Christ sinkes in these mighty wateres she sinkes to hell in dispaire is quite lost if once she comes into them But he that said not one of those whom his father had given him should perish seeing the poore soule like Peter Mat. 14.30 that thought to have trode upon those waters sinking in them and crying Lord save me or else I perish when he sees such a poore soules ship in which he is though he seemes to sleepe tost in these bitter waves when the tempest ariseth and hearing the soule in this Agony crying out Master save me or else I perish now he begins to arise and stretch out his shoulder for the soule to leane upon speakes and rebukes the winds and calmes the busie tempests when the Whale of sorrow hath sallowed up these Jonahs â—nd they are in the bottome of the Sea in the Whales belly they cry their God heares and causeth the Whale to vomit them out on the dry land Me thinks that voice of Jonah is the voice of every penitent soule Jonah 2. The soule cries by reason of her affliction unto the Lord and the Lord heares her out of the belly of hell she cryes and he heares her voice for he hath cast her into this deep into the midst of the Seas and the flouds compasse her about and all the billowes and the waves past over her Then the soule saith I am cast out of the Lords sight yet I will looke againe towards his holy Temple The waters compasse her about even to the soule the depths closed round about her the weeds were wrapt about her head she went downe to the bottome of the mountaines the earth with her barres was about her yet her Lord her God brings up her life from corruption when her soule faints within her she remembers the Lord and her prayers come unto him even into his holy place And when the soule is in this wildernesse in the deeps of sorrow then her Beloved doth throw her his shoulder of supporting grace to lean upon that she saith as David Psal 94.17 18. Unlesse the Lord had been my help my soul had almost dwelt in silence when I said my foot slippeth thy mercy Lord held me up When the soule cryes I am drowned Then the Lords mercy holds her up No saith God thou art not drowned here is a cord of mercy for thee to lay hold upon and I will draw thee out by it Here is my hand be still O ye waves this soule is mine When the soule is burthened with sins laden with the sense of them and in the sad apprehension of them cryes out my burthen is too great for me
to beare I sinke I sinke under it then Christ looks out of the heavens and sayes Cast thy burthen upon the Lord man and he shall sustaine thee Psal 55.22 or Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will ease you Mat. 11.29 The supporting grace of God is the Anchor of the soule which staies the Ship of the soule when a tempest of sorrow arises the waves beat upon it Now this Anchor hath two flukes The first is her Beloveds mercies and merits The second is her Beloveds promises When she is in this sad wildernesse of sorrow her Beloved gives her a staffe of merits and mercy and free grace to leane upon and a clue of promises to lead her out of this Labyrinth and the mercies and merits of her Beloved have two hooks both which take fast hold to stay her soule 1. The fulnesse of them 2. The freenesse of them First the fulnesse of them The soule cries out O I am damned Christ suggests to her But didst thou never heare of one that came to save those which were in their owne apprehension damned I deserve to dye everlastingly saith the soule oh but did not he dye for thee that deserved to live everlastingly saith Christ I deserve infinite torments saith the soule Oh! but are not thy Christs mercies infinite mercies saith God Thy mercy held me up My sinnes have cryed up to heaven saith the soule O but my mercies are above the heavens saith Christ Psal 108.5 My sins are more in number than the haires of my head saith the soul but my mercies saith Christ are more in number than the sand which lyes on the Sea shore Psal 139.17 18. My sins have abounded saith the soule but my grace hath much more abounded saith Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 5.20 O but my heart is as hard as Iron and the face of my sinnes like Brasse saith the soule but that God that made the Leviathan is as strong as the Leviathan He esteemes Iron as straw and Brasse as rotten wood My sinnes are many saith the soule but were their name Legion saith Christ I could cast them out O but I am an old sinner I have a mountaine of sinnes But my mercies are from everlasting saith Christ so are not thy sinnes and I came to levell Mountaines Luke 3.4 The more old thou art the more glory shall my free grace have all the world shall see I doe not pardon thee for