the soul unto the carrying on of which he makes all things subordinate and subservrent Now there is nothing an enemy to renewed self but sin therefore all the lustings of the Spirit are against the flesh and the lustings of the flesh are against the Spirit Gal. 5.17 for they are contrary one to another for a man to deny the holy desires of regenerated self so as to be willing to stoop in them because the Lord will have it so and will lead him under the remainders of sin therefore even gracious self in the desires of it must stoop and be content with such an inmate as a Fuller and a Collier dwelling in the same house what the one whites the other soils untill a full redemption it is the highest act of grace in this life to deny a mans self in reference to the being of sin within him As it was the highest act of self-denial in Christ that he that was the beauty of holiness should be made sin reputed a sinner by man and have sin imputed to him by God to confess our sins as his own My iniquities have taken such hold upon me that I am not able to look up Psa 40.12 So for a man to know what sin is that it deprives him of Communion with God defiles his soul is worse then hell it self and yet in obedience to God all his days to lie under the rifings and remainders of it it is the highest act of grace that a godly man doth put forth in this life Though this may seem a small thing to an unregenerate man who sees no evil in sin it is the element he lives in and that by which the comfort of his life comes in 2. The higher act of Faith a man puts forth the higher act of grace for it is suitable to a mans faith that all his grace doth rise The life of faith is the life of the new man Gal. 2.20 The life that I now live I live by the faith of the Son of God Now the highest acts of faith are those wherein there is the least of sight for 2 Cor. 5.7 We walk by faith and not by sight so that sight and faith are opposed the less there is as matter for sight the more there is as matter for faith As it is made the honour of Abrahams faith Rom. 4. that he considered not the dryness of his own body nor the deadness of Sarahs womb but be believed in hope against hope when he saw nothing for the present promised any such thing So it is here for a man to be under the remainders of sin the Law of the members leading him captive defiling his soul breaking his peace wounding his conscience blotting his name and yet for his spirit to stoop to it out of faith because Gods will is the rule of goodness and he will not only turn this to his own glory but he will turn it to my eternal good in the end that out of this eater shall come meat and out of this strong enemy sweetness Truly as the highest acts of Gods grace upon us in this world are in turning our sins to good and working good in the end out of that which in it self is nothing but evil so the highest acts of grace in us are those that do rest upon God for a holy fruit even of our failings and continual defilements for there is less evil in sufferings then there is in sinning that is a rule laid down in the new man therefore the Saints choose much rather to suffer affliction then to enjoy the pleasures of sin Heb. 11.25 26. There is less of faith to believe good out of suffering then there is out of sinning Now when a man sees sin in it self is nothing but evil and in his present sense of it there is more evil in it then there is in any other thing in the world it is evil in abstracto that is in the essence of it its evil and only evil and yet that God will work good out of it it is the highest act of faith that a man puts forth in this life to rest upon God in turning his sins to good and to be content not with sin it self simply but with the will of God suffering it to be For a man to conflict with a hard heart a blinde mind a stupid conscience wrestling against them looking upon them as more bitter then death and to be willing to die with all his heart to be rid of them and to count death for sin as a good exchange and yet out of faith to stoop unto the permitting will of God saying Surely sin is not so the greatest evil as God is the greatest good for he can turn sin into good and work his own glory and the good of the creature out of it or else he would never have suffered sin to have come into the world He can cause light to shine out of darkness temper a poison into a wholsom medicine therefore I can say with Austin Mala non sunt bona tamen ut mala sint bonum est Its the highest act of Faith that the man doth put forth in this life 3. There are several extreams that require a great deal of grace to avoid in a mans Christian course It is the manner of Satan to carry men from one extream to another and it is very hard to escape them A man must cut at a thred he must be a skilfull Pilot to sail between two dangerous Rocks and not grate upon the one or the other The work of grace in the heart as it is very spiritual so it is very curious and exact which will appear if we consider these particulars First For a man to hate sin in the being of it and to keep that principle up in the soul that he would not have sin raign nay he would not have it to be in his mortal body He desires to be purged from all filthiness both of the flesh and spirit and yet in obedience to God in this mixt estate to submit and not to murmur while God will so continue him to endure so cursed an Inmate For a man to have Mortem in desiderio to be content to die that he may be rid of sin and yet to haue vitam in patientia to be willing to live though while he doth live he knows sin will be It is a hard matter for a Christian to walk aright between these two extreams Phil. 1.23 I desire to be dissolved he is willing to die to be rid of sin and yet content to live with the remainders of sin out of the love of service to abide in the flesh is more profitable for you because it is the will of God that pro hoc statu that it shall be so and to be in duty content to be out of glory the while it is a very great curiosity in the work of grace in the Saints Secondly For a man to pray against temptation earnestly as being
deposed so far God is exalted when self shall be perfectly deposed then shall God be exalted alone but in this life so far as there are remainders of self in the man there will be opposition maintained against God And this opposition must needs be the greater the greater the thing is that is contended for If two Kings contend for a Crown it will cause a great deal of disturbance in the Kingdom And this is the ground of the fight between the flesh and the spirit in the soul of the Saint flesh contends for the Godhead of Self and Grace for the Godhead of God each of them strive for a Godhead therefore their contention must needs be exceeding great 2. Sin is nothing else but the opposition of mans will to Gods will and this is properly a seat of sin Rom. 8.7 The carnal mind is enmity to God it is not subject to the Law of God neither can be For as Corruption doth deifie reason in a way of wisdom so it doth deifie the will in a way of liberty and loves not to have any power over it that may controll correct or restrain it Therefore men look upon the Law of God as cords and bands which they cannot bear Psal 2.3 But they kick at them with the feet of pride and contempt And upon this ground it is that every unregerate man is called a turbulent unquiet spirited man never at peace and rest within himself because of the opposition of his will to the will of God Though therefore there may be some velity wrought upon the will of unregenerate men an imperfect and incompleat will that they may hear gladly and do many things yet there is some point of strictness in every unregenerate mans case which being set home upon him he stumbles at it and saith Durus est hic sermo his will stands out and the treaty betwixt him and God thereupon breaks off Therefore there is many a man that goes far parts with much comes to an almost I am perswaded to be a Christian but yet in the very ultimate act of Regeneration he plaies the part of an unwise son and stayes in the place of the breaking forth of Children Hos 13.13 and so is never new born to God Thus all the unquietness of the spirit and the offence that a man takes at the Commands wayes of God proceeds from nothing else but the non-subjection of his will to the will of God were that brought about that a man had respect unto all the Commandments the work were done and all this unquietness of the soul taken away 3. The will of God is the Center of all the wills of the Creature unto which they are all created and ordained to act and move There is a double motion or tendency of the creature towards the will of God One is natural so the Creatures without reason move toward it for they are all his servants Psal 119.91 But as for reasonable creatures God doth act them according to their nature in a voluntary way and so the will of God is the center of their will The Angels are therefore said to do his pleasure and to harken to the voice of his word Psalm 103.20 So the Saints David my servant hath fulfilled all my wills Acts 13.22 Now if any thing be taken from its Center it is unquiet moves disorderly and with a disturbed motion Let the needle that is touched with the Loadstone be shaken from its place it is alwayes trembling and unquiet till it return to the place of its former rest Let any earthly matter be by the heat of the sun exhaled and we see how it is tost to and fro in the air till the earthly matter with violence return again unto its center Nothing is at quiet out of its proper place The waters are made naturally to cover the earth but God hath by a decree laid them up in heaps he hath laid up the deep as in a treasure-house hence comes all the unquietness and turbulency that is in the vast body of the sea So it is with the soul of a man in a voluntary way as it is with the creatures in a natural way God is the center to which it was created and it is alway unquiet till it rest there Inquietum est cor meum donec requiescat in te Aust 4. The will of man in a state of sin is not only in an opposition to the will of God but to it self also The wills of the flesh and of the mind Ephes 2.3 There are divers lusts and pleasures Titus 3.3 and they do very often fall cross and contrary one to another and no man can serve two Masters that give cross and contrary commands without a great deal of trouble and disturbance That which will gratifie a mans pride will not serve his profit and that which will fit his sensual ty will not suit with his Hypocrisie Scelera dissident the Heathen man observes As all truths agree among themselves so do all duties but Error multiplex Corrupt doctrines may and do cross one with another and so do also corrupt wayes Now when the soul of man is desirous to please and content them all he would serve them all it is no wonder if the man be in a continual unquietness in his own spirit If the water did alway run one way it would run smoothly but when the tide comes in and the waters in their streams cross one another then the waves are lifted up each one tending to their own motion This said to be a mans wife or we are said to be married to sin Rom. 7.5 now if a man had many wives and he uxorious and desiring to please them all and they have contrary desires and opposite wills the man should never be quiet either in his house or heart And such an uxorious husband every sinner is that though every man hath some darling some Dalilah that he would chiefly please there yet is an unquietness in him all the while because he doth displease the rest of his Paramours 5. The Spirit of God hath undertaken the guidance of the Saints and therefore they are said to be led by the Spirit Christ gives us a manuduction into the presence of the Father by way of mediation By him we have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an access to the Father Ephes 3.12 But the Spirit gives us a manuduction in point of direction in our whole course Now the Spirit works in the soul in a sweet and effectual way When a man receives the Spirit he is annoynted with the oyl of gladness Psalm 45.7 it makes him go readily and chearfully on Non tardat uncta rota Draw us and we will run after thee Cant. 1.4 The Spirit is said to draw because its motion is powerful and yet we are said to run because our motion is voluntary Trahitur animus amore There are no cords that draw so effectually as the cords of Love Now the guidance of
is the use that Satan intends to make of it that men may neither receive counsell from God or man being unfit for either which is one great use that he makes of the discontents of mens spirits at this day 5. It keeps men from communion with God for God will have no fellowship with the spirit that stands in opposition to his will Iob. 22.21 Acquaint thy self with God and be at peace The words in the originall are rendred Assuesce te cumillo accustome thy self with him Now that you may be accustomed to communion with God he exhorts you to be at peace that is ut Spiritus deprimat insolentes So Zanchius Let all those heart risings and unquiet dispositions be supprest else you can have no communion with him neither can you attain any blessing from him 6. It is to keep a man in a continuall bittterness against the instruments and to break forth against them As when God would rent the Kingdom from Saul and an evill spirit from the Lord came upon him then he brake forth into all manner of violence against David whom he looked upon as a competitor in the kingdome whereas Jonathan seeing it was the mind of God sate down quietly saying Thou shalt be King and I shall be next thee So it was with Araunah It is conceived that he was king of Iebus before they were conquered by David and yet his spirit submits to David saying Wherefore is my lord the King come unto his servant This temper of spirit will make a man lie in wait to revenge himself and greedily to take it though it be to his own ruine As it was with Shimei his spirit was imbittered he did but wait for an opportunity and having gotten it though it were against his own life yet with how much bitterness did he vent himself 7. That it may tend at last to direct blasphemy and revenge against God for that is the end the devill aims at in all his temptations and unto which they all come if not here yet in hell 1 Iohn 5.19 The devill is said to touch men and it is for no other end then to leave an impression of devilishness upon them to make them as farr ar may be equally guilty with himself And the soul habituated unto rage and constant opposition against God is fitted by Satan for such a devilish design 3. What is the excellency of such a temper of spirit to be alwayes calm and quiet not given up to disturbances within it self 1. This is in the sight of God of great price 1 Peter 3.4 Because this is agreeable unto the nature of God And to this end was the vision given to Eliah when his spirit was in a passion 1 King 19.11 12. It was to instruct him as Peter Martyr hath well observed First in this that the way of Gods dealing with sinners is not by and by to destroy them with a wind with an earthquake or with fire but that he shews much patience toward them and takes them away in a more still and secret manner Occulta tacita media non defutura suae providentiae Secondly to let him know what manner of prayer would take with God against sinners and prevail Deum non commoveri affectibus perturbationibus incitari Men think when they have prayed in passion and have vehemently stirred themselves that God is so much moved as they but he doth not appear in an earthquake nor wind or fire but in a short still voice when he is sought unto from quiet sedate affections 2. This is agreeable to the spirit of Christ who appeared in the form of a Dove Animal non felle amarum non morsibus saevum non unguibus violentum Cyprian Therefore surely the more unquiet any mans spirit is the less of the Dove there is in that man For as the Dove is simple and without guile so it is without gall also Sine felle sine dolo 2. The excellency of such a temper of soul will appear in the sutableness thereof unto a Christian First by this every Saint as he is appointed unto a Kingdom for so Christ saith I appoint unto you a Kingdom as my father appointed unto me so he hath