not for me only says he but for you also rest with us You shall come into the same Rest with us Ministers and People that are faithful in Christ Jesus shall all come into the same Rest a Rest that none of the troublers shall be able to disturb Rev. 14.13 Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them The labours and the pains that you take here they are very many We were driven by God into this condition in the sweat of our faces to eat our bread Well but this is but for this life You have a Hope that is laid up in Heaven for you of a blessed and a glorious Rest wherein you shall have freedom from all your labours you shall have freedom from all the disturbances and pressures that you have here 4. There is a fulness of Joy that is laid up in Heaven for all Believers Says the Prophet Isa 66.11 That ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolation that ye may milk out and be delighted with the abundance of her glory If that there be such a time a coming wherein this may be true of the Saints here upon Earth it will be much more so in Heaven for Heaven will heighten all it will heighten all your joy and heighten all your comfort and not only heighten the joy and comfort that you have but that succeeding Saints shall have when the whole Earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord still there shall be a disproportion between Earth and Heaven When the voice saith Come up hither that which follows is Enter into your Master's Joy Matth. 25.21 Here the Lord for the bearing up of the hearts of his People sends down a little joy into their spirits he sends down the Comforter unto them and he comes and now and then speaks a reviving word now and then he gives a drop of consolation and it may be it is upon the end of the Rod too and this is counted a great matter and truly it should be so with us But there is a hope of another manner of Joy or other measures laid up in Heaven for you Joy it shall be the Air that the Saints shall breath in it shall be the very Orb that they shall move in the very Elements that they shall dwell in their hearts cannot hold all it shall be overflowing it shall be round about them 1. The Joy that is laid up in Heaven for the Saints it is that that shall be fully satisfying They shall have enough of it they shall be filled with it to the full so as there shall be no room for more Psal 16.11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life in thy presence is fulness of Joy and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore But shall the Saints have enough of this yes Psal 17.16 As for me I will behold thy face in righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness The Soul hath not its satisfaction here when it hath a little it is enlarged to bless God but it hath not enough it would have more still a little more communion with God But in Heaven there is satisfaction to the full When I awake that is in the morning of the resurrection when this mortality is blown out of his eyes when he comes to open his eyes in the other world then shall I be satisfied with thy likeness 2. The Joy that is laid up in Heaven is unmixed Here there is a mixture with your Joy you have a little joy and a great deal of sorrow you have a little peace and a great deal of trouble you have darkness with your light and you have vexation and crosses with your comforts But in Heaven there is nothing to cross there is nothing to grieve there is only joy there is no mixture with your joy It will be pure joy 3. And thirdly That Joy that is laid up in Heaven will be permanent It is such as you shall sit down in and that which you shall partake of to eternity Here your joy is not only mixed with sorrows but it meets with great overwhelmings it is coming and going it is partaken of here at great uncertainties but now in Heaven it will be alwaies the same 4. There is in Heaven laid up for you absolute freedom and full liberty of Soul in the Service of God Here 't is not so when the spirit is willing the flesh is weak and how often are our hearts ready to die within us The Spirit will not hold out we can hardly watch with Christ one hour bodies tire and spirits tire but now there will be a fulness of strength in Heaven and there will be liberty of spirit proportionable to all strength and to all grace the Soul will be in absolute freedom for God and the body under an absolute freedom too answerable unto all the freeness of the Soul now the body is a great clog to the Soul it is a great hinderance that you cannot do for God and you cannot lay out your selves for God as you would but there will be no weariness in Heaven in your Spirits though you shall serve night and day world without end the promise is Isaiah 40.31 That they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not be faint The Saints rejoyce as they can experience something of this here but the fulness of this promise will be in Heaven there you shall mount up indeed as with wings there Soul and Body shall be in all liberty in the service of God Now what would Saints give to have their Spirits in a freedom and full liberty for God but one day O they would count it a corner of Heaven if that they could have their Spirits set in full liberty for God but one of his daies that they may serve God and delight themselves fully in the service of God a whole day But Sirs in Heaven you shall be fully delighted in the service of God to eternity all clogs shall be taken off from your Spirits 5. The Saints have a hope laid up in Heaven for them of an eternal abode in the glorious pallace of their Father here their dwelling is uncertain they have no sure dwelling place upon earth their Landlords sometimes warn them out of their Houses and command them to seek a new dwelling sometimes God turns them out of their Houses they may be driven out of their Houses here by the Sword they may be driven out by fire but the Lord he hath chosen Heaven as the place of their perpetual residence Deut. 1.33 Who went in the way before you to search out a place The Lord went before Israel in the Wilderness by Fire and by the Cloud to search out a place for
as it were a Confederacy against us to turn us out of all yet Ego exultabo in Deo I will rejoyce in my God even in the God of my Salvation And Calvin saith My joy is not founded upon the Creature nor upon external enjoyments therefore let all things be brought into confusion here below nay let God himself seem to stand frowning over us yet saies he will I rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation Joy is the sweet motion of the Soul in a full contentment of heart and complacency of Spirit upon some good set before it Now here the Prophet sees all discouraging below he turns his Eyes up to Heaven and he sees a certainty there he sees stability there and therefore he rejoyces in the Lord and Joys in the God of his Salvation I will rejoice in the Lord. Who is meant by Lord here I will rejoyce in Jehovah the God of my Salvation Jehovah is a Title given unto God the Father setting forth his self-being and self-sufficiency and giving existence unto all Creatures but the Title Jehovah is attributed also unto the Son and so I understand it here in this Text I will rejoice in Jehovah that is in Christ Jesus who may be called Jehovah not only as he hath a sufficiency in himself but as he gives existence and being unto all the promises of the Covenant of Grace in whom they are yea and Amen and on this account I take it that the Title Jehovah is often given unto Jesus Christ the second Person I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation that is in my Lord my Saviour my dear Jesus and my Redeemer and so from the words you may observe this proposition Doct. That there is enough in Christ Jesus alone for the Souls full rejoycing and triumph in all cases and conditions Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation Let things go how they will in the world as to my