any service thou canst or wilt doe me thou must ere long lye downe in the grave Thus the soule in this wildernesse of sorrow leanes upon the fulnesse of Gods mercies But secondly there must be freenesse as well as fulnesse or else what hath the soule I know that the least drop of Christs bloud is fully able to wash away all my guilt But what have I to doe with Christ I am a poore creature the fitter object for divine charity what dowry have I for Christ to marry me Because thou hast nothing therefore I will doe it saith Christ If thou hadst any thing that thou thoughtest riches I would not have married thee saith Christ Thou art mistaken in my thoughts I doe not marry thee because thou art rich but because I have a delight in thee and have an intention to make thee rich Hos 14.4 I will heale their back-slidings I will love them freely Ezek. 16.7 8 9. Now the soule being fully perswaded of this that Christ is full of mercy and able to pardon her and free in his mercy therefore willing to forgive her and desiring nothing for her pardon but to live like a Spouse in his sight begins to leane beleeving he will pardon her But yet saith the soule I could desire to see it under Christs hand I thinke I could take his word now So she leanes upon Christs promises which are as the other Fluke of this Anchor Now sayes the soule O that I might have it but under Christs hand that my sinnes which I am scarse able to thinke can be pardoned may be pardoned though I staid his leisure for the sealing of it Here she enquires for Promises and Presidents Did ever Christ promise saith the Soule to pardon such a scarlet crimson sinner as I am Yes I have saith Christ looke Isa 1.18 Though your sinnes be as skarlet they shall be as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as wooll and so Isa 55.6 7. I will have mercy upon you I will abundantly pardon you Mat. 11.29 O but where hath Christ promised freely to dispence these mercies saith the soule Christ turnes her again to Isa 51.1 2 3. Ho every one that thirsteth come buy of me without mony or mony-worth But secondly where did he ever pardon such a sinner as I am saith the soule Christ puts her in mind of Mary Magdalen Manasses O but where one that was so near hell as I am saith the soule an old sinner the theefe upon the Crosse saith Christ Now it must not be understood that Christ Jesus should reveale these Promises Audibly to the soule but 1. Either sets his Ministers a worke to declare his Charters of Grace and read the soules pardon 2. Or else he suggests into the soule such promises in such a seasonable time which must be taken as the voice of God to that soule Thus the soule furnished with presidents trusting upon promises wipes her eyes comes out of the wildernesse leaning upon her blessed Saviour and saying O my sweet Saviour thou that hast drawne mee from the pit of hell and hast reached out thy arme for a worthlesse lost worme to leane upon thee I dare beleeve thee I now roule my soule upon thee I am shipwrackt but thou art my harbour and now O what shall I doe for thee O my God! I am sick of love Thou hast ravished my heart I am thine I am thine Thus have I shewne how the soule comes out of the wildernesse of sinne and sorrow leaning upon her Beloved And here the ship is in harbour but yet ever and anon she is tossed still persecuted though not forsaken This is the most dangerous wildernesse afterwards she is often in the corner of a Desart I must shew you how even then she leanes and how out of them she comes leaning upon her Beloved She is alwayes a dependent creature she leanes when ever she is wearied The third Wildernesse therefore is the wildernesse of afflictions in this she leanes out of this she comes leaning upon her Welbeloved id est in afflictions she leanes Christ is her comfort in her saddest troubles She leanes upon him viz. upon his supporting grace Thy rod and thy staffe comforted me Psal 23. The staffe held him up while the rod was upon his back The rod was a comfort because of the staffe the more he had of the rod the more he had of the staffe also In afflictions the beleeving soule leanes upon God and says Lam. 2.20