the Kingdom of God erected and set up in his own soul for the Kingdom of God is within you Luke 17.2 There is regimen spirituale that the Lord sets up in the man And the more any mans spirit is ordered and subjected unto the will of God the more he is acted by the spirit without reluctancy so much the more the Kingdom of God is exalted in the mans heart In regno Dei omnia sunt sic ordinata ut quod est in homine praecipuum imperet caeteris non reluctantibus Aust The more a man is led by the spirit the more ductile and easie to be led he doth shew himself to be the more the Kingdom of God is set up in him Isaiah 11.6 A little child shall lead them when the Spirit of God becomes as it were the forma informans of the man that the soul obeys the dictates of the spirit as the body subjects it self unto the rule of the soul then is the Kingof God set up in the man Confusion tumults and uproars may be sutable unto the kingdoms of men the mountains of prey the habitations of cruelty but they are every way unfit for the Kingdom of God Secondly one speciall ingredient in the Kingdom of God is peace Rom. 14.17 The Kingdem of God consists not in meat nor in drink but in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy-ghost It is understood here of the Kingdom of Grace and Glory The Kingdom of Grace consists not in externals meat and drink neither will the observation of these bring a man unto the Kingdom of Glory but it consists in somthing within Now it is Austins observation that some are pacifici in senetipsis men that keep a constant peace and quietness of spirit within themselves keep a constant Sabbath to God in their own souls intus in corde Sabbatum nostrum Luther in one of his Epistles to a German Divine writes thus Dominus tua omnia faciat tu nihil facias sed sis Sabbatum Christi Let your hearts rest and keep a Sabbath in you and you in him and it is in this rest and quietness of spirit that the main of a Christiau Sabbath doth consist Therefore the Sabbath here is a type of Heaven There remains yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sabbatisme for the people of God It is true in glory there shall be an externall rest they rest from their labours but the main shall be the inward rest of the soul the spirit shall keep a Sabbath to God eternally when all sinfull unruly inordinate actings of the spirit will be no more but the soul enjoy perfect peace and quietness in the Lord. Now this is the peace in which the Kingdom of God doth consist Vera pax est a
Hebrews 2 7 146  16 81 11 25 228  26 ibid. 12 23 30 13 18 64 James 1 18 81 2 19 49 3 13 168. See margent 4 15 140 See marg in p. 141. 1 Peter 2 2 22 3 15 15 2 Peter 1 19 20 2 2 149 1 John 5 19 219 Jude 0 11 326 Revelation 1 13 267. 268 6 12 192 11 1 295  15 162  19 188 13  183  2 193  3. 8 185  16 181   See mar 15 7 111  8 186 16 1 190  8 ibid.  9 293 17 3 161  13 184  17 33 19 13 107  14 112 A TREATISE Shewing the subordination of the will of MAN unto the will of GOD. Acts 21.14 And when he would not be perswaded we ceased saying the will of the Lord be done CHRISTS going forth in the Gospel is compared unto the Lightning which cometh out of the East and shineth unto the West Luc. 17.24 That is 1. Repentè suddainly unexpectedly when there was the saddest and darkest night upon the world when the world in wisdome knew not God 1 Cor. 1.21 then did the Light of the glorious Gospel break forth 2. Celeritèr swiftly the Gospel did pass through the world with incredible speed as Lightning out of a Cloud as an Arrow out of a Bow Rev. 6.2 Psal 45.5 that they were subjected to it ere they were aware 3. Vniversaliter generally the Lightning is not seen in one place only but it inlightens the whole heavens so it was with the Gospel it spred over the whole world Rom. 10.18 4. Irresistibiliter irresistibly it s observed of the Lightning Aristâ—dâ— Meteor it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is of a kind of spiritual nature of which there is no resistance if it meet with a subject that yields it will insensibly pierce it without prejudice but if with a subject that opposeth it will melt it so it is with the Gospel the word of the Kingdom wheresoever the light of it shines forth A very glorious accomplishment of this Scripture we have set before us in this book of Acts which contains the labour and travels the sufferings and successes of those blessed Instruments which the Lord did first employ to spread the savour of his knowledge in every place But Paul being the most eminent instrument and as it were a chosen shaft in the Lords hand Esay 49.2 1 Cor. 15.10 for he laboured more abundantly then they all therefore in this book chiefly his Preachings Travels and Sufferings are recorded concerning whom looking upon that as a Motto spiritus Pauli exemplum Ministri before I come to the words of the Text I cannot pass by four things which I find by Chrysost observed First De laudibus Pauli 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. his spirit he describes in two things 1. He feared nothing but sin to displease God and to dishonour him was only terrible unto him 2. He prized nothing in comparison of the love of Christ and Communion with him he chose rather the lowest condition with his love then the most eminent condition without it to see his face was his heaven and it was even hell to him to be deprived thereof Secondly His sufferings for Christ were his pleasures his delights he could take pleasure in infirmities 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the more he did suffer the more was his spirit inlarged unto suffering and he came out of every tryall with a new resolution and readiness of mind unto suffering when we have escaped a danger we commonly resolve to take the more care for time to come and so by every cross our fear is encreased but Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by every cross his courage was raised and he came off from suffering with a new desire and readiness to suffer again Thirdly the aym and bent of his spirit was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not only to offer up himself body and soul as a living sacrifice but his constant aym and daily labour was to offer up to God the whole world as a sacrifice and therefore laboured in the conversion of so many severall Nations unto God preaching the Gospel where Christ was not named Fourthly for his labour he was unwearâ—ed in it for the happy accomplishment of that end he was abundant in the work of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he went over the greatest part of the world as if he had wings and laboured without cessation as if he forgat whether he were in the body setting no bounds to his labour but his life This glorious instrument in the hand of the Spirit was in an eminent manner guided by the Spirit in all his wayes carrying him to those places where he had any service to imploy him in and when the work was done by the guidance of the same Spirit he was removed to another place Sometimes the Lord sends him from Ierusalem that he might bear his name before the Gentiles Act. 22.18 and sometimes the Spirit forbids him to preach the Gospel in Asia and when he did assay to preach the Gospel in Bithinia the Spirit suffered him not Acts 16.6 7. Then he hath a vision Acts 16.9 in which a man of Macedonia saith come down and help us Thus he spent his dayes in planting and confirming the Churches At this time by the direction of the same Spirit he was engaged to go to Jerusalem Behold now I go bound in the Spirit Non levitate vel temeritate quadam motus eò proficiscor sed fortiter à spiritu sancto impulsus acsi vinculis quibusdam injectis cò traherer Sicut per vincula iniquitatis spiritualis peccati captivitas notatur Glass Rhet. sacr p. 414. Spiritus validè me impellit sicut nubes aguÌ„tur vento ut ei alligatae videantur A lap in loc Acts 20.22 That is by speciall direction from the Spirit à Spiritu impulsam as if the Spirit went with me thither and I were bound up with the same Spirit As watry vapours bound up in the Clouds are carryed about with them so was Paul bound up in the Spirit who is the Prorex in the government of Christ and hath an eye to the affairs of his Kingdom all the world over This Spirit having clearly revealed Gods mind unto the Apostle concerning this service and by a strong impulse subdued his heart thereunto he is therefore said to go bound in the Spirit to whatsoever service or suffering the Lord would call him But this instinct and motion of the Spirit met with great opposition First when he came to Tyre he met with certain Disciples that did say to him by the Spirit Fratribus istis quid futurum sit Dominus revelavit interea vero quid postulet vocatio Pauli nesciunt non eo usque extenditur doni mensura c. Cal. 1 King 13.18 Facilis
The main power of sin lies in the will and therefore the main power of Grace must lie there also Ephe. 4.22 23. Sin and Grace must have the same subject the image of God and the image of the Devil Now it will appear that the main power of sin lies in the will because this of all faculties is most desperately shut against God and Christ Therefore in all ungenerate men the blame is still laid upon the will Mat. 23.37 I would have gathered you but you would not Joh 5.40 Psal 81.11 Jer. 44.16.17 Ye will not come to me that ye may have life Israel would none of me The Word that thou speakest to us in the name of the Lord we will not do but we will do whatsoever proceeds out of our own mouths And usually when the understanding is convinced and the conscience silenced yet the will holds out and therein the power of sin doth mainly consist If the will write its fiat for sin it carries it thorow the whole man if the will give Duty its non placet all the faculties are becalmed none of them acts for God while the will resists Act. 7.51 Therefore men are said to resist the holy Ghost For hardness is that a thing does not yield to the touch Forma duritiei est resistentia seu vis resistendi tactui ut plane non cedat vel difficulter cedat cum exploratio fit per contactum mediatum vel immediatum Wendel phy sic part 1. pag. 548. Durum est quod non cedit tactui the main hardness lies in the will the stone of the heart is there So Augustine confesseth of himself Cui rei ego suspirabam ligatus non ferro alieno sed mea ferrea voluntate Velle meum tenebat inimicus inde mihi catenam fecerat constrinxerat me Confess l. 8. cap. 5. that this was the great impediment in his conversion his conscience was convinced all his reasonings were answered yet the speaking of the will was noli modo I will but not now and so I remained saith he bound with the Iron Chains of my own will 5. The main work of the Spirit in the omnipotency of it lies in the will to subject it unto the will of God There is saith the Apostle an exceeding greatness of power Ephes 1.19 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that works in them that beleive Populus erit maxime voluntarius liberatissimo ingenio praeditus quali summos principes esse decet And this power is mainly put forth upon the will Psal 110.3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is both in the abstract and in the plural Veri Christiani habent Christi ingenium ut ille sponte suâ patri obediebat c. Tar. in Psal passion Victorque volentes per populos dat jura c. Virgil de Aug. 1 Cor. 5.17 Eph. 2.10 oblationes voluntariae so rendred giving themselves to God as Free-will-offerings But this is an act of the Spirit in the day of his power when he puts forth that exceeding greatness of power upon the soul Now where the main work of the Spirit is there the power of his Grace is principally seen But that is mainly upon the will though there be a new creation in the whole man therefore the power of godliness is chiefly there 6. Godliness doth especially consist in a conformity of our will to the will of God because when this conformity shall be perfected then shall our Graces also be perfected We read Heb. 12.23 Of the souls of just men made perfect In Heaven there shall be a perfection of all the faculties but the glory of the Saints is expressed by this Math. 22.30 that they shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Angels of God in Heaven Now the glory of the Angels doth not consist so much in the perfection of their knowledge though they behold the face of God continually but in the perfect subjection of their wils Matth. 18.10 Therefore Christ doth not teach us to pray that we might know so much as the Angels but that we might do his will Matth. 6.10 Ad modum adimplendi voluntatem Divinam refertur scil promptè perfecte perpetuò Cajetan Splendidissimè celerrimè efficacissimè A lap 1 Cor. 13.12 as it is done in Heaven with the same readidiness and with the same subjection of will as they do going and coming like Lightning Ezek. 1.14 And when we come to Heaven though our knowledge shall be perfected for we shall know as we are known yet if there were a rising of will in the least degree against the will of God the soul were not made perfect And in this did the perfection of the Vaction of Christ consist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept. in Esay 9 6. Joh. 6.38 Joh. 4.34 1 Joh. 2.20 Psal 133.2 A Christo Christiani dicimur hâ—e unctionis sanctae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ps 45.7 Heb. 1.9 non â—nim titulum gerunt sine re sed qui dicuntur verè Christiani 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ctiam obtinent Glass 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 144. that as he was the Angel of the great Councel and knew perfectly the will of his Father so his will came freely and fully off unto it I come to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work and it was his meat and drink so to do We partake with Christ in the same Vnction the Oyl poured upon him as the head ran down unto the hem of his garment that which was therefore the perfection of his Vnction must be also the perfection of ours That I may further open this truth to you there is a double distinction to be observed Voluntas Dei una tantuÌ„ est quia unus est Deus per suaÌ„ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 volens tamen diverso respectu multiplex est Zanch. de nat Dei l. 3. c. 4. q 3. First of the will of God Secondly of the will of man 1. The will of God here spoken of is threefold not that there are three wils in God for his will as himself is but one But there is a threefold consideration of the same will First Voluntas praecepti quam Deus velit fieri à nobis cujus objectuÌ„ Officium est voluntas Metaphoricè dicta There is his commanding will commonly called the will of his precept that which concerns mans duty which God would have us to do This is the good and the acceptable will which we must prove Rom. 12.1 2. This is the will of God even our Sanctification 1 Thes 4.3 Secondly Voluntas propositi quam Deus velit facere de nobis cujus objectuÌ„ eventus est Voluntas proprie dicta A. quin. p. 1. q. 19. a. 11. There is his effecting will what he himself will do in the actings of his providence and in the Government of