outward Concerns yet the ground of my joy that is never taken from me Although the Fig-tree do not blossom although there shall be no fruit in the Vine although the labour of the Olive shall fail and the Fields shall yield no meat the Flocks shall be cut off from the Fold and there shall be no Herd in the Stall yet my Joy that abides the ground of my Joy that cannot be taken from me 't is not in the Creature 't is not upon Earth but 't is in Heaven 't is not in Man 't is in the Lord 't is not in the confluence of these things that are coming and going and in an uncertain enjoyment but it is in the Lord who never fails saies David in the 2 Sam. 23.5 Though my House be not so with God my Family is not as I would have it to be I cannot rectify all the disorders of my House and settle things as I would my house is not with God as I would have it according to my hearts desire yet God hath made with me an everlasting Covenant of Grace and this is all my Salvation and all my desire The word that is translated desire here in the Hebrew signifies also delight this is all my Salvation and all my delight as we may read it here is the Joy of my heart my delight is here Gods Covenant of Grace stands sure with me and therein will I rejoyce as if David had said things go ill with me here below the Sword is threatned never to depart from my House while I live that I must be a man of trouble and of war to the end of my daies what breaches may be made upon my Kingdom and what breeches may be made in my Family the Lord only knows yet the Covenant that stands sure and that is all my delight my heart centers here and I will comfort my self in the Lord my God And if we search into the Psalms there we shall find that David does frequently under great disasters make his boast of God Providences were frowning and he seemed to be driven out of all yet saies he The Lord God is my refuge he is the Horn of my Salvation my Sanctuary and high Tower and I will rejoyce and let all the righteous rejoice and be glad in him In the handling of this proposition there are these things that we shall propose to consider and unfold to you First What Jesus Christ is Secondly What he hath and Thirdly What he will do for the believing Soul that the believer may take comfort and rejoyce in him at all times whatsoever his condition is First What Jesus Christ is that the Prophet doth here so comfort himself in and rejoice and make his boast of First He is glorious in his Person a very glorious person he is not one like him in Heaven nor in Earth what is said concerning Saul in the 1 Sam. 9.2 we may in allusion apply unto Christ that he was a choice young man a goodly there was not among the Children of Israel a goodlier Person then he from the shoulders upward he was higher than any of the People I only allude to it Jesus Christ is a most choice excellent one a very goodly and a very lovely Person he is higher both by head and shoulders than any of his Brethren a Person all glorious a Person all over lovely and beautiful in Can. 5.16 His mouth is most sweet yea he is altogether lovely this is my beloved c. But I shall descend into particulars and shew you wherein Jesus Christ is such a sufficient ground of rejoycing and of comfort to the believing Soul that hath an interest in him in all conditions and I shall here shew you wherein it appeareth that the glory of Christs Person is such a ground of rejoycing to us at all times And that will appear in his Mediatory Constitution as God-man in one Person Jesus is a Mediator a days Man an umpire between God and Man one that hath come between God and Man to make peace for us and the glory of his Person lies in his mediatory constitution as he is God-man so he is a most glorious Person Now this Title of Mediator is often given him in Scripture in Heb. 8.6 he is called the Mediator of a better Covenant Heb. 9.15 the Mediator of the New Testament and Heb. 12.24 To Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant and to the blood of sprinkling So 1 Tim. 2.5 This was such a one as Job wished for in Job 9.33 Neither is there any days-man between us that might lay his hand upon us both Now there are two things that are requisite for the compleating and accomplishing of a Mediator First He must be equally related to the Persons between whom he comes Secondly He must be impartial and faithfully indifferent now both these are found in Jesus Christ First A Mediator I say must be equally stated between and
he shall be able to do even to amazement to bear and to suffer to astonishment A little of the Grace of Christ O now patient will it make the Soul under great afflictions and how will it strengthen a poor weak believer to hold on in the face of all difficulties he shall be able to hold pace not only with the Footmen but with the Horsemen by the grace of Christ are we sweetly swiftly and joyfully carried on in the ways of new obedience hence is it that we are oft-times commended unto the grace of the Lord Jesus in divers Epistles I commend you saies the Apostle to the grace of the Lord Jesus and the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you and indeed there needs no more because there is enough for our supply at all times and therefore when we are poor and weak and empty and low in our selves we should look up to Jesus Jesus is alwaies full we know not how to go through such a duty nor how to manage such a condition we have not grace for it and we think we shall sink and fail under discouragements why Christian if indeed thou hadst no more then what thou hast in thy self thou mightest fear this but keep thine Eye upon Jesus he is full and filled for the supply of thee and he will communicate according to thy necessities we may therefore at all times and upon all occasions wait upon him SERMON III. Habakkuk 3.18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord I will Joy in the God of my Salvation VVE are shewing you from this Scripture what a constant ground of joy and rejoycing there is in Jesus Christ for the believing Soul at all times and in all conditions as to what Christ is and as to what Christ hath we spake the last day and shall now proceed unto the third particular proposed to be considered 3. And that is what Jesus Christ will do and is a doing for the believing Soul that may be a ground of comfort and joy to him in all his heart saddening conditions and tribulations in this world And first Jesus Christ appears as an Advocate in Heaven at the right hand of God for all believers answering and silencing all accusations and charges brought in against them whereby they are continued in that justified peace state that in their first coming over to God they were stated in There are many failings and provocations in a Christians way and walking with God The remains of sin that yet abide in them they will be rising up and putting forth into the life and life-acts of a Christian But Jesus Christ as his Advocate in Heaven ever stands up before God to see the peace of a Christians state kept Satan that old accuser of the Brethren he is daily observing a Christians walking and viewing a Christians steps to see if he can gather up any thing in his life to improve it and carry it unto God against him and believe it friends he won't better your case as he represents it unto God he won't lessen your fault but he will greaten it and make it worse than it is he is called 1 Pet. 5.8 The adversary of believers The word that we translate adversary some read it a Court adversary one that puts in something against you in the Court of Heaven but I would rather read the word thus one that will charge beyond truth one that will go beyond the bounds of truth in the charges and accusations that he brings in for the word in the Original does import so much one that acts against all rules of justice in the plea's that he shall put in or the charges that he shall deliver against a Christians state in the Court of Heaven Rev. 12.10 