Behold O Lord for I am in distresse Out of the belly of Hell she cryes as Jonas chap. 2. First She beleeves that she shall suffer no more than she is able to beare 2 Cor. 12.9 My grace shall be sufficient for thee For Gods strength is made perfect in the Christians weaknesse Secondly She beleeves that she shall beare no more than shall be for her good Rom. 8.28 All things shall worke together for the good of those that love God She hath a Promise or two here to leane upon also Job 5. v. 19. He shall deliver thee in six troubles yea in seven there shall no evill touch thee And Isa 43.2 When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the Rivers they shall not over flow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee She comes out also leaning trusting upon God as before that he would help her out if he saw best or support her in so when she is come out she beleeves that God loves her never the worse neither doth she love him any whit the worse she cryes It is good for me that I was afflicted When she is in she beleeves she shall come out and she commeth out with as much love to her God and confidence in him as ever she had before not being weary of Gods service because he hath smitten her She sees a smile in a smiting favour in a frowne love in a lowre and she is resolved though he kils her yet to trust in him she comes out of this wildernesse leaning A fourth wildernesse that the Spouse is in sometimes is the wildernesse of Temptations Even in this she leanes upon the Lord Jesus Christ They were not the Spouses of Christ The good ground Luk. 8.13 Which when they heard received the Word with joy but having no root for a time beleeved and in time of Temptation fell away The true Disciples are those that continue with Christ in tentations Luke 22.18 First they beleeve that God who is faithfull will not suffer them to be tempted above that which they are able But will with the temptation also make way to escape that they may be able to beare it 1 Cor. 10.13 They beleeve in that himselfe suffered being tempted he is able to succour those that are tempted 2 Heb. 18. The Saints that suffered many things were in many wildernesses Heb. 11.37 Amongst the rest were in this also and they all leaned v. 39. They received a good report through faith Yea temptation is so farre from making a child of God let goe his hold that it makes him lay the faster hold 1 Pet. 1.6 Though now for a season you are in heavinesse through manifold temptations yet it is that the triall of your faith being much more precious than of gold which perishes though it be tried with the fire might be found unto praise and honour and glory In temptations they leane upon God and they come out of these temptations leaning beleeving upon God too having found that he is able and knoweth how to deliver the godly out of all temptations 2 Pet. 2.9 A fifth wildernesse in which the Spouse of Christ leaneth upon her Beloved and out of which she commeth leaning is the wildernesse of desertion And this is one of the saddest wildernesses that the Spouse of Christ comes in and she hath an hard work to leane here when Christ seemeth to pull away his shoulder yet even here she leanes Christ himselfe did so My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me Mark the phrase Forsaken yet not forsaken the Bridegroome cryes out he was forsaken yet my God Gods forsaking us is no ground for us to forsake him If he seemes not to owne us it is no warrant nor policy in us not to owne him It is the duty of a pious soule when God clouds himselfe yet to cry My God The bowels of the father must yearne upon the childe againe if the childe cryes and will not shake him off It is a remarkable expression of Job chap. 13. ver 15. Though he kils me yet will I trust ïn him How now if thou beest kill'd blest Job how canst thou trust O immortall faith that puttest Spirits of confidence in the dust and ashes of Job Let God hide himselfe from the soule and so kill it For Gods separation of himselfe from the Christians soule is a worse death than the separation of his soule from his body Yet the soule must trust in him it must it will leane upon him The Spouse loseth not but quickens her faith in a fit of desertion That place of the Prophet is remarkable Isa 50. v. 10. Who is amongst you that feareth the Lord that obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darknesse and hath no light let him trust in the Name of the Lord and stay upon his God They that feare the Lord though they may walke in a darke wildernesse and see no such light as they were wont to see have no such comfortable enjoyments of their God as they were wont to have yet they will trust and rest themselves upon the Lord and come out of this wildernesse leaning In all the wildernesses of this life the Spouse will leane upon her Beloved yea and upon him alone in all states in all conditions upon him for directing grace upon him for quickning grace upon him for whatsoever she hath need of either pardon or guidance or direction or assistance or comfort or heaven at all times she must trust in the covert of his wings for all blessings The Spouse of Christ is a most dependent creature The Babe of grace is never