1 Tim. 6.15 And this soveraignty lieth mainly in two things In his Decrees appointing the Creatures to their ends and in his Laws prescribing their ways and the subjection of the will of man or a receiving of the Law into the will is the highest honour to the Law and the greatest acknowledgement of the soveraignty of the Law-giver Sub lege factus est quia sponte se interposuit ad eam patri cōpensationem reddendam nec solum formam servi accepit ut subesset sed etiam servi mali ut vapularet Parker de descensu l. 3. 52. Gal. 4.4.5 we see it in the Lord Jesus Christ he was in his person not bound to the Law therefore there was a superlegale meritum that followed upon his obedience yet his subjection unto the Law was the highest honour done to the Law and his receiving the Law into his will Psa 40.8 Thy Law is in the midst of my heart was the greatest acknowledgment of the soveraignty of God for whatsoever honours the Law exalts God and sets him upon him his Throne which is never done till the Law commands the will which is the commanding faculty of the soul 2. Herein the power of the Law is most gloriously seen in that it can subdue the will for till then the man is never overcome you may kill him but you cannot conquer him There may be a kind of force and violence offered unto the other faculties the understanding may be overcome with light which though it would it cannot keep out for there is a principle in all men to be willingly ignorant 2 Pet. 3.5 and to imprison Truths in unrighteousness Rom. 1.18 because they hate the light The conscience also may be awakened though men endeavor to their utmost to speak peace to themselves Esay 50.11 to kindle a fire of their own and compass themselves about with their own sparks but the will is so free that no kinde of violence can be offered to it Therefore the conquest of the will is always by its own consent as a woman by her own consent comes into subjection to her Husband this subduing of the will is that wherein the power of the word mainly consists it s called the power of God to salvation Rom. 1.16 That is it is the instrument by which he puts forth the exceeding greatness of his power though there be a great power put forth in the common works upon the other faculties yet when Omnipotency works by the word it appears mainly in this it subdues the will 3. Herein properly the liberty of the soul consists If the Son make you free you shall be free indeed Joh. 8.36 Liberty therefore is a priviledge which the Saints receive by Grace Now this liberty of a Christian though it be radicaliter in intellectu yet it is formaliter in voluntate The proper seat of Liberty is the will Now this Liberty doth not consist in an absolute indifferency either to chuse or refuse without a respect to the end There is an indifferency indeed servato ordine finis Voluntas eò liberior estquò gratiae Dei subjectior fuerit Aug. Epist 89. with a continual respect to the utmost end the chief good now what is the way that leads to this chief good what is the Rule that directs to this utmost end is it not the word of God Melior est cum totus ad haeret atque constringitur incommutabili bono quam cum inde vel ad seipsum relaxatur Gibeu de libert creat l. 1. cap. 3. Libertas est amplitudo ex adhaesione ad Deum quae tantò major illustrior quantò propius ad Deum accesserimus Therefore this the soul is to be acted by and therein its liberty consists when the will is acted by any inferiour Rules so long the man is under bondage Therefore when we come to Heaven our wils shall be acted wholy by Gods will therefore our Liberty shall be perfected where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 3.17 The reason is because where the Spirit is the soul is enlightned by the word of God and the will subjected thereunto in which properly doth consist the Liberty of the man 4. The subjection of our will unto the will of God doth pro hoc statu perfect our obedience Our best Services are mixed with many imperfections Lava lachrymas meas Dominc Aug. Job 1.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vide Caryl in loc that our prayers had need be perfumed our tears washed and a sacrifice offered daily for the iniquity of our holy things yet is there a kinde of perfection in the obedience of the Saints in this life Ignorantia infirmitas vitia sunt quae impediunt voluntatem nunc delectatur nunc non delectatur ut noverit non suae facultatis esse sed divini muneris Aug. de peccat merit remiss l. 2. c. 17. The Philosopher observes that there is Duplex aequalitas rei voluntatis now though in respect of the thing we shall always fall short of the Law yet the subjection of the will makes the Law and the heart even though in the actions there are many defects Rom. 7.19.20 2 Cor. 8.10.12 And the Grace of the Gospel accepts the will for the deed 5. It is the subjection of our will to the commanding will of God Matth. 11.30 which only makes the ways of God sweet and the commands of God easie David saith The Law was sweeter to him then the hony Christ saith Psal 19.10 1 Joh. 5.3 My yoak is easie and my burthen light The Commandments are not grievous and it is the subduing of the will works all this Omnia quippe fiunt charitati facilia cui uni Christi sarcina levis est aut ea una est sarcina ipsa quae levis est Durae sunt timori leves amori c. Aug. l. de nat grat c. 69. What a man does willingly he doth with ease and delight Whereas a small thing done against the will is looked upon as a very burthensome service It was no great labour for Haman to lead Mordecai's Horse yet it was a very burthensome and an offensive service because his will was against it 6. It is willingness that brings the reward Esth 6.13 A Dispensation of the Gospel was committed to Paul and if I do it willingly saith he I have my reward 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist Ethic. l. 4. cap. 1. Libentèr ex animo ipsum amans Evangelium fructum Evangelii quaerens Est 1 Cor. 9.17 Some preach Christ of Envie and some of good will and they only have the reward of their service Phil. 1.15 Therefore the Apostle exhorts those that feed the Flock of God and have the oversight of them to do it not by constraint but willingly 1 Pet. 5.2 And Paul would have Philemon to grant his request not of
distinguitur in jud cium denunciativum executivum Navarret controv to §. 1. 3. Vltimo dâ—ct â—mine posito voluntas necessariò determinatur tâ—men libere mov tur câ—nt â—uarez in Metaph. disp 19. sect 6. Cumel de voluntate c l. 1 pag 63. dictate of the mind which being once thoroughly enlightned and seriously possest with the adequate truth and goodness of things spiritual these being propounded to the will it cannot reject them for the liberty of the will is not a blind and a brutish head-strongness but a rational perfection The minde being spiritually enlightned and thereby elevated and actuated from Heaven this is called the teaching of the Father Joh. 6.45 The conviction of the spirit Joh. 16.8.11 The spirit of wisdom and revelation Ephes 1.17 b Collyrium ocuâ—orum medicina est ad spiritualis coec tatis nostâ—ae medelam eleganter transfertur Gloss Rhet. Sacra pag. 340. Imoâ—tra à Deo clarum conspectum mysteriorum Dei reram futuraruâ— Grotius in Apocal. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sylburg in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The eye salve Rev. 3.18 This puts the Law of God into a mans inward parts that he seeth a truth and a reality in those things which before he only saw in the notion That which formerly he heard by the hearing of the ear now his eye sees for as sin came in by the understanding c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 proprie ad intellectum pertinet unde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The woman was deceived 2 Cor. 11.3 1 Tim. 2.14 Gen. 3.13 by the same way God will bring Grace into the soul for he will not invert the order of the faculties Vocatio alta est secreta qua fit ut legi atque doctrinae accomodâ—mus assensum Gratia praevenit hominis voluntatem bonam nec eam cujusquam invenit in corde sed sacit Hâ—mines ad sâ—ipsâ— omnipotentissunâ voluntate convertit ac vâ—lentes ex notentibus secit Aug. Epist 107. De grat libero Arbit cap 16. Câ—r est camera omnipotentis râ—gâ—â— Corda fideliâ— caelum sunt Aug. sermon de redempt but they shall all act according to their natural subordination 2. From hence there follows a thorough and effectual determination of the will to embrace the ultimate dictates of an enlightned understanding chusing spiritual truths as its own portion which compleats the writing of the Law in the heart Jer. 31.33 which is not only the putting of spiritual and saving light into the understanding but putting a sutable principle also into the will framing and fashioning it to accept and embrace those truths which the understanding was fully prepossessed of Praebendo vires efficacissimas voluntati Aug. making a man with full purpose of heart to close with and cleave to God The will is the chief seat of the soul The chamber of the great King therefore the main residence of Grace is in it so that though by a natural impotency in us the executive power is suspended yet a man can say to will is present with me when I finde no strength to perform Rom. 7.18 It s true that Grace doth not in this life take away b In voluntate manet resistibilitas connata adnata actualis Gratia non tollit resistibilitatem connatam quae est propria passio voluntatis nec adnatam ex voluntatis depravatione qua gratiae resistere potest solet nec resistentiam actualem sed actuatem resistentiam vincentem Ward concio ad Câ—erum in Philip. 2.12.13 omnem resistentiam actualem sed vincentem the will doth actually resist but Grace over-rules it that in its resistance it doth not overcome it resists quoad pugnam non quoad victoriam to a conflict not to a conquest Grace is judgement brought forth to * Mat. 12 20. Si vere volumus defendere liberuÌ„ arbitrium non opponemus unde fit liberum Qui oppugnat gratiam illuminanteÌ„ qua nostrum ad declinandum à malo faciendum bonum liberatur arbitriuÌ„ ipse arbitriuÌ„ suum adhuc vult esse cap tivuÌ„ Aug. Epist 107. victory in the end Neither is this determination of the will by Grace contrary to its liberty it sets it at liberty rather because it is done by a precedent light in the understanding If indeed the will had an object forced upon it which the understanding did not dictate to be best pro hic nunc then there was violence offered to it but for the will to chuse that which the understanding doth determine it unto as best in this doth the liberty of the will properly consist The Spirit of Christ being a Spirit of Liberty Eccles 12.3 ExtremaÌ„ visus imminutionem quam indigitat per obscuratiâ—nem videntium per fenestras Joan. Coch. in Eccles Anima est secundum suam essentiam toto corpore tota in qualibet parte Joan. Scharf Physic l. 6. c 1. § 7. doth act every faculty modo sibi proportionato according to its place and subordination in the soul as the soul hears in the ear works with the hand looks out at the windows of the eyes so the Spirit of Grace works in the understanding to apprehend the things of God and in the will to chuse them acting every faculty towards spiritual objects according unto its nature for spiritual ends 3. There follows in the soul strange secret allurements of the Spirit which are a great means to sweeten the choyce and make the will more chearful and full therein For the Spirit of Grace is the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dicitur id quod causam dat summi gaudii Joh. 15.11 17.13 Grot. in Heb. 1.9 Oyl of gladness not only in Christ but in all the members of Christ Psal 45.7 that they chuse freely and with delight things spiritual and afterward rejoyce and glory in their choyce That if a man were set free and left to his liberty he would make the same choyce to eternity As Paul doth Phil. 3.8 I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and he did not repent of the bargain but adds and I do count them but dung that I may win Christ As a woman that loves her Husband Pelliciam ad me blandis verbis conabor persuadere ut relictis amatoribus mecum redeat in gratiam Mercer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Duobus verbis redditur à Sept. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exod. 22.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deut. 11.16 Conrad Kirsher Neque est nulla notionum convenientia est enim stoliditas illa qua quis mendacio applaudit cordis nimis latè patentis supinitas quod debet arctè custodiri Coccei in Job 31. is so fully satisfied in her choyce that she saith If I had all the world before me I should chuse no other Therefore we reade of the perswasions of
the Spirit Gen. 9.27 The allurements of the Spirit Hos 2.14 The word in both places is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to perswade or intice or blandiendo decipere to deceive one by fair words It is used sometimes in a good sometimes in an evil sence Sometimes for the allurements of Satan in ways of temptation though he doth meet with the will of man wholly determined by a principle of evil as it is in all unregenerate men yet to act this will he hath his perswasions and enticements Job 31.27 If my heart hath been secretly enticed Besides the determination of a mans will to sin there are allurements of Satan which act this will with more chearfulness and delight So it is with the Spirit of Christ he hath his secret perswasions and allurements which facilitate the work of the will which is in a great measure determined to good before hand Cant. 6.12 Or ever I was aware my soul set me in the Chariots of my willing people For so much the word that we render Amminadib doth signifie when the heart is caught up and stoln away after Christ fully and freely we know not how This is a further way that the Lord useth to make his people willing in the day of his power 4. By giving a man an experimental taste of the comfort peace sweetness and security that is in holiness and the ways thereof Therefore we read in Scripture of spiritual senses of the Saints They are said to have their senses exercised 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quid est isle sensus spiritualis est spiritualis rerum divinarum expe rientia qua in nobis ipsis per gratiam Dei sentimus gustamus in corde nostro bonitatem amorem Dei ex qua quam vera certaque sit tota divina sapientia experimur Zanch. in Philip. Heb. 5.14 And the Apostle prays Phil. 1.9 That they may abound in all knowledge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in all sence Experience is nothing else but the bringing of things to sence and thereby tryng the truth and goodness of them Therefore what we have brought to sense we call an experiment Spiritual experience therefore is a bringing of things to a spiritual sense And this is a very glorious work of the Spirit thereby bringing on the will to chuse the things of God and to go out to them more abundantly in which it hath formerly found so much sweetness and contentment And though there be a taste that unregenerate men have let into the soul by the common works of the Spirit tasting the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come Heb. 6.4 Yet this taste is but of the good things that come by them not of the goodness that is in them Now there is nothing in the world doth carry the bent of the will towards an object with greater eagerness then this that it hath tasted and knows what is in it and that the man is not deceived It is so in the ways of sin an experimental taste of the sweetness of it doth draw out the heart and engage the will much more then the bare notion and contemplation could do As Plutarch reports of the Gauls when they had once tasted the sweet Wine of Italy they were never satisfied till they had conquered Vini olei liquaminis exportatio lege Imperiali interdicta est ne Barbari gustu illecti promptiùs invaderent fines Romanorum Leg. 1. Cod. quae res exportari non debeant and possessed that Land where such excellent Vines grew And for that cause the Lord sent searchers before into the Land of Canaan that the people tasting the precious fruits of that good Land of which they had such clear and manifold promises they might be the more encouraged and quickned at the command of God to enter what hardships or oppositions soever they met withall in that enterprize The Historian therefore hath observed of the Inhabitants of Chyna Exteri in loca regni interiora non admittuntur Boterus in Catalogo Imperiorum tantum in oris maritimis conceditur commericum They admitted none to Trade in the heart of the Kingdom but onely upon their Borders and in maritine Towns least the goodness and riches of their Land being discovered should stir up in the Neighbour Nations a desire to invade them It is therefore generally made by Interpreters an impolitike vain-glory in Hezekiah to shew his Treasures unto the Embassadors of the King of Babylon 2 King 20.12.13 thereby to inflame their desires to become Masters and Owners both of his Land and of his Treasures which shortly after they did Whosoever he be whose heart doth rise against the Law of God and whose will doth not submit thereunto look up unto the Spirit of Christ for the putting forth of these acts upon the soul For the more or less the Spirit doth exercise these the more or less is the will brought into a conformity unto the will of Christ And this is the main ground of the differing degrees of Grace in the Saints which doth consist in a conformity of our will unto the will of God Quest Quest 2. It may be further said that there remains corruption in the best men and that in the will as well as in any of the other faculties The Law of the members comes forth from the will as well as the law of the minde A godly man finds in himself a twofold will that he cannot do the things he would Gal. 5.17 Godly men may sin presumptuously therefore David prays against it Psal 19.13 The word in the original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies à superbis so that presumptuous sins are made up of two things 1. They are sins against knowledge in which the will is engaged 't is sinning wilfully not ignorantly 2. When the Law of God opposes a man in this way of sinning and his heart doth rise against it through pride and contempt of the Authority of God And the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 keep back notes a proness thereunto in the best men if if they be not restrained by Grace They may sin with deliberation consent delight How then should a man know whether he doth sin with the whole consent of will How should a man discern that there is Grace in the will when there are constant risings and oppositions against the will of God How should a man be able to say my whole heart is not in it though I sleep yet my heart wakes how should a man be able to discern Grace in the will even then when there are the strongest actings of the will for sin Answ Answ It is true while we live here there will be a mixture of corruption in the will as well as in any other faculty For Grace and sin are mixed in the same soul as wine and water in the same cup there is no part of it perfect wine or perfect water Hereafter indeed the will