he is there called the Accuser of the Brethren which accused them before God day and night he is the old Accuser and Traducer of the Saints at the Bar of Gods justice Now Jesus Christ he alwaies stands up at the right hand of God there to appear as an Advocate on the believers account suing out on the account of his blood new pardons for their renewed transgressions or the continuance of justification and of pardons upon their state so as nothing may be heard in the Court of Heaven against them Jesus Christ stands up to see that a Christians peace with God be not violated and therefore he removes sin as fast as it appears and he answers the accusation as soon as it is made and he silenceth the adversary as soon as he comes Rom. 8.34 Who saies the Apostle shall condemn It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us If sin appears he will remove it and if Satan step in he will silence him he is there upon this account as an Advocate or as an Attorney to answer for you whenever your name is called in Question and therefore saies the Apostle 1 John 2.1 My little Children these things write I unto you that you sin not and if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous as soon as ever an offence is committed Christ steps up and he pleads your case and he urges the value of his blood that was shed for the remission of sins that your peace with God into which you were brought in your first coming over to him may be maintained Now Christians do but consider this and you will find that it is a ground of joy and comfort in your present state It may be your outward peace is broken in upon you have enemies that have disturbed you as to your outward comforts and as to your outward joy and settlement you have those that have incensed it may be your intimate friends against you that now they stand aloof from you well though it be so yet your peace with God that abides and Jesus Christ as your Advocate continues you in your justified state before God let the Devil do his utmost he shall never incense God against a believer because Jesus Christ is an Advocate alwaies at his right hand speaking for him let him tell never such stories of a Christians carriage and conversation unto the Lord yet he shall never incense God against him You know that he did his utmost to incense God against Job he told the Lord fair stories of him that there was no truth no sincerity in him and that he served him but for the comforts of his state and for the outward advantages that he did enjoy but Jesus Christ he saw the peace of Job kept he was his Advocate then so early and he maintained Job in the love and favour of God and thus will he do for all believers he will silence all accusations and remove all objections and he will continue you in your peace state with God the vertue of Christs death is a continued vertue it is alwaies influential upon the heart of God
saith the Lord so as I will never cast thee off I will never give thee a Bill of Divorce I will be thy Husband for ever and thou shalt be my Spouse for ever The relation is alwaies pleadable And in your near and intimate union with himself as you stand in relations of grace to him so you stand in relations of grace to the Father You are the Adopted Children of God God the Father of Christ is your Father and he is alwaies your Father and you are alwaies his Children nothing can come between nothing can cause him to cast you out and disinherit you having received you into this firm into this intimate union you are Heirs being made one with Christ you are Joynt-Heirs with Jesus Christ Heirs of God once an Heir and for ever an Heir so as all the blessed things of the purchase of Christ Jesus and the whole Inheritance of Christ Jesus is before you 't is yours and for you And now Christian what a ground of rejoycing is here for you What though your outward comforts are coming and going they are fading and vanishing It may be you have your hands full of them to day and to morrow they will be gone and you shall see them no more for ever yet know that you have an abiding ground of Joy in Christ Jesus for he it is that maintains your union with himself he hath not only united you but he keeps you in union and he maintains all the gracious relations of the union both with him and also with his Father so as though you have not a Friend upon Earth you may go and say well I have a Friend in Heaven I have not a Father upon Earth ay but I have a Father in Heaven I have not a Husband upon Earth ay but I have a Husband in Heaven I have not a faithful Brother upon Earth ay but I have a sincere hearted Brother in Heaven the relations of Grace they hold and they are alwaies pleadable and improveable And then Eightly In the eighth and last place Jesus Christ is making glorious provisions in Heaven and will in due time glorify all his people with himself for ever saies Christ Jesus It is expedient for you that I go away 't is for your good it was for your good that I came and it is for your good that I staid so long and it is for your good that now I go away For I go to prepare a place for you In my Fathers House are many mansions and I go to make these mansions ready for you I go to Heaven as your fore-runner Consider Jesus as your fore-runner that is entered in for you before-hand making Heaven ready preparing the Crown and the Kingdom for you now though you be robbed of your earthly comforts you cannot be robbed of your Heavenly glory you may be spoiled of your Treasures here upon Earth but you cannot be cheated of your Treasures in Heaven Why Jesus Christ is there to secure it and he hath it in possession he is there as your fore-runner he is there to make all ready I will Father saies he that those that thou hast given me be with me where I am and the glory that thou hast given to me be bestowed upon them that they may be one as thou Father and I are one Now under all your vicissitudes and changes and emptyings and spoylings in this world look up to Christ Jesus and see Heaven sure in him and see glory sure in him and see a Crown and a Kingdom sure in his hand take comfort then Christians in all your necessities here below in the Lord Jesus Christ and with the Prophet do you alwaies glory and rejoyce in him Vse All that I shall super-add shall be only in a sentence or two unto Sinners for as to Saints how they should come to improve Christ Jesus and to live by faith upon him in all conditions I shall shew you afterward if God gives the opportunity but here in a word let Sinners consider how miserable their state and condition is Why Sirs you have heard that there is an abiding ground of joy in Christ Jesus for the believer whatsoever his state is But do you consider that none of this belongs to you all this comfort belongs to Saints not to you you have no part in it there is an abiding ground of terrour of sorrow and of bitterness that belongs to you because you are apart from Christ that hath such a fulness of all joy in him for believers Take heed therefore how you content your selves in a Christless state and how you bless your selves whilest you are remote from Jesus Christ and without a part and interest in him thou art not under the blessing but under the curse there is the flaming Sword that hangs over thy head and there is the hand writing that is over thee upon the wall Let then the Sinner tremble on the consideration of his perishing condition in which he is out of Christ And let it be an inviting word to all of you who have not yet made your close with Jesus that you enquire after him that you earnestly pursue after him for your rest and your peace your comfort and your blessedness it is all in him and can only be obtained by a closure with him SERMON IV. Habakkuk 3.18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord I will Joy in the God of my Salvation THe Proposition that we are upon from the words is this Doct. That there is enough in Christ Jesus alone for the Souls full