old enough to goe alone it hangs like a childe upon the mothers hands and leanes like a Bride upon the Bridegroomes bosome Thus have I done with the Doctrinall part having shewed you how she hath had and sometimes hath her dwelling in the wildernesse and how out of every wildernesse she commeth up but leaning and what strength there is in her Saviour to beare her up leaning upon him even in every wildernesse Who is this commeth up from the wildernesse leaning upon her Beleved Now let us see what use we may make of it And first here may a word of reproof and a brand of folly be fastened upon divers erroneous opinions and practices First is it so that the Spouse of the Lord Christ that comes and is married to the Lord Christ comes out of the wildernesse of sinne Then this may reprove the errour and folly of those that dreame of heaven and flatter themselves with the hopes of glory but yet never regard comming out of this wildernesse Christ came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance These men dreame of Heaven and yet never thinke of Repentance Christ came to seeke and to save that which was lost friend how lost what insensibly lost as all of us were by Nature This is an
no more then the Devill beleeveth sorrow for sinne is better understood by a carnall heart then faith is for the truth of it is the humble soule onely can tell what faith is The other sees neither the want they have of faith nor yet the nature of that precious grace Shall I tell you what pious M. Rutherford sayes concerning this Faith saith he is bottomed upon the sense and paine of a lost condition Povertie is the nearest capacitie of beleeving This is Faiths method be condemned and be saved be hang'd and be pardoned be sick and be healed Faith is a flower of Christs onely planting yet it growes out of no soile but out of the margin and banke of the lake which burnes with fire and brimstone Antinomians saith he againe make faith an act of a lofty Pharisee applying immediato contactu presently his hot boyling and smoking lusts to Christs wounds blood and merit without any conscience of a precedent command that the person thus beleeving should be humbled wearied loaden grived for his sinnes I confesse saith he This is hastie hot work but it is a wanton fleshly presumptuous opinion that it is an immediate work to lay hold on the promises and be saved In his Book of the Tryal and Triumph of Faith you hear the opinion of Gods Servants and the Text mentions a comming too pedetentim gradatim little by little step by step Those that come cannot goe so fast as these because they are weary and heavy loaden Those that learne people to jump must take away Math. 11.29 the heavy load of sinnes which the Spouse hath upon her shoulders keepes her from that hastie motion that Antinomians make I doe not speake to limit the Almighties power but to shew you his ordinarie dispensations not what he can doe but what he will doe what he hath used to doe and God ordinarily walkes in his owne paths not in the paths our fancies make for him we may looke for God in his ordinary wayes of Providence and dispensations of the soule if he comes in a new way it must be beyond our expectations though not beyond our faith that he can doe it yet beyond our faith that he will doe it When wee have no word to assure us what shall faith be builded upon God can turne midnight into mid-day ipso facto But we know in Gods ordinary course of Providence first comes the dawning of the day then the morning then the noone-day God can take a soule and marry it and never humble it but where hath he promised it where hath he done it or if he hath done it wee say one Swallow makes not a Summer one example makes not a Rule one president makes not a law It is no rule for thee or me to trust in that no more then the saving of the thiefe upon the Crosse might be a safe president for us to deferre repentance till our dying day Let thee and I learne to be humbled to get broken hearts to loath our selves see our owne misery Sorrow is the ordinary doore to joy Humiliation the ordinary step to exaltation Mourning for sinne the onely preface to Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in Gods ordinary way of dealing out grace The Latine is full Quae est illa quae ascendit that ascends from the wildernesse Our Translation commeth up implying an ascensive motion t is her running up an hil They that run up a mountaine if they run too fast they may quickly run themselves out of breath it is bad jumpping over a broad ditch especially if it be drowning depth for feare if wee jumpe short we jumpe our last It is a great jump from the bottome of Hell to Heaven to take it at one leape I wish those that dare take it doe not fall short and drowne themselves eternally I had rather goe up Gods steps then make such a hasty motion God give me grace to ascend up the Saints staires to the chambers of glory Elijah was such a favourite to heaven that God sent a coach for him But those that will expect till that fiery Chariot be sent downe for them too I suppose may waite something a longer time then they desire O beg of God to humble you to powre out his spirit of mourning and supplications upon you this will learne you to beleeve friends It is the humbled soule only that construe that word Faith it is Hebrew to others it poseth the impenitent heart Faith is a riddle to them Christ findes his Spouse in the wildernesse and there he gives her his shoulder to leane upon But Thirdly She commeth up leaning out of the wildernesse Is it the duty of a soul that is in a wildernesse of affliction or temptation or desertion to leane upon the Lord Christ Then this may reprove those that are in these wildernesses and yet cannot be perswaded to leane upon the Lord Christ hence they cry out O faith is impossible is it possible to beleeve that Christ will save me me that have scorned his salvation and slighted his mercies And because thou hast slighted mercy wilt thou therefore still slight mercy still refuse his offer of grace Thou sinnest as much now in not beleeving there is mercy for thee that hast dispised mercy as thou didst sinne in dispising that mercy O why is it harder to rise up then to cast downe a soule Why wilt thou not beleeve O thou of little faith Is the mole-hill of thy sinnes like the mountaine of his mercies doth the voice of thy sinnes roare like the voice of his loving kindnesse Is there any humbled soule before the Lord O doe not provoke God by thy infidelity now he hath made thee capable of faith You that are Christians for shame in your severall wildernesses of afflictions temptations and desertions doe not O do not cast downe your heads and say who shall shew us any good or if you doe say againe with the Saint in the ensuing words Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us Beleeve in your depths of sorrow beleeve in your most trying afflictions most sadding temptations most killing desertions beleeve me it is the greatest honour you can put upon the Lord Christ And it is the greatest dishonour you can put upon your God to have any diffidence in the Lords armes any distruct in the Lords free grace It is the property nay it is the duty of the Spouse to come out of wildernesses leaning Fourthly Doth she leane upon God before shee can come must he worke the first motion to make her willing before she can beleeve in him Then how are those to be here reproved that would make mans will to be the Author of its first motions unto God Pelagius was a great defender of it First he would hold That the grace of God was not necessary but by the law of nature we might be saved 2. That the grace of God which the Apostle speaks of was only in giving the law
of nature 3. Driven from this he would maintaine that the faculties of the soule and their naturall Actions was the grace of God understood by the Apostle Yet here is no leaning upon our Beloved Afterwards he would maintaine * Si quaeratur an ex suis Naturalibus viribus anima aliquid afferat ad suam conversionÌ„e vel renovationem vel aliquam facultatÌ„e vel actionÌ„e quae vel partiat is causa vel quocunque alio modo appelletur vere respondetur quod habet se merè passivè Chemni in loc de lib. Arbitr 4. That the grace of God was necessary for sinnes past but it was in the power of mans free-will to avoid or commit sinnes for the time to come and to resist rebellious corruptions 5. After this he would maintaine That some men indeed were weake and must doe all by the grace of God others that were stronger might act good by their owne will But still only some Spouses leane Lastly he would maintaine and the Arminians still from him That grace did indeed helpe a good worke but it had its first motion from our wils or at least might have and the will had a negative voice and might resist and crosse grace which did not work irresistably in the soule to force the soule to him * Quae de gratia Dei praeveniente praeparente operante traduntur hunc babent sensum quod non nostrae partes priores sunt in conversione sed quod Deus per afflatum divinum praeveniat post hunc autem motum voluntatis divinae factum voluntas humana non habet se mere passivè sed mota adjuta à spiritu sancto non repugnat sed assentitur Ib. (a) Cassianus Monachus Pelagii Doctrinam amplexus est Faustus Hormisda Ben. I would not rake up these graves did not these ghosts