is as well King of Nations as King of Saints and his glory is as well seen in his providential as in his spiritual administrations So do the Saints see him with a spiritual eye even then when he doth arise to shake terribly the Earth Hab. 3.3 4. It s spoken of the Lords going forth for his people in their deliverance and for the destruction of their Enemies Manus pro actionibus quae manibus ut plurimuÌ„ perficiuntur 2 Sam. 22.17 Esay 20.2 Hag. 1.1 Glass Rhet. Sacr. p. 9. Cornu significat 1. Robur potentiam ita Calv. in hunc locum potentiam Metaphoricè per cornua designat sc splendorem hunc cum potentia conjunctum fuisse 2. Radium cornui sunilem rutilantem cornua radii sunt quales emittere solent cornua spendentia Drus Tarnov His brightness was as the light and he had horns coming out of his hands there was the hiding of his power By these hands of the Lord is meant his administrations dispensations and actions in the world the hand being the instrument of action therefore all things below are called the work of his hands Psal 8.6 The horns that come out of his hand are interpreted to be radii or splendores raies or beams of light which were as it were horns The same word is used of Moses Exod. Dicit potentiam ejus absconditam esse quia nolebat Deus promiscuè per totum orbem virtutem suaÌ„ palam facere sed peculiariter populo suo Quemadmodum dicitur Ps 31.19 magnitudinem bonitatis ejus absconditam esse solis fidelibus qui eum timent reverentur Calv. 34.29 His face did shine the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies horns and so the vulgar renders it quod cornuta esset facies ejus So that the Lord in all his dispensations was glorious His works had a lustre beams a brightness that went with them and yet there was the hiding of his power That is he doth so work by instruments and second causes that his hand is not seen but by a spiritual eye yet to him that hath such an eye the hand of the Lord is exceeding glorious There are horns come out of it but there is a latibulum potentiae in all the dispensations of God towards the men of the world Now to see horns in the hand of Christ to see him glorious in his administations even when his power is hid from the rest of the world under instruments and second causes this is the duty of all the Saints So doth the Church Isaiah 63.1 2. * Non agit de Christo patiente iram Dei placante sed de Christo Rege suos potentissime ab hostibus externis liberante contra cos defendente c. Tarnov exercit Bibli p 418. c. Who is he that comes from Edom with garments died from Bosrah glorious in his apparel c. To see the Lord cloathed with a Vesture dipt in blood and his name called the word of God Revel 19.13 His name was the Word of God * Antealudibrio pene habuit verbum Dei acsi tantum essent magnifica verba sed sub phiala septima mysterium Dei consummatuÌ„ erit tunc maximè florebit Divini verbi authoritas coÌ„stantissima ejus veritate in singulis perspecta Brig in loc from the beginning but then he was the Word revealing and discovering the promises and the truths of God but now he is the Word of God fulfilling and accomplishing of them A place parallel to it is Exod. 6.3 By the name Jehovah I was not known to them The Lord was known by the name Jehovah when he did give a being to the promises so Christ was then called the Word of God but then he did manifest himself to be Jehovah when he did fulfil these promises To see the Lord glorious in his administrations however they be cloathed by instruments and second causes to rejoyce in all appearances of Christ is our duty though they be terrible to the rest of the World Whatsoever †Amictus quidam gloriae Dei in ultione adversus hostes Metaphorâ ab Heröe armis induto in arenam adversus hostes descendente desumptâ Glass Rhet. Sacr. p. 160. Esay 63.1 apparrel he goes forth in he is infinitly glorious 9. When the will of God is manifested the soul should keep it self from all disquieting passions all unpleasingness of spirit whatsoever When I once see it is the will of God I will not grudge at it I will not mourn under it as if I would have it otherwise only I will mourn for my sin that hath been the cause of it This was Davids case for his child his heart was set upon him 2 Sam. 12.20.21 David acquiescit sententiae quaÌ„ definitivam facto ipso intellexit agnita voluntate Dei acquicscunt sancti Lavit se David ut ingrederetur Templum Dâ—mini ille percusserat non tamen euÌ„ habuit pro hoste suo sed accedâ—t eum adorat supplex c. Petr. Martyr and he prayed earnestly for him with fasting yet the child must die and assoon as he saw the will of the Lord was manifested he mourns no more but with a submissive spirit stoops under it A man should not continue the disquiet of his spirit when the will of God is manifested but with all meekness acknowledge his wisdom and submit to his will It is an evil that the Lord reproves in Samuel 1 Sam. 16.1 How long wilt thou mourn for Saul seeing I have rejected him that he should not raign over Israel The sentence of Sauls rejection was gone forth from the Lord and made manifest unto Samuel Vâ—detur quod illicitus fuit iste planctus nisi Samuel ignorasset reprobationem Saulis Pro hoc lugâ—hâ—t Samâ—â—l quia definiâ—â—at Deus eum abâ—icere noluissâ—t tamen Samuel quâ—d 〈◊〉 Saul Lititus tamen fuit quia lagebat solum ex quadam compassione ut patet de poenis damnatorum aeternaliter quia nulli licet pro â—is orare â—â—â—tum autem est pro illis dolere nihil orando Tostat in 1 Sam. 15.9.41 though he was not as yet removed from the Government of the Kingdom no not in many years after Now Samuel mourned for him because he was rejected of God but when the will of God was made manifest for him to disquiet and trouble himself therein as if all the future happiness of Israel depended upon this one man and that he did not rather look out Audiverat Samuel Domini sentenam de Saule exauctorando tamen non potest primo intuitu quinam id fiat animadvertere Agnoscens unctum Samuel Dei mandato non potest repentè reverentiam illi abjicere Non satis in peculiari hoc facto animadvertit quid à se Deus postuinret sc Deum ut agnosceret velle Saulis abrogare imperium quod dederat quia ipsius voci non obtemperasset Calv. homil in
excaecatae sunt hominū mentes aliquo praepostero affectu etiamsi Dominus è coele fulminet non exaudiunt adhuc violenter occurrere non desmunt Calv. and he would justifie his passion before God he did well to be angry even unto the death If there be a slight advantage a small convenience that a mans heart is set upon as it was in this instance for it is said he was exceeding glad of the gourd he is very apt to rise in discontent against any of the acts of God that shall deprive him thereof And this is the true occasion of all the grudgings and murmurings in the soul Every mans heart is full of bitterness repinings and discontents the tidings they hear of the several workings of God in the world is to them as Vinegar is to the teeth and smoak to the eyes according as their party is concerned in it It is a terror to hear the report The evil of such a frame of heart I shall set forth by these ensuing considerations 1. It is a sin and a great provocation against God The Lord came to Jonah and did reason the case with him dost thou well to be angry Ex usu sanctae linguae talis interrogatio negat vehementissimè sicut contraria quam maxime affirmat Tarnov in loc The interrogation is both a vehement negation and a sharp reprehension He did not well in so doing And this should be enough to any gracious heart who ought to tremble at sin more then Hell And it is a sin that a man is exceeding prone to yea even the best men For who could have thought that Jonah who was so lately in the Whales belly which he cals the belly of Hell and was so greatly humbled under the mighty hand of God and so graciously and miraculously delivered but that he should have been well pleased with whatsoever God should do so a man would think of those also that have been greatly afflicted and now gloriously delivered yet after all this Jonahs spirit is discontented for a trifle he is angry though it be but for a gourd But let such persons consider the Lord himself will reprove it as an evil he will not suffer it in his own people Therefore ask thy soul in the midst of its bitterness what shall I answer when the Lord reproves Is this a frame of spirit which I am able to justifie before God or shall I say with Jonah I do well to be angry and so add iniquity to iniquity 2. It is not only a sin but it is a high degree of sinning it is sinning against God with an high hand which will appear in two things 1. Hereby a man doth exalt his will above Gods will and makes his will the rule of goodness As if the will of the Lord were evil and his will good which is the highest pitch of Atheism that the Devil himself can be guilty of Now when the Lord hath manifested his will that there should be such speakings in the heart as these But I should have judged it better if it had been otherwise what is this but to say If my will had been done it had been better for my will is the rule of goodness and not Gods will contrary to the frame in Ely Let him do what seems him good for that is good which is so in his account that which agrees unto his will and not unto mine Secondly Hereby a man doth put God out of the throne of Government and takes upon himself the Government of the world saying with Absolom Oh if I were made a Judge and a Ruler in Israel I would do you justice So these if the Government of the world were in my hands it should be far better with the world then it is If it were in my power if I had the ordering of all things so that though the Lord sits in Heaven and his Kingdom rules over all yet as man in every sin denies the wisdom and the equity of his Law as if he could make a better Law so in all such discontents and murmurings he denies his Soveraignty in Government And if it were in his power his will is to take the Government out of his hand into his own and then things should be better ordered and there should not be such distresses upon the Churches and such confusions in the world as now there are 3. Hereby thou makest thy self wiser then God for he that will undertake to correct another mans actions must therein at least suppose himself to be wiser then he And therefore men that would bring in new institutions into the worship of God and will not be content with those that he hath appointed they do charge God with folly and make themselves wiser then God And therefore some of our Divines observe that it is a greater sin in Gods sevice to do what we should not then to omit what we should For by the one we shew the difficulty of the Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys hom 2. in Rom. Miles potestati obediens hominem occidit c. unde punitur si fecerit injussus inde punietur nisi fecerit jussus Quod si ita est jubente Imperatore quanto magis jubente creatore Aug de Civi◠l 1. c. 26. but by the other we charge the Law with folly In the one we manifest our weakness to do the will of God in the other our impudence to controll the wisdom of God And as it is in the institutions of God so it is in his operations He that saith I would not have it thus or thus if it had been thus it would have been better doth nor only set up his own will against Gods but exalts his own wisdom above Gods But it will be found in this as in matters of institution Vain man would be wise But howsoever we may account it as part of our wisdom it will be found to be but as mimicall dancings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est puerorum more ludere Talis ab usus sacrificiorum erat apud Gentiles ex sacrificio epulum ex epulo facta est potatio ex potatione comus ex como ludus c. Epicharm apud Athanaeum l. 2. Surrexerunt ludere intellige sacrae scripturae verecuudiam lusum nisi impudicum non denotasse Tertul. de jejunio contra physicos c. and as Childrens plays before God in the end And so the word 1 Cor. 10.7 doth signifie Exod. 32.6 The people sate down to eat and to drink and rose up to play But men say we think this would be better for Gods glory that is as much as to say you take more care for the glory of God then he doth himself But if you took so much care of the glory of God you would have respect to his Commands and not sin against him out of pretence of zeal for his glory And it is as much as to say you know wayes that will make more for the