rejoycing and triumph whatsoever his condition be in this world Before I come to that which I further proposed to consider and speak to viz. how the believer should be helped to live a life of faith upon Christ Jesus unto his spiritual joy and comfort in all conditions I shall alittle insist upon and labour to clear to you the Souls interest in this Jesus that hath such abiding grounds of joy at all times in him saies the Prophet here in the text Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation I shall insist upon the Pronoun my and labour to clear the believers standing that he may know his interest and that he is indeed united unto Christ Jesus it is not in Christ at large that a Person can glory in but it is in Christ under or in a peculiar Gospel relation unto his Soul it is not in Christ in general but in Christ that his Soul is interested in that he can rejoice in in all conditions and this I suppose is an inquiry that all of you will be desirous should be spoken to viz. Qu. How the believer may know that he hath an interest in Christ Jesus That this glorious and blessed Jesus this full Jesus is his Jesus his Saviour That he may be able to say with the Prophet here Yet I will rejoice in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation
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
ordinances and hence he can make nothing of his condition he cannot say that the work of Grace is so and so wrought in him because he hath not been observant to gather up what hath past upon his Spirit 9. Again Darkness of evidence doth sometimes arise from an ungospel modesty that dares not believe such good things of its self There is a kind of ungospel modesty that some Christians do express wherein they would discover a great deal of unworthiness in themselves and a great deal of lowliness of Spirit but in it they do but deny what Jesus Christ hath done and wrong their own case O to think that Jesus Christ hath been dealing with them and hath made powerful applications of his blood unto them and hath united and reconciled them unto himself O they cannot tell how to believe this of themselves an interest in Christ is a great thing and a heart change is a mighty change I dare not think saies the Soul that the Lord hath done this for me who am so vile and so unworthy and thus the Soul stands reasons against all the experiences that he hath had of God and denies the comforts of it 10. Again In the last place Darkness of evidence doth sometimes arise from peremptory conclusions of the issues of our state upon the reports that sense makes upon all inquiries The reason of our darkness is because we lay the stress of our condition upon sense and upon what we can seel in our selves and not upon a naked venture upon Christ Jesus not upon a Gospel throw upon Christ Jesus whatever be the issue but the Soul goes to its feelings and makes a judgment of its state upon and from them when he can find his heart warmed for Christ when he can find his Spirit under any Gospel enlargement for Christ when he can find his Graces begin to grow and thrive and when he can find speedy returns made unto all his seekings after the Lord then he concludes now all is well here is an interest and behold the fruits of it But now when the Souls Graces are alittle clouded when he misses of that enlargement that sometimes he hath experienced And when he comes under some straitness and when Jesus Christ is a while silent unto his prayers why then he concludes against himself O here is no interest why if I were in Christ Jesus it would be otherwise with me Christ would answer me and Christ would enlarge me and Christ would heighten and brighten my Graces Christ would not leave me in such an uncomfortable condition he would fill me and lift me up and set me on high O surely there is nothing of truth and reality that hath passed upon my Soul Now Christians while you draw up peremptory conclusions of the issue of your state upon the reports of sense in your hearts you will never come to be setled and established while you are in this world conclusions drawn from changeable mutable principles will never be relieving nor comforting to you Well these things briefly may suffice for the second proposal what might be the grounds of a believers darkness in and about their interest and evidence Thirdly We shall proceed unto the third particular and that is this Qu. If it be thus that Believers are often times in the dark in and about their Interest and have not the evidence of their relation in Christ clear what should the Believer do in the interim until the Lord shall be pleased to discover and unfold himself to him and seal and confirm all that he hath done for him and bestowed upon him Ans There are nine or ten particulars that I shall lay down here in way of Direction First In case of darkness of evidence muck the root of faith Or if you will take it thus strengthen and double the direct act of faith when you are not able to put forth a reflex act of Faith There is a direct and there is a reflex act of Faith the direct act of Faith is an act of recumbence it is an act of relyance upon Jesus Christ the reflex act of Faith is the Soul 's glorying and triumphing in Christ Jesus that he hath made a close with Now Christian if thou hast not the assuring act of Faith then be sure that you strengthen Faith in its closing act and in its believing act wherein it rests on Christ Jesus alone go oftener unto Christ and there determine thy Soul and resolve ever to wait upon him and to abide at his footstool the believing act of Faith or the direct act of Faith that I may call the first act and the reflex act of Faith I may call the second act of Faith Now Christian if you be not able to come up to the second act of Faith then be often repeating the first act of Faith be often rolling your Souls upon Christ Jesus and by this means you may come to be assured for the direct act of Faith hath a tendency in it to carry thee up unto a full assurance in Christ Jesus and therefore be often redoubling that act thou doest not know how soon the joy of thy assurance may come in Secondly Upon the darkness of evidence take notice of and rejoyce in the strengthenings and upholdings of the Spirit though for the present you are without the sealings and ensurings of the Spirit Why let it not be a small thing unto thee that though thou art not comforted and though thy Interest is not cleared yet thou art kept waiting upon God Who is it that upholds thee against all thy discouragements Couldest thou hold out of thy self Couldest thou bear up when there seems to be no returns made nothing but discouragements in thy way Thou cryest again and again and hast no return but a seeming repulse who is it think you that upholds you doubtless it is the Spirit of the Lord Who was it that upheld the Woman of Canaan when Christ Jesus did chide her and seem'd to give her a repulse doubtless whilst he seemed outwardly to discountenance her he was secretly upholding and drawing her heart nearer to himself or else she had fainted Now if thou hast had a heart to continue waiting upon God and thy desires and resolutions are still to follow the Lord take notice of these upholds of the Spirit and bless God for these and it may be the Spirit in a little while may go on to assure thee Thirdly Again Upon the darkness of evidence and want of assurance labour to heighten true grace and holiness Strive to encrease to grow in grace for that will be more to thy advantage than to bend thy desires wholly for comfort and for assurance It is a greater mercy for God to give thee a new measure of grace than to give thee a new degree of comfort It is a higher priviledge There is more in grace than there is in comfort for grace hath a more immediate tendency to God's glory
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
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
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