walke in these our dayes when every grave of Heresie is unbowelled and no one takes care to throw the dirt upon them againe Nay and the Papists having beene tainted with this Leven the Sententiaries now tell us (b) Hominis est preparare cor Aqui. in Sum. Theo. Acquiescre assentiri est nostrûm That a man without grace meerly by the strength of his free will may avoid any mortall sinne and prepare himselfe for Gods free grace and fulfill the Commandements of God Quoad substantiam actus for the substance of the Act (c) Quibus de congruo mereatur gratiam facientem Scotus And another more impudently maintains That a man without any grace of God by the meere strength of nature may doe workes morally good yea even such as God shall be bound to concur with and give his speciall grace for Even thus going back from their owne great Rabbies one of which was pleased to confesse (d) Homo sine gratiâ Dei non potest non peccare mortaliter venialiter Lom That a man without the grace of God could not but sinne both mortally and venially What is become here of the Beloveds leaning but no more of these only if you heare such Doctrines as you may heare any thing in these dayes beleeve them not 5. Spirities Sactus praevenit movel impellit voluntatem in conversione non otiosam sed attendentem verbo Chemnit Vel per speculationem somniorum vel per simulationem oration is ill abi efficaciam Spiritus Sancti Vid. D. Featly Dippers dipt Doth God move the will attendding him in duties first secondly when the will is thus moved doth it then come when it is drawne doth it runne Then this reproves the Enthusiasts of old the Anabaptists Antinomians Seekers of our dayes that hold first there is no need of duties Enthusiasts of old affirmed That for the receiving of the Spirit of Promise and saving grace the Spirit of God was either infused to them in a dreame Vel per simulationem orationis Ay and the motions of the Spirit were as sensible in their flesh as the beating of the pulse so blasphemous were they growne and thence they would lye and gape for Revelations and so indeed they may have a suggestion from the Devill but scarse a Revelation from God Oh! How in these dayes are men tainted with these lazie Opinions slighting duties vilifying Sabbaths neglecting Ordinances that if poore people would truely now give account of their growth in grace and of their learning godlinesse many of them might truly As the child that ye have heard a story in the learning of its Primmer boasted to the father that it had learned past grace Is not this the miserable learning of our dayes that men are grown past grace past Prayer past Ordinances past all duties 6. Againe what you have heard that after the soule is drawne then it comes may shew us the falsenesse of another Doctrine of Enthusiasme too briefe even in these dayes also that the soule is meerly passive even after the worke of conversion also and is even then a meere stone See the Booke set out from the Ministers of New-England of the Hereticks c. Post conversionem concurrit voluntas non tamen quasi suis viribus adjuvet spirituales actiones Semper addendum est non esse plenam libertatem in sancto renato sed virtutem in infirmitate perfici Chemnit Intelligant si filii Dei sint spiritu Dei se agi ut quod agendum est agant cum egerint â—lli à quo aguntur gratias agant Aguntur enim ut agant non ut ipsi nihil agant Aug. Draw me saith the Spouse and then I will runne after thee Indeed after our conversion the will is but in part sanctified and the Image of God in us will want of his first integrity after it is renewed but Christs strength is perfected in our weaknesse we must understand if we be the children of God that God hath therefore wrought in us that we might also worke something and when we have wrought it give thankes to God who hath made us to worke for God hath wrought in us that we might worke not that we should be idle Thus I have laboured to you to divide the Truth from Errour Now you have heard of the leaven of these Pharisees take heed of it In the next place what you have heard that the soule that comes to the Lord Jesus Christ leanes upon a new Beloved not upon her old beloveds may serve to reprove those that would faine plead a title to Christ and have a portion in Christ but they will not take Christ alone two sorts there are of these The one cannot leave their old beloveds and the other cannot trust this Beloved O the wicked man would have his portion in Christ if he might but have his lusts too his pleasures his profit but to take Christ alone O this is such a hard saying that they cannot beare by any meanes If Christ and his lusts would lye both in one bed Christ at the feet