put in him by God the Father and so we may rest assured he will be faithful unto him For he hath accomplished all things and hath not spared his own life he loved it not to death in reference to his spiritual Kingdom therefore he will be faithful also in the providential Kingdom which is given him not only as part of his Office but as a part also of his reward being set at the right hand of God and thereby being made both †Act. 2.36 Christus fuit Rex Dominus ex quo coepit esse Mediator non demum factus est post resurrectionem sed locus intelligi debet de solenni declaratione quae tum facta est cum Christus consedit ad dextram Patris Maccov Thes Theolog par 3. disp 15. Lord and Christ Secondly Ratione Dominii for he did purchase all the creatures There was not only a debt which he paid but there was a purchase which he made and that was of all the creatures * Constituit Christum haeredem omniuÌ„ Heb. 1.2 Sumus nos cohaeredes Christi Rom. 8.17 Cujus haeredes sumus Dei cujus Filii Quae Dei haereditas Omnia sunt Dei omnia igitur nostra quae Dei sunt sumus enim haeredes ex asse 1 Cor. 3.21 Haereditas Christi gemina est gloriae dominii in utramque partem nos ut fratres recipit Par. in Rom. 8.17 Christus meruit nobis omnia bona supernaturalia omnia auxilia sive praevenientia sive subsequentia ac universa illa bona et si bona sint nobis extrinseca quae rationem induunt mediorum ad nostram salutem Vincent Asturicens de habit Christi grat praelect q 5. p. 259. Reinolds in Psal 110.4 p 455. for the Churches service he bought the services of some and the persons of others He bought some as sons others as servants Which may be the meaning of though it be commonly otherwise interpreted 2 Pet. 2.2 They denied the Lord that bought them In both these respects we may be sure as a purchase made by himself at a dear rate and as an office committed to him by his Father he will order all things so as they shall be to his own glory and his Fathers ends And therefore we see that all the changings and shakings in the world are attributed to Christ Heb. 12.25 26. See that ye refuse not him that speaks from Heaven Relativum â— non possumus referre nisi ad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hoc est ad Chrislum quem Mosi opposuit Par. Illud non ad coelum speciatim refertur sed ad rem totam Magnas antehac fcci rerum mutationes sed restat longè major Grot. whose voyce then shook the Earth c. It was Christ that did shake the Earth in the giving of the Law And it is he that is said once more to shake not only Earth but also Heaven 3. Christ hath made his Providential Kingdom subordinate unto his spiritual Kingdom Propter Ecclesiam in mundo durat mundus alioquin uno momento conflagraret coelum terra quia mundus non est dignus uno grano tritici siquidem plenus est blasphemiis impietate Nisi oratione doctrina sustentaret Ecclesia mundum uno momento perirent omnia Luth. in Gen. 30. 34. he doth rule all things in the world onely for the good of his people It is for their sakes the world stands and therefore it is for their good and in subordination thereunto that the world is governed For first All creatures made for mans use were at first put under mans Covenant and therefore when man sinned his curse did reach unto them also Gen. 3.17 If there had not been a second Covenant revealed man had perished and all the creatures for his sake Secondly It is by the Covenant of Christ and under the Government of Christ that they are at this day established Esay 49.8 I will give thee for a Covenant of the people to establish the Earth It must have the same extent with the people to whom he is given as a Covenant but that was not to the Jews only and therefore it cannot be restrained only to the Land of Judea Psal 93.1 97.1 is commonly expounded of the Kingdom of Christ Thirdly The creatures for this cause wait to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God Rom. 8.21 The Vanity which I conceive the creature is subjected to is a Vanity of service to the lusts of Satan and Sinners and the reason why they are by God subjected thereunto is because the Lord hath a number of Sons to be carryed through the Wilderness of this World and when they are perfectly delivered from corruption then shall the creatures be delivered from the bondage of corruption Quemadmodum mundus propter hominem conditus est propter lapsum illius corruptus ita ad gloriam electorum dissolutus restituetur Gomar in Rom. 8. Fourthly The continuance of the World is only to advance the ends of the Kingdom of Christ It s attributed to the patience of God 2 Pet. 3.9 Rom. 9.22 but all the attributes of God are exercised by Christ in his Government and it is for to bring men to repentance which only belongs to the second Covenant and till the Kingdom of Christ be perfected the World is reserved by the Word of God and then shall the ancient curse be executed All things shall be dissolved the Earth and the works that are therein shall be burnt up And for this cause Ephes 11.22 it is said he is made head over all things unto the Church * In bâ—num Ecclesiae â—â—tinet hoc Iâ—pâ—râ—um Gâ—oâ— in loc Eph. 1 23. Rev. 21.9 Jer. 12.7 He is the head of the Church and over all things for the Churches sake The Church is his body the Lambs wife the dearly beloved of his soul therefore seeing it is for their sakes that he hath undertaken the Government of all things surely all things shall be so ordered as they shall turn to their spiritual good and advantage in the end Consider how dear the Church is unto God the Father * Joh. 16.27 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apud Graecos ultroneum significat sc Pater ultro vos diligit etiam nemine rogante Erasm unde Nonnus vertit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he did commit it as a depositum unto Christ to keep They are therefore stiled Those whom thou hast given me | Jo. 17.11 Act. 20.28 Quam heminibus impossibile est mixtum fermentum separare à pasto tam impossibile est diabolo Christum ab Ecclesia sua separare Luth. And consider how dear the Church is to Christ who hath purchased it with his own bloud Therefore if the Father will trust him and if he be so far engaged that he shall loose all his sufferings if the Church miscarry we may
doth not hinder sin when it is in his power doth after a sort further it Therefore why doth God punish man for sinning when he might if he had pleased have kept man from sinning It is a great Judgement to be given up to dispute the will of God in this manner for men much to exercise their wits in calling the word of God and the waies of God in this manner to give an accompt at the bar of their reason 3. You pray that the will of God might be done which is that his whole will might take place and that there may be wrought in your wils a conformity unto the whole will of God Now a man should look for the fruit of his prayers in a conformity of his will Mercies given in answer to prayers are double mercies It s not only a good thing that is given but it is given as a fruit of a promise and as a testimony that a man hath received the Spirit of supplication For there is nothing ascends up to heaven but that which comes down from heaven There is no prayer heard of God but that which doth proceed from the Spirit of God acting in the man Now as you have this testimony of the return of your prayers that your wils are subdued unto the commanding and the effecting will labour for the same also in respect of the permitting will of God And till this also be wrought you have never a full answer unto that petition 4. The permitting will of God towards the Saints is but for the time of this life for it hath respect only unto sin Now when sin shall be done away then the permissions of God and the forbearance of God shall have an end Therefore the Saints in heaven and the souls of just men made perfect the Lord doth no more suffer sin to be in them nor them to be under the power of Satan tempting and accusing They are no longer under the power of wicked men neither fear they any more to be given over unto scandalous falls it is but for the time of this life As you are to glorifie the patience of God because it will last but for a time and then cease so you are to glorifie the permissions of God also Seeing therefore it is the way which the Lord hath chosen to himself to glorifie himself for this present state a man should resolve to set himself to it There is a different way of honouring God here and in heaven our care should be that we might honour him according to that way which he requires of us while we are here for this is bringing forth fruit in the season thereof So that as I say improve Ordinances because that they shall last but for the time of the dispensatory Kingdom of Christ Do you act patience and Godly sorrow for they are but for the time of this life and then they shall cease And the way by which the life of grace is now maintained shall be no more therefore get what benefit you can by them while you do enjoy them So it is also in the permitting will of God give God the glory of it during the time of the acting thereof it is but for the dayes of thy vanity and no more therefore be content to submit unto it 5. From the glorious ends that God doth accomplish by his permissions 1. Hereby the grace of Christ is magnified and the Saints have a continual ground for recourse unto the fountain for the washing of sin and uncleanness because the Lord leaves them unto daily defilements 2. Hereby his mercy is exalted in pardoning their scandalous fals and restoring them again after they have to the utmost destroyed themselves and that they shall gain as it were a new conversion thereby When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren 3. Hereby a constant war is maintained and a mans Crown shall be proportioned to his combat Majora certamina majora sequntur praemia A mans greatest enemy is within and the sorest battails are fought betwixt Flesh and Spirit in the same heart For the power of grace as well as of Corruption is mainly drawn out by opposition Gratia vexata seipsam prodit Hereby we have experience of Christ our Advocate pleading our cause before the Throne of grace and rebuking Satan our accuser as he is brought in Zach. 3.1 2. The Lord rebuke thee the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee And hereby when Christ and the Saints shall judge the world the last act of the Kingdom of Christ will be so much the more comfortable to them 5. Hereby we shall be purged from those remainders of defilement for this is all the fruit to take away their sin Isa 27.9 when the Saints are left under the power of ungodly men it is but to try them and to purge them and make them white unto the time of the end Dan. 11.35 6. This will sweeten heaven for ever The consideration of all those miseries we are delivered from which by the permission of God we had experience of We now come to the fruit and consequence of such a temper of Spirit submitting to the will of God which is expressed in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we ceased This word is variously used both in sacred and profane Authors and I find in them all that it commonly signifies these three things 1. An inward quietness and tranquillity of mind for there is a silence of the soul Psalm 62.1 My soul keep silence unto God Therefore it is for a man to be quiet without any inward turnings or risings of spirit to have a spirit quiet like the calm sea a man that is delivered from an unquiet spirit and freed from those turbulent affections that do disquiet other men therefore the Septuagint do thus render the word to which interpretation we are most to give heed in the interpretation of the word in the New Testament In Lam. 3.26 It is good for a man to wait quietly the word is the same with that in my text It is an inward quietness of Spirit in waiting for the salvation of God 1 Thes 4.11 study to be quiet Make it your ambition to get an inward quiet calm spirit look upon it as matter of your duty and of your Glory to attain such a spirit that you may be free from all turbulent inward distractions 2. The word signifies a silence of speech as well as a silence of soul Nehem. 5.8 So they held their peace so the Septuagint render it they had not a word to answer Acts 11.18 When Peter declared to the Church the conversion of the Gentiles they held their peace and glorified God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3. The word signifies a quiet behaviour a Cessation from work as a man without business or as one translates it it is as much as to keep holy day So it is rendred Luke 23.56 and I think all these three senses are meant here and then the meaning is
this When we understood that this was the mind and will of God that Paul should go up to Jerusalem our minds were quiet under that dispensation we spake no more against it they acted no more that they might turn Paul from it And in all these senses I conceive the word is here to be taken that their minds are quieted and calmed under the dispensations of God seeing the Lord would have it so therefore they do forbear either to speak or to act against it So that the Observations are three according to the word 's threefold acceptation Doct. 1. A mans heart being once truly and fully concluded under the will of God there doth follow in the soul a sweet peace and holy tranquillity of Spirit a great inward quietness of mind Doct. 2. The mind being thus quieted doth silence the tongue that a man dares not speak against such dispensations of God Doct. 3. The soul being thus sweetly calmed under the will of God dares not act in any thing tumultuously in a way of opposition So it was with these men here they held their peace they did forbear to disswade Paul or to do any thing that might hinder him from the enterprize which they saw it was the will of God he should undertake what difficulty or hardship soever he under-went in it or whatever the success of the work may be Doct. 1. An heart once truly and fully concluded under the will of God there doth follow an holy tranquillity a blessed quietness and serenity of mind In the handling of it I will shew you First That there is a quietness and tranquillity in the inward man which every heart is to labour for for serenity as well as sincerity in the inward parts Secondly That its the concluding of our will unto the will of God that is the only ground of this tranquillity of mind Thirdly What there is in this submission of our wils to Gods will that is a ground of this inward quietness Lastly the application hereof to our selves 1. That there is an holy quietness and tranquillity which every Saint is to labour for I say an holy quietness of mind For there is a sinful quietness which is a sin and the fruit of sin proceeding from senselesness and stupidity when mens hearts within them are as a stone like the dead sea moved at nothing when men dwell without care as the Prophet speaks Isa 47.8 and hear the Word of the Lord ye careless Daughters Isa 32.9 when men are not troubled or afflicted with any thing As there is an evil conscience which is pacatamala and that man is in the most danger of all being in judgement given over to a spirit of slumber so there is in the mind in respect of all the dealings of God a sinful quietness from a careless principle As there is a natural patience in some and a kind of natural meekness which is not a grace but a sin as all the natural vertues of the Heathen were And therefore Lipsius doth pray Da mihi patientiam Christianam So there is a natural quietness of spirit proceeding ever from carelesness and stupidity Some persons being of such a temper they can be troubled at nothing But this is not that quietness of an heart that must be grounded upon the subjection of our wils to Gods will and upon known rules of duty This David cals upon his soul for Psalm 116.7 Return unto thy rest oh my soul Which some expound of God who is indeed all in all to his people their resting their dwelling place But Mr Calvin takes rest here to be put pro tranquillo bene composito animi statu He had been in great affliction the sorrows of death had compassed him and the pains of hell took hold of him and there had followed in his soul great perplexity and unquietness he now cals off his soul from those unquiet motions and agitations of Spirit to return to rest to a calm quiet serene frame again This is a distemper of Spirit that David complains of Psalm 38.10 Circumivit cor meum my heart went up and down to and fro like a Merchant it was in a continual unquietness never setled or at a stay So Psalm 43.5 Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie fremuit tumultuatus est His Soul was in a tumult he had an uproar in his own spirit which Christ expresses Luke 12.29 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be you not as a Meteor which is not fastned in any orb but subject to various doubtfull and uncertain motions This is to live in careful suspense a Christian should labour for setled motions of Spirit as the fixed stars This is the frame of Spirit which is in the sight of God of great price 1 Pet. 3.4 Let there be what troubles there will below they shall not reach the soul to disquiet it though they may the outward condition yet the soul is kept as the upper region of the air alwayes serene without clouds This did Habakuck obtain Chap. 3.9 He maketh my feet like Hinds feet that is to walk with ease and fearlesness per montes per rupta though those wayes of difficulty would have distracted other men And he sets me upon high places that is Libere absque metu incedere in locis excelsis that be the difficulties what they will be yet he is as man that is set aloft out of Gunshot he doth not fear his mind is no more disquieted by it then he would be that is out of the reach of danger This is a qualification of spirit which every Christian should labour for and we see by this instance may be obtained that as the Saints in heaven whatsoever the Lord doth pleaseth them because their wils are moulded and framed into his will therefore they are not disquieted at any of his dealings so we should strive in our measure to attain such a frame of heart thereby to keep a constant calmness and serenity of Spirit whatever the dealings of God be toward us or in the world 2. When the soul of man is brought into a full and perfect subjection to the will of God then is there a constant quietness and tranquillity maintained in it which will appear by these demonstrations 1. Sin did invade the throne of God and sinful self having as it were deposed God in the soul now takes unto it the Godhead so that all the subjections that be due to God sinful self doth claim Men shall be lovers of their own selves 2 Tim. 3.3 Now the honour of God is that his will should rule in the world all things are created by his will Rev. 4. ult And by the same will all things must be governed Ephes 1.11 So long there fore as self is the God in the man so long an opposition will be maintained by self in the soul against God So far as self is