pledge of it and he is reserved for eternal life and he is going on to perfection to enjoy eternal life The Lord is in grace and by grace fitting of him for a glorious enjoyment of himself for ever now these things are for thy comfort in thy present condition whilest the light of evidence is but glimmering in thy heart Secondly Some few things briefly I shall give you by way of direction First Have you the least intimation of the Lords love to you and of your standing in his love be thankful for these small appearances of light in your Souls I say be thankful Christians there is a great deal in a little and small word of evidence or in a small word of hope Therefore take every hint that the Lord gives and wear it with thankfulness bless his name for it that is the way to have it encreased Secondly Joy and triumph in the Lord upon the present evidence that you have living up to it I say live up to the light that you have in a holy joy and rejoycing in Christ Jesus get into the Prophets Spirit and into his frame here in the text To joy in the Lord and to rejojce in the God of your Salvation and learn Christian to live up unto a small measure of assurance and that is the way to have a greater Thirdly Acknowledge all sense of interest to be given forth in a way of grace I say acknowledge that not only the grace of your union but also the light and comfort of your union is dispensed in a way of free grace The Lord is pleased to give out all manifestations of interest in Christ in a way of grace John 14.22 Judas saith unto him not Iscariot Lord how is it that thou manifestest thy self unto us and not unto the world He must speak this upon a reflect act or else he could not speak with that confidence Lord that thou hast manifested thy self to us and not to others this is to be acknowledged unto free grace Fourthly Have you a little light of your Interest do you gather in upon Christ from that little that you have for more Christians though you have but a little light for the present and are weak in assurance for the present yet there is a full measure of assurance to be given out There is not only the Soul's comfort from a reflect act by the light of the Lord upon his own grace that is wrought but there is the immediate Testimony of the Spirit that is ready to be given out which is a Witness not argumentative or in a way of argumentation but it is a Witness and Evidence that is given in by and in the immediateness of his own presence in the heart of the Believer Rom. 8.16 The Spirit it self beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God He bears witness in some immediate act in the Soul It is a clear undeniable soul-satisfying Divine Testimony that the Spirit gives in the Soul that resolves all its doubts and clears his whole Interest and settles him in the full enjoyment of the Lord Jesus and enables him to act upon it And then Fifthly and lastly Have you a little evidence of your Interest for the present Christian do you improve this little unto the comforting of your Souls in Christ in all straits and unto a living upon him in all the necessities of your present condition Jesus is yours and you are interested in him the Lord hath given you some little hope of this this hope through grace Christians should be improved by you upon all occasions you should run out unto the Lord Jesus and have recourse to him and venture upon him you should glory in him and live upon his fulness and rely upon his power and faithfulness Jesus that is so full is your Jesus and Jesus that is so free is your Jesus and Jesus that is so faithful is your Jesus you have some sight of this and some hope of this through grace the Lord now expects that you should come and live upon him in all conditions and comfort your Souls in him in all disconsolations when you are weak and when you are tempted and when you are tryed and when you meet with discouragements from without then to retire to the Lord Jesus and act Faith upon him SERMON IX Habakkuk 3.18 Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation I Shall now proceed to help and direct those Souls that are able to reflect upon their own Interest and standing in Christ that they may live upon Christ and glory in him in all conditions and under all changes of Providence that though they have none else though they have nothing else in this world but the Lord Jesus Christ to live upon their hearts may be full of joy and comfort And before I come particularly to speak unto this I shall premise and propose several considerations that may help to clear the way to what we design to speak to and to encourage your hearts unto a living upon and glorying in Christ when you have nothing else to rejoyce in First Consider that all the comforts of an outward condition are held at great uncertainties and continued at the soveraign pleasure of the great disposer of Heaven The Lord hath not fixt us unchangeably in the enjoyments and comforts of an outward state but he reserves a soveraign power in his own hand to remand from us what at a time he was pleased to command down upon us And all the comforts of an outward condition they are mutable and we are exposed unto a variety of changes of condition in this world All our outward comforts they are exposable unto the spoil and the very foundation of our Joy in this world is avertable He that hath to his own apprehension a mountain that stands strong that he thinks can never be moved is exposed to the soveraign alterations of the great Ruler of Heaven that he may have his mountain overturned in a moment and he that is lifted up on high and seems to himself to be so upon the advance that he shall never fall The Lord can suddenly like unto Job lay him in the dust We are full one day and the Lord may empty us before the next we are rich to day and we may be poor before to morrow we are comforted to day on every side and we may be left naked destitute and broken before to morrow As to our Stocks they are losable and spendable and as to all Lands and Inheritances they are saleable and morgageable uncertain riches they make to themselves wings and flee away they have the wings of fire or the wings of Thieves or the wings of this providence and the other to flee away with The Lord he suffers one man to run away with so much of such a man's estate and suffers another to run away with another part of his estate that those that were
hath an interest in Jesus once hath an interest in him for ever and the Soul that is once admitted unto the fountain of Christ Jesus shall never be debarr'd more you have not a coming and a going interest an interest that is to day and may be taken away to morrow indeed your outward comforts they are losable comforts and your outward blessings are spendable God may give you much to day and you may have nothing of all that much to morrow but it is not so here you are not interested in Christ to day and dis-interested in him to morrow but once interested and for ever interested not gracious now and graceless by and by but your interest in the grace of Christ is an everlasting interest and you have the immutable fulness of the Lord Jesus ever to go unto whatever your strait is having once an interest given you in him the Lord doth not give you a part in himself and then take away that part but Christ once yours is for ever yours and your fountain fulness none shall ever be able to take from you nor to deprive you of so as if thou hast once Christ to go unto thou hast alwaies Christ to go unto and if thou doest once discern thy interest in Christ upon good and Gospel substantial grounds thou mayest alwaies glory in the Lord that thou art once interested in Fourthly All Saints have the same Jesus to live upon and the same fulness of Jesus in all its dimensions to go unto The Lord hath not given one believer a greater propriety in himself then he hath given another neither hath one a fuller way prepared for him of going unto Christ than another hath the same Jesus that Abraham had to do with and did live upon is in common for every Son and Daughter of Abraham and the same fulness of Jesus that Abraham had you have in all its dimensions the Lord did not open a Fountain unto Abraham and open only a stream unto you but if you be a Son or Daughter of Abraham you have the same great Ocean to go unto in all its fulness that Abraham had you have the same merits to implead that Abraham had you have the same blood to be washed in and to wash in that any other believer hath and you have the same great and precious promises to apply that another believer hath one believer cannot lay a challenge upon this promise and say it is mine and not yours but 't is yours as well as his the same Fountain in all its dimensions you have to go unto in all your streights that another believer hath and therefore if you have not that strength if you have nor that grace if you have not that riches if you have not that fulness that another believer hath you must blame your felves and not Christ for he offers himself alike unto all and discovers and holds forth his Fountain alike unto all Fifthly There is a vast disproportion between your creature losses and your gains and enjoyments in Christ your losses in the creature they are but shadows and not substance there is an emptiness in the fullest outward condition take it as an outward condition and there is a bitterness in the sweetest outward enjoyment and the losses that you can meet withal in this world they are only such as reach and concern an animal life but now there is more in a little of Christ Jesus then there is in a great deal of the Creature nay in all creature enjoyments so as whatsoever the loss is that you meet withal in the creature a little of Christ Jesus will make it up the least gift of Christs right hand doth far exceed all the gifts of his left hand and one draught of the water of the upper springs is more then all the waters in the nether springs so as though thou meetest with sore losses and great blows and breakings in the outward man yet know that a little of Christ will fill up thy Soul that there will be no want whatsoever thou hast lost it may be Christian that the Creature that thou hast lost would have been enjoyed to thy disadvantage if it had still been kept in thy hand it may be it had been to the loss to the hurt of the possessour but now Jesus Christ is alwaies enjoyed to the advantage and Christ Jesus is such an advantage as will answer all losing disadvantages so as Christian be not overmuch dejected at the passing away of the Creature when there is still enough in Christ to make up the loss that thou hast sustained Sixthly The joy that is drawn from Christ depend not upon sensible things but lives in the Soul when all outward comforts are gone you may as to the world be an undone man broken in your outward estate and yet your joy none can take from you but now whatsoever you have in the Creature if you have not Christ with the creature you have no ground of joy so as Christ he is alwaies a ground of joy whether the Creature be absent or present but the Creature is never so without Christ do but consider the Apostle Paul he had an interest in Christ and he glories in his interest when he had nothing else Rom. 5.3 We have peace with God saies he through our Lord Jesus Christ and we rejoyce in hope of the glory of God and now saies he we glory in tribulation we are spoyled in our goods and we are sore broken and left sorrowful and desolate and forsaken as to outward supports and supporters and yet saies he in the midst of all we glory in tribulation or if you will according unto another Scripture we are saies he but as sorrowful and but as poor 2 Cor. 6.10 For indeed we make many rich we have grace and abundance of grace in Christ Jesus and we are in no want Paul and Silas Acts 16.26 they were in Prison and in the Stocks and yet behold at midnight they break out in singing praises unto God their hearts were full of joy when they had nothing of the Creature in their hands and thus did the Prophet in the text there comes a famine upon all his outward comforts that behold he had nothing to live upon and yet will I rejoice in the Lord we have all in him saies he when we have nothing out of him Joy that is drawn from Christ shall abide in the Soul when all visible creature supports shall fail though his entertainment in the world be very mean and his outward burthens be very great and his poverty very pressing upon his outward man yet the Soul that hath an interest in Christ will joy notwithstanding all this Seventhly Again The Lord Jesus Christ in his Gospel-fulness of grace is under an indispensible obligation to dispense that grace that as the great officer of Heaven he hath received the charge of The fulness of Christ Jesus it is a common fulness it is a fulness for
and of your troubles and then you will see them to be but small You go Christians and stand below Christ and there you look upon your troubles and afflictions and then indeed they seem very great ay but get upon the all-sufficiency of Christ and then view them get but upon the mount and look down upon all your losses and crosses and they will seem little things then What is this loss that I have sustained to what I have in the Lord Jesus Christ what is my poor empty vessel to the great fulness that is in the Ocean of the Lord Jesus If you did stand upon the all-sufficiency of Christ and look upon the disasters of your outward condition they would seem to be but like a little Vessel brought to the great Sea that is presently filled and yet there is no lessening of the water in the Ocean but the Sea is as full as ever 4. Alwaies keep the invisibles of Christs Grace and of Christs glory in your Eye It is something a strange thing but t is the mystery of faith I say keep invisibles in your eye faith knows the meaning of it faith will espy an invisible thing that which sense can discern nothing of faith will espy and keep sight of now this was one way that Moses had to get up into a living upon the Lord Jesus by faith he kept invisibles in his Eye he saw him that was invisible Heb. 11.27 he endured as seeing him that was invisible and what is the description that the Apostle gives of faith in a Gospel exercise that we are speaking of but that which I have told you the discerning of invisibles Heb. 11.1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen Faith in its exercise will ransack among the promises the promises both of grace and glory and there will espy a great treasure and shew the Soul this as that which is his and belongs to him now Christian view the promises of grace and the promises of glory that are in the hands of Jesus Christ and see the invisible graces and the invisible comforts and the invisible blessings that are contained in them and never lose the sight of these invisibles but keep them alwaies in your eye and then you will see a glorious Jesus that your Souls will love to dwell upon and you won't dwell from him 5. Never ground your faith your hope upon your experiences but upon the promises which is alwaies attended with a wonderful working power If that you ground your faith and your hope upon your experiences if your second trial be greater then your first your faith will be posed and you will sit down under discouragement indeed there is a holy and Christian use that is to be made of your experiences but you must never ground your faith and hope upon them for God is alwaies an out-doing God he will out-do his own act he will go further in one act then he will do in another if you ground your faith upon your experiences when you come into a new streight that you never came into before your faith will fail do but consider this in the Israelites if they had gone no further then their experiences what a loss had they been in nay upon this account they were at a great loss they only considered what God had done