this Spirit is wholly according to the will of God As he doth make intercession in us according to the will of God so he doth work subjection in us according unto the will of God And when the soul is brought into a subordination then all contention ceaseth Subordinata non pugnant Now every unregenerate man being acted by the spirit of Satan doth act in a way of opposition Satan being a turbulent and unquiet spirit never at rest goes about like a roaring Lion is alway compassing the earth therefore where he bears rule the soul is full of unquietness and for ever restless When an evil spirit came upon Saul how unquiet was he continually As the man possessed with the Devil there were no chains could hold him he dwels among the tombs he doth continually cut and wound himself So it is with the soul in whom Satan rules because he acts it in wayes of opposition unto the will of God If the Lord would give Satan leave and give him power of the winds he would raise nothing but tempests and thunders and blustering in the world as appears Job 1.19 there came a wind from the wilderness and smote the four corners of his house We hear of Witches that sell winds to Merchants by the permission of God If the Lord would give Satan leave and power over the soul he would raise nothing but winds and tempests there If the Lord would suffer him to blow upon the great sea of corruption that is the man there would be nothing but waves and billows for he loves nothing more then to disturb and disquiet the soul because he acts men in opposition unto the will of God whereas the Spirit of God acts them sweetly and quietly because it is in wayes of subordination thereunto 6. It doth plainly appear in this because when the soul of the creature is subjected fully unto the will of God there is no disquietness in any thing which either the Lord commands or effects but a constant calmness and serenity of Spirit We see it in Adam so long as he continued in his integrity in a conformity to God in a righteousness and holiness of truth and his will subjected unto the will of God in all things he had none of those disquieting affections at any thing commanded or wrought by God he was able to delight himself in the whole law of God and rejoyce in all the works of his hands And so it is with the Saints in glory the souls of just men made perfect they freely submit unto Gods commanding will and they do truly rejoice in his effecting and permitting will because their will is wholly melted into the will of God and they have no private interest apart from God therefore whatsoever he do pleaseth them They take pleasure in all his works Psal 111.2 3. And the same is true of the Angels they obey his voice they do his pleasure without any unquietness or reluctance They go and come like lightning Ezech. 1.19 The Angel Gabriel did fly swiftly Dan. 10. They do it speedily they do it chearfully Were there nor a conformity in their will unto the will of God this could not be For that is the ground of all the droopings of the Saints in all their services they drive heavily because their will is not fully subjected unto the will of the Lord. So it was in the Lord Jesus Christ he had the will of God manifested towards him in the most unpleasing manner to flesh for he must deny the will of nature and that must stoop unto the will of duty and yet if it be to take flesh with the infirmities thereof that in that nature he might lay down his life he saith Lo I come to do thy will O God He had no unquietness of spirit in him from a principle of opposition though in point of satisfaction he saith My soul is heavy unto death Therefore Rev. 1.13 he is said to be girt about the paps with a golden girdle Though I conceive Christ doth appear in heaven as he is the Churches high Priest Amictu Sacerdotali And among other priestly ornaments the curious girdle is one Exod. 28.39 yet I conceive they had all a spiritual signification and this doth note the suppressing of all inordinate motions and affections in the soul It is said Justice and Faithfulness should be the girdle of his reins Isa 11.6 But it is now described to be about his paps Mr Brightman gives the reason because under the Law there being less grace poured out the lusts of men were restrained in a more legal way by principle of fear Coercebantur cupiditate But under the Gospel more grace being poured out the breasts being the seat of Love all unruliness and unquietness of Spirit being in a way of love supprest and kept under therefore he is not said to be girded about the loins but about the paps with a golden girdle After the same manner also it is spoken of the Saints for there was not only a girdle made for Aaron but for his sons also So were the Saints to be girt about the breasts Rev. 15.6 They do partake in the same honour with him and grace in them hath the same power over them Thus we see that when the will of man is brought into a full and compleat subjection to the will of God then all unquiet and unruly passions and motions in the soul are done away and there follows an holy calmness and tranquillity of spirit all unquietness arising from no other ground but the opposition that is in our will unto the will of God we would have our will stand and not Gods will and because his will doth cross ours therefore our spirit is full of tumult and disorder 3. What is there in the subjecting of our wills unto the will of God that can be a ground of this inward quietness and tranquillity of mind There are two things that are the main causes of all disquiet in the soul disquieting reasonings in a way of disputation and tormenting risings in a way of passion Now our subjection of our wills unto the will of God doth calm the raging seas in a man in both these and then there must needs follow a great calm 1. There are in the soul disquieting reasonings which do proceed from a mans fleshly will For reason in the man is the Wills privy Counsellor whose directions and dictates it follows and while the will is unsubdued the man is full of disputings and gainsayings sometimes against the Counsel of God his decreeing will Rom. 9. Seeing he hardens whom he will and we cannot help it because none can resist his will why doth he yet find fault and lay the blame upon us Sometimes against his commanding will When the Lord commands Moses to go to Pharoah he objects how shall I go to Pharoah I am a man of 〈◊〉 slow tongue and the people they will not believe me And if I say the God of
the will of God all these disquieting passions must be subdued upon a double ground 1. Because the soul doth conclude that Gods will is Gods pleasure When Christ did the will of his Father it is said the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand Isa 53.10 Now nothing should grieve me but that which grieves the Lord I should fear nothing but that which offends him I should be angry for nothing but what displeaseth him Now all the Acts of his will he is pleased with them therefore I should be quieted under them 2. If the will of God be my end the will of God shall be my reward God hath made over all his attributes to his people in that glorious promise I will be thy God and answerable to a mans obedience to any Attribute such shall his comfort that comes from that Attribute be And if I work for Gods will surely the same will will in all things work for me and the Lord will do nothing but what shall be as truly for my good as it is for his own glory And therefore the soul is not angry at any thing that God will do is not vexed or disquieted at any thing but sits down under it with a holy tranquillity of mind For his commanding will he saith Speak Lord for thy servant heareth Jube quod vis For his effecting will he saith It is the Lord let him do what seems good in his eyes The world is his great house and the Government of it belongs to him the earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof Use Let this serve by way of exhortation to press the former Doctrine that we be perfectly concluded under the will of God from this blessed fruit and effect thereof that it will free us from that unquietness of mind which is the great misery the Saints groan under For as we should truly strive to keep peace with God and to maintain peace with men so we should also strive to maintain a peace in our own spirits For in this respect also Christ is the Prince of Peace And to inforce this Exhortation I shall first shew you the sinfulness of an unquiet spirit under any of the dispensations of God Secondly The dangerous use that the Devil makes of such a distemper Thirdly What excellency there is in a calm and a quiet mind Fourthly How such a frame of spirit may be obtained First The sinfulness of an unquiet spirit 1. Hereby thou sinnest against thine own soul That is the expression Numbers 16. They are sinners against their own souls Now the soul of man in its creation was such for the glory of it that the sun in its brightness is not to be compared to it But there is a double excellency in the soul in whâ—â—â— the beauty and the glory of it dâ—â—h consist First In its purity and so sin fights against the soul for it defiles it which nothing but sin could have done Secondly In the serenity and so sin hath disquieted and disturbed the soul which nothing else could have done Do not destroy your own souls and the soul is destroyed either by the polluting of it or by the disquieting of it which is of that value and worth that all things below should be esteemed beneath it as that which is too little to ransom a soul All the creatures are not worth one disquieting thought of the soul it is of so great an excellency And the greater the sin is because a man himself is the instruemnt thereof To trouble himself torment himself be a burthen to himself as every unquiet spirited man is Psalm 43.4 5. Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me There are two words used the one signifies to lay a thing wast as a wilderness as void of comfort as if a man were in a barren Wilderness where there is nohing to be had to refresh him But how comes the soul to be thus like a desolate howling Wilderness the word signifies that he himself was the instrument thereof the means of the devastation of his own Spirit And the word signifies to prostrate a thing depress it to the very ground which word is in such a conjugation and doth signifie that the man did cast down himself the soul is the instrument in its own dejection All murther is sinfull but no murther so great an evil or so uncomfortable as self-murther and no self-murther like unto soul-murther for a man to go about to debase and bring down the glory of his soul which he should endeavor to beautifie with the highest qualifications and look upon it as his only glory for the qualifications of the soul are the only excellencies of the man 2. A man may take a measure of the sinfulness of his spirit by the unquietness of it for the unquietness of the spirit doth proceed wholly from the opposition of the will unto the will of God Now as the power of Godliness doth lie in the subjection of our wills unto Gods will that when grace shall be perfected in glory there shall be a perfect subjection so the power of sinfulness lies in the opposition of our wills unto Gods will and the more fully thou standest in opposition the greater is the measure of thy corruption If therefore unquietness of spirit doth rise from opposition of will then the more unquietness there is the greater opposition The devil being in the highest opposition unto God and they that sin against the Holy Ghost it being direct enmity whereas other sinners are but enemies to God in a collateral way their opposition is the greatest being revenge against God doing despight unto the spirit of grace therefore they are most unquiet Though in a temptation there is an unquietness of spirit that may arise upon the best men as it did upon David and Ionah yet if that be a mans ordinary and constant temper it argues he hath much of the devil in him the meekning and melting of a mans spirit into the will of God is the measure of his grace and the opposition of a mans will unto the will of God and his unquietness thereupon is the measure of his corruption Men that are alway fiery and ad oppositum now this doth not please them and now they fret at this instrument and by and by are discontented at that dispensation If Niniveh be not destroyed Ionah is angry if the Gourd be not spared he is angry it is an argument there is but a little grace and a great deal of corruption And as grace doth increase subduing the will unto the will of God so surely will the quietness of a mans spirit increase Grace in a man ripens as fruit doth at first there is a great deal of sourness and sharpness mixed with it but then it is green the riper it grows the more mellow and the more sweet it is 3. The more pride there is in any sin the greater that sin is for to sin
against God with a high hand is proudly to sin against him Now as humility is the measure of all grace so pride is the measure of all sin therefore Psal 19.13 David doth express presumptuous sins which are in degree next the great transgression by a word which signifies Ab insolentibus so Montanus Ab superbiis so others Now is there a higher pride in the world then this for a man to stand it out with God Whether Gods will or his will shall stand Whether God shall command as he pleaseth or I obey as I please Whether God shall Rule the world or I shall rule the world Either what will please God or what will please men And therefore the Prophet resolves all opposition unto the will of God unto this Ier. 13.17 If you will not hear my soul shall weep in secret for your pride There cannot be a higher discovery of pride in any of the sons of pride then this therefore the greater the sin is 4. This shews that there is but little dominion or authority that grace hath in the soul Grace sets up the Kingdom of Christ in the heart where it is and Christs kingdom is mainly exercised over the spirits of men It is not in meat and drink but in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost therefore Prov. 16.32 It is said He that rules his spirit is better than he that wins a City Men generally strive for authority though few use it well when they have it there is a government that all should exercise a rule over your own spirits Now so much grace as there is in any man so much authority and rule that man hath over his own soul he that hath no rule in himself but it breaks forth into contention and disorder upon all occasions that man hath no grace in him Grace calls first for a wel-ordered soul and afterward for a well-ordered conversation And if it be so great a matter to rule the tongue that he that seems to be religious and bridles not his tongue that mans Religion is in vain it is much more to rule the spirit to set up the government of Christ in the inward man 5. It is the Devils way of sinning and it is the Judgement he is given up unto he is a restless and unquiet spirit goes about like a roaring Lion always acting in opposition unto God in way of revenge always fretting at the dispensations of God in the government of the world Matth. 12.33 He seeks rest and he finds none Ever restless under any of Gods dealings and this is his Judgement and the greatest torment that now he hath beside a certain expectation of Judgement that the Lord hath given him over to a spirit of opposition and that in a constant and a restless way and this is the Devils Hell Tolle propriam voluntatem non erit infernus So Bernard therefore on the contrary Uno posito ponitur alterum Set up a mans will against Gods will and deliver him over thereunto and it will be an hell unto that man 6. It is a fearfull Iudgement from the Lord for to be as the troubled sea that cannot rest Isaiah 57.20 There is no peace saith my God unto the wicked It is spoken upon occasion of the return of the people out of Babylon as appears verse 14. Cast cast ye up prepare the way of my people take away the stumbling block the Lord will not contend for ever neither will he be alway wrath Being returned the Lord doth promise to send them the Gospel the Messengers of Peace the Ministers of God shall now speak peace to them who did before speak error and the fruit of it shall be a constant peace and quietness in their own consciences for God would create the fruit of the lips peace peace The repetition notes excellentiam seu abundantiam Ier. 7.4 The temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord that excellent Temple where the Lord promiseth his presence should be for ever and it should be called by his name Isa 28.16 Behold I lay in Zion Musad Musad a foundation a foundation a glorious an excellent a sure foundation And the repetition also notes Continuationem Deut. 16.20 That which is Justice Justice shalt thou follow That is indesinenter sectaberis Thou shalt wholly constantly and continually follow that which is just So here he will create the fruit of the lips peace peace it notes a glorious and an eminent peace that God would give them in their own spirits and it should be a constant a setled peace not to be disquieted any more But after this return when the Lord should speak this peace to his own people yet the hearts of wicked men should have no peace they should be like the raging sea that cannot rest It notes their own inward unquietness Affectibus suis afflatu malorum Spirituum agitati floret After they are returned out of the captivity and there was peace to the Saints even then there should be no peace to the wicked Though they be not disquieted by enemies as winds from without yet as the Sea they shall disquiet themselves by their own inward motions and estuations There is an offence that men take sometimes at the word of God sometimes at the works of God At his word Hos 14.9 There is a path that the upright shall walk in and transgressors shall fall in There are some passages in the word that the Saints themselves do sometimes stumble at in scandalum This is a hard saying who can hear it but ungodly men stumble at them in ruinam There are also some works of God at which men are offended stumbling Providences either when they are above mens apprehensions the wheels being lifted up from the earth or beyond mens expectations Matth. 13.21 When persecution ariseth for the words sake by and by they are offended So Christ saith Matth. 11.6 both in respect of his word and works Blessed is he that shall not be offended in me There are as great snares of Satan and as great Judgements of God laid in scandals as in any thing in the world beside and therefore men ought to take heed how they take offence because there is a bait in it in which they may in judgement be insnared and taken It is an observation much to be confisidered that if Satan woul instill in the hearts of men any evil impression concerning any truth of God he doth usually bring it in by some Providence of God that men may take offence at we see it in the Gaderens Math 8.31 If thou cast us out suffer us to go into the heard of swine Ut eos jactur a porcorum ad maledicendum Christo impelleret that they may never desire his company and preaching more that brought so great a loss upon them and though it was the devils desire yet the Lord doth somtimes grant it as he did his request against Iob for his owne just and
great ends thereby to try and prove the obedience of the Saints such works are a stumbling block unto ungodly men and thereby a great difference is put betwixt them and others It is as great a judgment to stumble at the works as it is at the word of God 2. We are to consider the dangerous use that the devil makes of an unquiet spirit he loves it being unto him a sutable habitation Ephes 4.27 Let not the sun go down upon your wrath neither give place to the devill If once a mans spirit be in a disturbed frame there is a doore set open for Satan to enter at and the use that he doth make of such a frame of spirit is commonly this 1. He doth hereby keep the soul in a continual tumult that a man shall not be able to make a supplication unto God it shall disturb him in all his duties See it in Jonah ch 4. v. 2 3. when his spirit was in an unquiet frame see what an angry pecvish prayer he made and offers up unto God No man is fit to have communion with God that hath not the command of his own spirit 2. Another use the devil makes of it is this to imbitter a man against God and all the Instruments that God doth use This we finde to be in Saul 1 Sam 16.14 The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord vexed him So that all the actions that afterward he did were by the impulse of the evil Spirit It is observed by Interpreters that this was a perverse and melancholy temper into which Saul was cast by Satan through the just Judgement of God It was saith Peter Martyr something more then natural Vel si antea in eo fuerit â bono Spiritu reprimebatur It is reported of Dioclesian the Emperour out of meer melancholy and discontent he gave over the Government of the Empire and be took himself to a private life because he could not root out the Christians whom with the uttermost violence he had persecuted This was the Judgement that befell Nebuchadnezzar for seven years he lived the life of a beast and was banished the society of men secundum imaginationem suam though not secundum imaginem And therefore Ierome observes his figure and shape was not changed for he saith My understanding returned unto me Ostendit non formam se amisisse sed mentem he lost not the shape but the understanding of a man being given up to a melancholiness and madness delivered over to a delusion and rage of the unclean spirit Suitable to which the Lord threatens Deut. 28.28 The Lord shall smite thee with madness and with blindness and with astonishment of heart To be delivered over to the discontents of a mans spirit is the next way thereunto There is a degree of madness in all the ways of sin There is madness in the heart of a man while he lives Eccles 9.3 And these were not Judgements proper and peculiar to those times but such as the Lord will inflict also in all Ages suitable to their discontents But in an especiâ—â— manner this is to be taken noticeâ—â— in the fourth and fifth Vial when the Vial is poured out upon the Sun Rev. 16.9 Men were scorched with heat and blasphemed the name of God There is no element whose torment is so exquisite as that of fire as Herodotus reports of the Atlantici men that live under the South Pole qui omnibus diris solem execrantur because they are scorched by it therefore it is called the Torrid Zone The Holy Ghost notes by it as Brightman observes Mirae inusitatae erunt acerbitates a strange kind of bitterness of spirit shall be poured out upon men in Judgement So in the fifth Vial which is upon the Seat of the Beast Men shall gnaw their tongues for pain and blaspheme the God of heaven Gnaw their tongues prae rabie furore their grief and rage shall be such as they shall gnaw their tongues and gnash their teeth as wicked men in hell are said to do yet this is the plague that shall follow they shall blaspheme the God of heaven Non est existimandum apertam fore blasphemiam It shall not be open direct blasphemy but as Antichrist doth open his mouth against God his name his worship his tabernacle his Church and his Saints they that dwell in heaven To be given up to either of these is the common use the devill makes of all the discontents of the spirits of men at any of the dealings of God 3. Satan makes use of it to this end to make their lives uncomfortable for they have no peace in their dayes no comfort in their callings because their wills are engaged against the will of God and God carries on things against them and they cannot attain their end but every thing in providence falls cross and therefore they are exceedingly displeased they have no joy in their lives for men may rise up to such discontent that their very lives may be a burthen to them Psalm 112.10 The horne of the righteous shall be exalted with honour the wicked shall see and gnash their teeth and melt away The word in the original signifies to melt by degrees not all at once but by little and little It is the same word that is used of the melting of wax before the fire Psalm 68.3 So that mens rage and discontent shall consume them It shall be such a constant griefe and vexation of spirit And this shall be the misery of those that are enemies to the two witnesses Revel 11.12 having been brought to a low ebb they shall lie dead for three years and a halfe and then they shall ascend up into heaven that is be exalted unto the highest honour by a voice from heaven that is supremi magistratus jussu and their enemies shall behold them The devill could not wish a man a worse mischife then that his heart should be engaged against any work of God that he will carry on and be greived to see it prosper Acts 4.2 It is said that they were greived that the Apostle taught the people There cannot be a greater mischiefe befall a man then this which is the ground which inrages the devill himself and is the cause of all the blasphemy in hell that their minds are contrary to the will of God which yet they cannot withstand 4. Satan makes this use of it to keep men off from receiving direction from God let God speak what he will the soul is in a disturbance cannot hear as it is to speak to a man in a tumult so it is with the noise and the rising that is in a mans heart Exod. 6.9 It was a welcom message a man would think to men in affliction that God would deliver them and that they should inherit the promise made to their fathers yet they hearkned not to Moses because of the anguish and bitterness of their spirits This
voluntate Dei non dividi in his solis quae Deus diligit delectari Harph. And this is properly the rest of the soul in God which every gracious heart should strive unto 3. In this quietness and tranquillity of spirit there is a guarding and securing power Philip 4.7 The peace of God which passeth all understanding As it is with the truths of God the naturall man cannot receive them and apprehend them 1 Cor. 2.14 so it is with the peace of God it is not to be understood of any man but he that feels it the sweetness of the Gospell is not to be known but by experience which is a spirituall sense in those that have their senses exercised to discern betwixt good and evill Heb. 5. and the last And this peace saith the Apostle shall keep your hearts and minds Philippians 4 7. The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies to keep as in a garrison to keep down tumults within and to keep out enemies from without that neither temptations from without be let in nor the deceits of the heart be let out so as to carry a man away with them and deceive him but the heart by this peace and tranquillity is strongly guarded against both these therefore it is an excellent observation that Chrysostom hath Mentem Spiritus Sanctus quam replet obumbrat The Holy Ghost doth overshadow the soul where he dwels and keeps it in a quiet and calm frame that neither unruly lusts break forth from within nor temptations take with the soul from without to make it unquiet in it self A Spirit thus quieted in obedience unto the will of God is the surest guard that a man can have in this world 4. Hereby a man enjoys himself which one of an unquiet spirit cannot do In patience possess your souls A man is not master of himself that is carried about with every passion he hath no command of his own soul Prov. 25. and the last verse A man that hath no rule of his own spirit is like a City broken down and without walls if an enemy come he may invade and spoil as he will for there be no walls to defend it so it is with him that hath no restraint upon his own spirit 5. Such a man shall be able to judge clearly of any matter in difference which another cannot whose spirit before is engaged or imbittered Radius solis non cernitur nec turbatus fons respicientis reddit imaginem It is a hard matter to see what is at the bottom of troubled water Perit omne judicium cum res transit in affectum A blood-shot eye sees all things of the same colour A bribe blinds the eyes of the wise because the affections bribe the Judgement that I should never much value the judgement of a man in a point of difference whose spirit I know was violently engaged before hand 6. A man is never nearer to the mercy he desires or the deliverance he expects then when his soul is brought into such a temper David was never nearer the Kingdom then when he became as a weaned childe and we are never nearer the end of any affliction then when it brings forth the quiet fruit of righteousness Heb. 12.11 The fruits of righteousness are wrought by quietness in the soul for the wrath of man will never work the righteousness of God 7. This quietness of spirit in a wil concluded under the will of God will make a man in all things chearfull in all things thankfull First it is a mans duty always to be chearfull under all the dispensations of God Rejoyce in the Lord always and again I say rejoyce Phil. 4.4 The Spirit which the Saints receive is the oyl of gladness and with this unction you as well as Christ are anointed Hab. 2.1 I will stand upon my watch-tower that is Mentis recessus saith Calvin the retiring of the soul into it self and being thus in his Watch-Tower though he doth suppose The fig-tree should not blossom and there should be no fruit in the vine yet he will rejoyce in the Lord and triumph in the God of his salvation Hab. 3.18 A man that is in his Watch-tower hath a quiet recess into his own spirit he can see himself secure in the midst of danger and can laugh at destruction At famine and destruction thou shalt laugh Job 5.22 There is a holy laughter from a principle of confidence and security Gen. 17.17 The promise of a son was made known to Abraham and he fell upon his face and laughed from a confidence of the accomplishment of the promise his heart rejoyced in the Lord. Thus a godly man can laugh at danger let it be never so great and let it threaten never so much yet it doth not disquiet his spirit it doth not abate but rather draw out his joy Secondly It makes a man in all things thankfull because his will is concluded under the will of God This is a mans duty 1 Thes 5.18 In every thing give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you In every thing in every condition in prosperity in adversity in health and sickness in poverty and plenty in honour and dishonour when God seems to act for you and when he seems to act against you in the drawings near of God and in the desertions of God in life in death it is the will of God that a man should alwayes have his spirit in a thankfull frame Ephes 5.20 Giving thanks alwayes and for all things unto God the Father in the name of the Lord Iesus Christ First because Gods will in all things is the rule of goodness and to see that fulfilled should be matter of joy to the Saints even when it doth cross their own wills Secondly because there is no condition but hath some good in it For it is true in a spiritual sense in this life non dantur purae tenebrae Vtter darkness is reserved for the life to come Isa 24.15 Glorifie the Lord in the fires some render it fires some vallies both of them in Scripture expressing an afflicted condition If the Lord cast you into the fire to try you you are to glorifie God in it by giving him thanks Now a man can never be thankful whose spirit is not quieted and subdued unto the will of God We love God because he loved us first We apprehend his love and we bless God because he hath blessed us first and we apprehend his blessing Gaudentes est gratias agere It is the cheerefull man that is the thankfull man and no man can be cheerfull but full of bitterness and sullenness whose soule is not subjected to the will of God These are the excellencies of a spirit quieted and calmed and concluded under Gods will as the rule of goodness 4. How should a man attain such a quiet frame of spirit that he may keep his soul alway calm The directions are these 1. Consider it is Gods gift he gives unto