for them and did not consider what he could do and what a boundless power was working through the promise for them and therefore though they were delivered through the Red Sea yet say they can God spread a Table in the Wilderness Moses what hast thou brought us into the Wilderness to destroy us there is no Bread here there is no Water here how can we subsist They never had experience of the wonders of Gods power in those particular cases and therefore their experiences could not carry them through but they were to exercise faith upon the promise that had a boundless power working with it and that would have told them that God can spread a Table in the Wilderness and can command a rock to give out water for the Israelites necessity and that can tell you that there is no streight too great for Jesus to deliver you out of Faith in the promise will tell you that you never experienced you never saw to the utmost end of Christs power yet you never saw into the midst of his treasures of grace you have seen but a little way Faith in the Promise will tell you this therefore never ground your Faith and Hope upon your Experiences though they have been large but upon the Promises that have alwaies a boundless power working with them Sixthly And then consider That it is your duty to come and claim the grace of Christ and put in upon your Interest according to your exigency I say if you would live by Faith upon the Lord Jesus then claim the grace of your Interest according to the exigency of your state Sirs are you interested in Jesus then Jesus is yours all Jesus is yours all that he is is yours for you and all that he hath is yours and for you Now if you would live by Faith upon him then come and put in bring your claim and say the power of Jesus Christ is mine and the grace of Jesus Christ is mine 't is for me 't is under special promise to me and 't is under peculiar engagement to me it is mine to live upon I will lean upon the Arm of the Lord's strength I will glory in his fulness in my own emptiness There must be in the exercise of Faith a peculiar claim that the Soul must lay unto Christ and a peculiar improving of the fulness of his Interest according to the emptiness of your state And thus Christians you may be supported whatever you meet withal in this world Suppose you sustain a loss why in a fresh application to Christ you will have it made up in him and if a great failure and disappointment come in upon you in a renewed act of Faith upon the Lord Jesus Christ applying something of his fulness and sweetness you will have your condition filled so as it is emptied in the creature it will be filled with grace and with Christ SERMON XI Habakkuk 3.18 Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation WE are now upon the directing of the Believer that is able in some measure to make out his Interest in this Jesus to live upon him and to rejoyce in him in all trials Of the Directions five or six I have already given you and shall now proceed 7. In the seventh place If you would live by Faith upon Christ so as to fetch in joy and comfort from him in every condition then labour to bring your will to your condition and keep your spirit within the confines of the will of God under all the various disposes of providence The
that heavenly state the Saints are all advanced unto a heavenly stature even unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ Eph. 3 13. till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ And Eph. 5.27 That says he he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish There will be no weakness no imperfection in the new man but you shall be in your full grown state in Heaven immediately upon your translation and therefore the Souls of Just men entring into Heaven are said to be in a perfect state Heb. 12.23 To the general Assembly and Church of the first born which are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the spirits of Just men made perfect Here you are glad to receive now a little and then a little and to be adding by degrees But there grace shall be so compleat as there shall be no room for a further degree nor for a higher improvement 2. The Saints have a hope laid up in Heaven of the glorification of these vile bodies Our bodies are now full of corruption they are earthly bodies and they are a great clog and a hinderance unto a spiritualized Soul but there shall come a change upon them 1 Cor. 15.42 43. So also is the resurrection of the dead It is sown in corruption it is raised in incorruption It is sown in dishonour it is raised in glory Ver. 44. It is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body It is sown in corruption Many are the coâ—â—upting diseases that our flesh is exposable to whilst we live and such infections sometimes seize upon the body as do separate Lovers and acquaintance far from them but to be sure at death corruption that seizes the body and makes it so loathsom that near relations cannot bear one another Abraham cries out O! Bury my dead out of my sight and yet she was the Wife of his bosom that was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh to whom he wanted no love yet says he Bury my dead out of my sight It is sown in dishonour and indeed it lives so for much of the glory and beauty and fairness of the body of man that was at first bestowed upon him is lost But all the scarrs and all the blemishes and all the disfigurements of our bodies even all the effects of sin shall at once be done away that that which is sown in dishonour shall be raised in glory and that which is sown in weakness shall be raised in power and that which is sown a natural body shall be raised a spiritual body it shall be spiritual in its temperature constitution and complexion it shall be spiritual in all its operations It shall be raised to glory and all the robes of mortality and all the raggs of its vileness they shall be left behind Lazarus when he rose out of the grave he arose with all his grave-cloths about him and he came with them out of his grave because he was to return again Joh. 11.44 And he that was dead came forth bound hand and foot with grave-cloths Jesus saith to them Loose him and let him go The grave had not done with him This was not the blessed Resurrection that was under promise but he came out of the grave to return again but now Jesus Christ when he arose out of the grave he arose to return no more and he left all his grave-cloths behind him Joh. 20.6 7. Then cometh Simon Peter and went into the Sepulchre and seeth the Linnen-cloths and the Napkin that was about his head The Grave-cloths the Napkin and all that he had about him was all left behind because he was to return no more Now Jesus he arose as the first fruits of the Saints 1 Cor. 15.20 But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first-fruits of them that slept So as you may see in the Resurrection of Christ what shall be unto the Saints in their Resurrection They shall leave all the cloths of their dishonour and of corruption and mortality behind them And Phil. 3.20 21. These vile bodies of ours shall be changed and made like to the glorious body of Christ Who shall change our vile bodies bodies full of corruption full of weakness bodies in so much dishonour they shall be changed and shall be fashioned like to the glorious body of Christ And Rom. 8.23 And not only they but our selves also who have the first-fruits of the Spirit even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the Adoption to wit the redemption of our bodies So that this is another part of the hope that is laid up in Heaven for the Saints the glorification of their vile bodies We shall have part of that glory and honour upon our bodies that the Father did bestow upon that body which he prepared for his Son when he took our nature And truly the body of Jesus Christ in Heaven is the most glorious creature that is there and it is a glory which the Saints shall admire for ever they shall