his beloved sleep Psal 121.2 By sleep is not meant that of the body but of the soul Fideles etsi vitam agant laboriosam compositis tamen tranquillis animis in fidei silentio se continent ac si dormirent They have a great deal of rest and quietness in all their labours and this is the gift of God 2. We must obtain it of God in his own way and that is in the way of prayer for as faith is the pacifying grace so prayer is the quieting duty Hannah after she had prayed though her spirit was unquiet before yet she went away and did eat and drink and wat no more sad And David though he did begin many Psalms with a troubled spirit yet he concludes with comfort being quieted and cheared under all the dealings of God with him Phil. 4.6 7. In all things let your prayer and requests be made known unto God and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts There is a double peace of the Saints one wrought for us without us and this is reconciliation with God the other is peace within us which is given unto the Saints as a return of prayer the Spirit of supplication becoming afterward a Spirit of consolation 3. Consider the condition of the Saints while they are in this life Isa 33 46. He shall dwell on high his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks bread shall be given him and his water shall be sure There is no affliction that can hurt thee that doth not disquiet thee Men may plunder thee of thy goods but let them not rob thee of thy patience So it was with Job Satan could not hurt him till he did disquiet him though he did fire his house yet he could not fire his spirit So it was with the Christians in the primitive times Amiserunt omnia nunquid fidem nunquid pietatem hae sunt opes Christianorum 4. Be much in acts of reliance and self resignation unto God considering the relation in which thou standeth unto him To whom should the children fly but to the father and on whom should he cast his care Do children lay up for the parents or rather the parents for the children Cast therefore thy care upon him for he careth for thee With him the fatherless find mercy Thou never puttest thy self out of Gods care till thou beginnest to take the business out of Gods hands and to take care for thy self Trust in the Lord for ever for the Lord Iehovah is a rock of ages Isa 26.3 5. Reason it out with thy own soul This was Davids remedy Why art thou cast down oh my soul and why art thou disquieted within me We should call our souls unto an accompt examine the reason and the ground of our disquiet Commune with your own heatrs upon your beds and be still Faith doth as much work by sanctified reasoning as by any other way of acting whatsoever We come now to the two last particulars which are included in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And for dispatch sake I shall put both into this one observation Doct. When the will of God is manifested it is the duty of the Saints neither to speak nor act against it they are to cease from both In the opening hereof I must shew First that the will of God as manifested is to be the rule of our wills and wayes Secondly That when it is manifested it is the duty of the Saints neither to speak nor act against it Thirdly Give the grounds thereof And lastly make an application of it to our selves 1. The will of God manifested is to be the rule of our wills and ways And here we are to consider three things 1. No man is to speak or act according to his own will It is a state of sin that fulfils the wills of the flesh and of the mind Ephes 2.3 A mans own will in opposition to the will of God is the will of the devill 2. Tim. 2. and the last we are said to be led captive by him at his will This therefore cannot be a rule unto any man either for speaking or acting but unto him who hath no other god but the god of this world Christ himself doth not make his wil the rule of his actions I came not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me Ioh. 6.38 The Angels do not their own wils The Angell Gabriell was sent at the beginning of thy supplication the commandment came forth and I am come to shew thee Daniel 9.23 The Angel did not go without a command Ezek. 1.25 There is a firmament over the head of the living creatures and a voice from the firmament unto which the Angels did attend in all their motions and when they stood they let down their wings The will of God was the rule of all their actings and cessation from actions 2. It is the will of God as manifested that is the rule of all the actions of the creatures Deut. 29.29 Things revealed are to us and our children for ever This is a constant rule of all their motions for ever there will never be a time in this world when the scripture which is the revelation of the will of God shall be laid aside as of no use for they belong unto us to do them Therefore in the 12. of the Romans 2. we are exhorted to prove what the good and acceptable will of God is The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie 1. sedulo explorare diligently to try and search 2. approbare vitam conformare to approve and conform our lives thereunto Now it must be revealed or a man can never discern it or approve it or conform his will or way unto it God will have our services to be reasonable services which must be an obedience to his will as manifested or made known unto us Men require not obedience unto any law so long as it is in the breast of the lawgiver it never binds the subject till it be published and proclaimed that all may take notice of it So it is with the Lord who is the great and the only lawgiver 3. The will of God is revealed and made known both by his word and by his works which are nothing else but as it were a comment upon his word First By his word which is therefore called the counsell of God the mind of Christ 1 Cor. 2. and the last I have written unto them the great things of my law Hos 8.12 declaring the whole will of God concerning the creatures obedience Secondly By his works for the worketh every thing according to the counsell of his own will Ephes 1.11 Therefore whatsoever he doth in the world it is but to discover the counsell of his will to the Saints Therefore when Davids child was dead he takes it for a manifestation of the will of God and his heart is quieted under it There is a double book
three ways p. 224. Counsel by this the Lord doth whatsoever he doth pag. 141. Covenant of Christ by this all creatures are established p. 150. Creatures reasonable are ruled by God according to their own nature p. 201. Creatures reasonable what it is that God permits in them p. 208. Creatures have a double motion or tendency towards the will of God p. 260. See Will. D. DEcree of God is double pag. 79. Decrees of God have a threefold order to be observed of them p. 203. Dioclesian the Emperor what is reported of him p. 291. Discontents are not the way to prevail with God to change his minde p. 136. Devil his way of sinning p. 285. Devil for what end he is said to touch men p. 298 E. EArth in the Book of Revelation what is it opposed unto what is meant by it p. 190. Ends a mans own in emptying himself of them lies mainly in the power of godliness p. 125. Ends what they are God hath discovered in his word he intends to accomplish in and upon the world pag. 160 161. Ends are secret things p. 175. Ends of God mainly are two p. 183. Exalting of God in the soul is godliness p. 113. Extreams several there are to avoid that require a great deal of grace p. 229. F. FAce of God in Scripture is put for 3. things pag. 202. Faith the higher act a man puts forth of it the higher is the act of grace pag. 226. Faith why it is commended pag. 233. Fret why a man should not p. 239. G. GOd the rule of his acting is his own will p. 79. Godliness the power of it lies mainly in mans compleat subjection of his will to Gods will pag. 11 23 113. Godliness those that profess it and yet have their wills opposite unto Gods will reproved p. 127. And the evil of such a frame of heart set forth p. 129. Godliness in the power of it brings a soul to an humble submission unto Gods permitting will p. 198. Godliness much of it is seen in a mans submission to the will of God permitting p. 214. Gospel what is it compared unto pag. 2. Glory of God is twofold p. 119. Grace in the will subjects it unto the will of God in Acts 4. p. 35. Grace acts in the soul according to the nature of every faculty p. 41. Grace in the will how it may be discerned when there are the strongest actings of the will for sin pag. 64. Grace the Lord in his permission withholds it pag. 204. Grace is to be laboured for in the power of it unto Gods permitting will p. 242. See Will. Graces in them there are a sympathie p. 9. Government in the matter of it 〈◊〉 things are committed to the Son p. 143. Government immediately put into Christs hands p. 146. H. HAnd-right what is it taken for p. 211. Hands of the Lord what is meant p. 105. Happiness much of the Saints and Angels in heaven wherein to be seen pag. 195. Heart of man once truly and fully concluded under Gods will there follows 1. Quietness pag. 252. 2. A constant quietness p. 257. Honouring of God here and in heaven are in a different way pag. 246 Hoâ—â—s that have pushed at Gods people shall be taken away pag. 162. Hamble men to do this God takes three ways p. 218. I. IMpatient a man should not be p. 239. Intention between an habitual and an actual some Divines do distinguish p. 39. Intention of God in setting Christ over the Kingdom of providence what it was for p. 147. Johannes Abbas what is reported of him p. 117. K. KIngdom and Rule over all the works of God belong unto Christ p. 145. L. LAw the writing of it in the heart what is it pag. 23. Lightning what is observable of it pag. 2. Lusts of ungodly men God suffers to arise p. 212 Luthers Rule what it is p. 70. Luthers Admonition to Melancthon p. 96. Luthers great difficulty in Christianity p. 235. Luthers instance in going to Worms p. 276. M. MAn must walk by Rule p. 13. Man how he makes himself wiser then God p. 132. Men in them two things mainly corrupted p. 16. Mercies given in answer to prayer are double mercies p. 244. Mouths to stretch them against Heaven what is that p 330. N. NAzianzens direction p. 12. O. OFences men sometimes take at 1. The Word of God p. 288. 2. The Works of God p. 288. Officers two distinct God hath appointed p. 172. P. PAssions disquieting must be subdued p. 277. Passions tormenting by these the soul is disquieted p. 274. Paul Chrysostome hath observed of him 4. things pag. 3. Paul though bound in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem yet met with six great oppositions p. 6. Peace of the Saints is double p. 310. Permission of God what is it p. 199 205. Persians what had they at the death of their Kings p. 180. Plutarchs report of the Gauls p. 60. Powers two distinct God hath established upon earth p. 171. Pray we ought with submission unto Gods will in our works pag. 140. Prayer hath a double importunity in it p. 234. Prayers of Gods people he is very observant of p. 195. Providence as great wisdom of God to be seen in it as in the works of Creation p. 116. Providence motions in ordering the affairs of the world are sometimes cross p. 157. Q. QUietness holy there is which every Saint is to labour for p. 253. Quiet See Spirit R. REasonings disquieting are in the soul p. 269. Reprobation absolute is not taught p. 203. Resignation of a mans self unto God herein consists much of the power of godliness p. 121. Rest what is it taken for p. 254. Rome Antichristian is the subject upon which all the vials are poured p. 190. Rule of duty is the will of God pag. 16. S. SAints all are in this life bound to give a double accompt pag. 15. Saints take care but of one thing pag. 118. Saints have mainly 3. things to do in this life pag. 316. See Happiness Satan is suffered by God 1. As a Tempter p. 209. 2. As an Accuser p. 211. Satans temptations God suffers his people to lie under them pag. 219. Self-denial the more in any thing the more of the power of grace is expressed p. 222. Self respectively to be denied is threefold Ibid. Silent be O all flesh before the Lord. p. 90. Sin how a man should know whether he doth with full consent or no. p. 62. Sin what it is p. 258. Sins presumptuous are made up of two things p. 62. Sins of the reasonable creature See will Sins remaindery God leaves in the best of his people p. 208. Sinfulness the power of it wherein it lies p. 281. Smoak the effect of it p. 188. See Temple Souls disquietness two things are mainly the causes of it p. 269. Soul hath a double excellency in it p. 279. Soveraignty of God over the creature mainly lies in two things p 43. Speak See Will.
Spirit is substituted by Christ as his prorex p. 154. Spirit of God teaches a man not only to act grace but to expect a reward p. 196. Spirit how he led Christ into the wilderness p. 220. Spirit contradicting to be given over unto is one of the greatest plagues p. 242. Spirit of God hath undertaken the Saints guidance p. 263. Spirit unquiet its sinfulness p. 279. Spirit unquiet the use the devil makes of it p. 290. Spirit quiet its excellency p. 298. In its sutableness p. 300. In its cheerfulness p. 306. Spirit quiet how a man should attain to it p. 309. Subjection of the will See godliness Submission of will by this the Saints highly exalt God in their hearts p. 114. Submission the kinds of its acts that must be in us unto Gods permitting will p. 236. T. TEmple by the Smoak in the Temple What interpreters understand p. 186. Temptations Some come upon the soul with a great deal of horror p. 231. See Satan Things all put under his feet What is means by that p. 145. Things Some there are that God works by his own immediate power p. 199. Times two when men should be silent p. 328. V. VIal fourth God is pouring out upon the Sun p. 190. Vial fifth now pouring out upon the throne of the beast is not consented unto p. 193. Unction of Christ the perfection of it wherein it consists p. 31. W. WAlk of a Christian must be regular p. 13. Wicked God suffers to thrive and prosper in an evil way for a time p. 213. Will of God as far as it concerns mans duty is manifested and made known p. 19. Will of man subjected to Gods will See godliness Will of God is three-fold p. 32. Will of man is two-fold p. 34. See grace Will of ours to subject it unto Gods commanding will several considerations p. 42. Will of man how the Lord subdues it to his commanding will p. 52. Will of God good perfect and acceptable rules to know what it is p. 69. Will of God in doubtful cases particular directions to know it p. 73. Will of God effecting extends it self p. 80 Will of man subjected unto Gods will by several acts p. 87. Will of man not subjected unto Gods will sins against him p. 129. and that in an high degree p. 130. Will of God effecting and commanding how to know they are the same p. 167 174. Will of God permitting what it is p. 198. Will of God permitting respects only the reasonable creature p. 200. Will of God permitting is only conversant about the sins of the reasonable creature p. 202. Wills prejudiced and ingaged must be laid aside p. 174. Will of God is the rule of goodness p. 242. Will of God permitting is but for the time of this life p. 245. Will of God submitting the fruit of such a spirit expressed by a Greek word variously used p. 249. Will of man when concluded under Gods will it s under two principles pag. 273. Will of God manifested is to be the rule of our wills and ways pag. 312. Will of God is made known both by his word and works p. 315. Will of God being manifested Saints must not 1. Speak against it p. 227 317. 2. Act against it p. 319. 3. The grounds of it p. 321. 4. The directions not to speak against it p. 328. 5. The considerations not to act against it p. 332. Wisdom of God must be acknowledged pag. 237. Word of God in submission to this lies mainly the power of Godliness pag. 123. Worlds great Harvest when it shall be pag. 189 Worlds continuance is only to advance the end of Christs Kingdom p. 152 Works of God See Kingdom FINIS