not only admire it in Christ but admire it in themselves as they also shall be made partakers of it 3. The Saints have a Hope laid up for them of an everlasting Rest Here is no Rest in this world it is full of troubles and tossings to and fro like a Ship that is at Sea in a storm but now in Heaven there is Rest Rest from all the troubles of men Rest from all the troubles of Satan Rest from all the troubles of sin sorrow shall flee from them All tears shall be wiped from their eyes Rev. 21.4 I shall not here tell you how far the Saints may be made partakers of this that is here promised on this side Heaven but to be sure 't is true of Heaven it self Glad would a Saint be to get into a corner where he might sit down and be at rest but if he take up in this condition he is presently disturbed if he go into another condition he finds his troubles follow him his quarters are continually broken up he can never be at rest but one disquiet follows another and one trouble takes another by the heels But in Heaven there the Saints shall be taken into an everlasting Rest 2 Thes 1.7 And to you who are troubled rest with us He cheers up these Thessalonians to whom he writes under all the troubles that they met withal from men and Devils and all their enemies in their way that were continually disquieting of their spirits Well says he Cheer up to you who are troubled rest with us He was abundant in labours and abundant in sorrows and sufferings but he comforted himself with this that there was a Rest that remained for him and
his People where they should dwell Jesus the fore-runner that is entered into Heaven he is gone before to search out a place to choose out a place and to prepare a place for you John 14 2. I go saith he to prepare a place for you and this place that Christ is gone to prepare 't is in the Fathers House there shall the Saints abode and dwelling be for ever and there is none that shall ever turn them out of that House but to eternity they shall peaceably possess it 6. In Heaven shall be the consummation of the Marriage between Christ and the believer here the Marriage is entered upon Christ and the believing Soul they are betrothed together as Hosea 2.19 20. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever but the betrothment here is like a young man when he betroths a Virgin they live asunder after they are betrothed so Christ and your Souls live asunder you are betrothed here by grace and you come together now and then in an ordinance and now and then Christ lets out of his heart unto you and now and then you let out of your heart to Christ and now and then Christ sends you a token of his love and a letter of his love wherein he gives a manifestation of his love but still you are asunder but in Heaven the Marriage shall be consummated 2 Cor. 5.6 While we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord and we live asunder but saies he when we come to depart we shall be with Christ Phil. 1.23 and we shall ever be with the Lord 1 Thes 4.17 This is a blessed day indeed that will bring Jesus Christ and your Souls together never more to be separated never more to be at a distance never to be out of the presence of one another more Communion with God it is sweet now and when Jesus Christ lets out but a little of himself O the Soul he cries out evermore give me of this Bread O saies he that I were to go down no more but this communion is clouded and the sense of it lost but when we come to be dissolved and to enter into Heaven then saies he we shall be with the Lord. 7. Again The Saints have a hope laid up for them in Heaven of enjoying fellowship and society with all sanctified ones in Christ Jesus Heaven will bring all the Saints together and keep them in an eternal communion There are two things that have respect to the Saints in Heaven 1. They shall have a full knowledge one of another And 2. They shall have communion one with another 1. They shall have knowledge one of another There shall be no strangers in Heaven indeed it is questioned by some whether the Saints shall know one another in Heaven but truly it is out of question with me for the Saints shall be all of one Society they shall be all of one Company they shall be all of one intire body and surely it is inconsistent with the glory of that state for one member to have no knowledge of another if that you be of a company here upon earth let the company be 40 50 100 or 500 by abode together and by converse and by residence together and meeting together you come to have a knowledge one of another and can it be thought that an eternal abode together in Heaven won't give you the knowledge one of another but the Scripture seems very plain and clear in this case in Mat. 17.3 4. Jesus there taketh Peter James and John and goes up into an high mountain and there he was transfigured before them and indeed it was a little corner of Heaven that he carried them into there and he brings down Moses and Elias and Peter presently knew them and he said unto Jesus Lord it is good for us to be here if thou wilt let us make here three Tabernacles one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elias Peter had never seen Moses and Elias for they were dead many years before he was born and yet as soon as ever they did appear with Christ Peter knew them this is Moses and this is Elias Sirs the knowledge of the Saints won't be decreased but heightned in Heaven some of you it may be lye under mourning of Spirit for some of your relations that are gone to Heaven well wait but a little while and you shall know them again But let me tell you you shall not know them after a carnal manner but after a spiritual manner according to that state 2 Cor. 5.16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh Christ shall not be known hereafter after the flesh and when you come in Heaven you won't know one another after the flesh yet in a spiritual manner you shall know one another Parents shall know their Children and Children shall know their Parents in a spiritual manner you shall know those Servants of God that have taken pains with you here and helped your Souls on to Heaven Some of you often think it may be of Reverend Mr. Armitage that laboured with you in the Lord and some of you remember Reverend Mr Allen that was the Lords mouth unto you many years you that have a hope laid up in Heaven for you you shall follow them in your time and in your order and know them again and all the Servants of the Lord from one end of the world unto the other you shall know those that you have known and you shall know those that you have not known you shall know Moses and Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the Patriarchs And then 2. You shall know them so as to have communion with them you shall sit down which is a note of communion Mat. 8.11 with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven indeed all your knowledge of the Saints and all your fellowship with the Saints it shall all be resolved into the glorifying of God so as God shall be uppermost in all and you shall see God through all and you shall triumph in God and sing praises to God through all yet as glorified Saints together and as members of the same body so there will be a fellowship and communion together in the enjoyment of God and communion with him 8. There is a hope which you have laid up for you in Heaven of Gods being all in all to you in 1 Cor. 15.18 And when all things shall be subdued to him then shall the Son also himself be subject to him that put all things under him that God may be all in all The dispensation that Christ hath now in his hand in that he is the Lord of the world and the government of it shall be laid down when the whole body of believers shall be brought home and all the election of Gods grace brought in yet then shall Christ be glorious in the eyes of the Saints but God then shall be all in all that is all
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