mortification regenerate souls are daily using and applying in order to the death of sin And so much of the first particular what the mortification of sin or Crucifying of the flesh implies Secondly In the next place we shall examine the reasons 2. why this work of the spirit is expressed under that Trope or figurative expression of Crucifying the flesh Now the ground and reason of the use of this expression is the resemblance which the mortification of sin bears unto the death of the cross and this appears in five particulars First The death of the cross was a painful death and the mortification of sin is very painful work Matth. 25. 29. 't is the cutting off our right hands and plucking out our right eyes it will cost many thousand tears and groans prayers and strong cries to heaven before one sin will be mortified Upon the account of the difficulty of this work and mainly upon this account the Scripture saith narrow is the way and strait is the gate that leadeth unto life and few there be that find it Matth. 7. 14. and that the righteous themselves are scarcely saved Secondly The death of the cross was universally painful every member every sense every sinew every nerve was the seat and subject of tormenting pain So is it in the mortification of sin 't is not this or that particular member or act but the whole body of sin that is to be destroyed Rom. 6. 6. and accordingly the conflict is in every faculty of the soul for the Spirit of God by whose hand sin is mortified doth not combat with this or that particular Lust only but with sin as sin and for that reason with every sin in every faculty of the soul. So that there are conflicts and anguish in every part Thirdly The death of the cross was a slow and lingering death denying unto them that suffered it the favour of a quick dispatch Just so it is in the death of sin though the Spirit of God be mortifying it day by day yet this is a truth Mortificatio peccati non fit uno momento sed opus est lucta assiduâ pâ—…ccatum languescit ab initio mortificationis nostrae in progressu tabescit ad extremum i. e. in ipsa morte nostra abolebitur Origen in Epist. ad Rom. sealed by the sad experience of all believers in the world that sin is long a dying and if we ask a reason of this dispensation of God among others this seems to be one corruptions in believers like the Canaanites in the Land of Israel are left to prove and to exercise the people of God to keep us watching and praying mourning and believing yea wondering and admiring at the riches of pardoning and preserving mercy all our dayes Fourthly The death of the Cross was a very opprobrious and shameful death they that dyed upon the cross were loaded with ignominy the crimes for which they dyed were exposed to the publick view after this manner dyeth sin a very shameful and ignominious death Every true believer draws up a charge against it in every prayer aggravates and condemns it in every confession bewailes the evil of it with multitudes of tears and groans making sin as vile and odious as they can find words to express it though not so vile as it is in its own nature O my God saith Ezra I am ashamed and even blush to look up unto thee Ezra 9. 6. So Daniel in his confession Dan. 9. 7. O Lord righteousness belongeth unto thee but unto us confusion of faces as at this day Nor can it grieve any believer in the world to accuse condemn and shame himself for sin whilest he remembers and considers that all that shame and confusion of face which he takes to himself goes to the vindication glory and honour of his God as David was content to be more vile still for God so it pleaseth the heart of a Christian to magnifie and advance the name and glory of God by exposing his own shame in humble and broken hearted confessions of sin Fifthly In a word the death of the Cross was not a natural but a violent death such also is the death of sin sin dyes not of its own accord as nature dyeth in old men in whom the Balsamum radicale or radical moisture is consumed for if the Spirit of God did not kill it it would live to eternity in the souls of men 't is not the everlasting burnings and all the wrath of God which lies upon the damned for ever that can destroy sin Sin like a Salamander can live to eternity in the fire of Gods wrath so that either it must dye a violent death by the hand of the Spirit or never dyeth at all And thus you see why the mortification of sin is Tropically expressed by the crucifying of the flesh 3. Thirdly Why all that are in Christ must be so crucified or mortified unto sin and the necessity of this will appear divers ways First From the inconsistency and contrariety that there is betwixt Christ and unmortified lust Gal. 5. 17. these are contrary the one to the other There is a threefold inconsistency betwixt Christ and such corruptions they are not only contrary to the holiness of Christ 1 John 3. 6. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not whosoever sinneth hath not seen him neither known him i. e. whosoever is thus ingulphed and plunged into the lust of the flesh can have no communion with the pure and holy Christ but there is also an inconsistency betwixt such sin and the honour of Christ 2 Tim. 2. 19. Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity as Alexander said to a Soldier of his name recordare nominis Alexandri remember thy name is Alexander and do nothing unworthy of that name And unmortified lusts are also contrary to the Dominion and government of Christ Luke 9. 23. If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross daily and follow me these are the self-denying terms upon which all men are admitted into Christs service and without mortification and self-denial he allows no man to call him Lord and Master Secondly The necessity of mortification appears from the necessity of conformity betwixt Christ the head and all the members of his mystical body for how incongruous and uncomely would it be to see a holy heavenly Christ leading a company of unclean carnal and sensual members Mat. 11. 29. Take my yoak upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly q. d. it would be monstrous to the world to behold a company of Lions and Wolves following a meek and harmless Lamb men of raging and unmortified lusts professing and owning me for their head of government and again 1 John 2. 6. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as he walked q. d. either imitate Christ in your practice or never make pretensions to Christ in your
spiritualiter per ipsum regeneratos Sicut deâ—…ictum Ade non nocet nisi suis in eo quod sui sunt Sic nec gratia Christi prodest nisi suis in eo quod sui sunt as the Condemnation of the First Adam passeth not to us except as by generation we are his so grace and remission pass not from the Second Adam to us except as by regeneration we are his Adams Sin hurts none but those that are in him and Christs blood profits none but those that are in him how great a weight therefore doth there hang upon the effectual application of Christ to the Souls of men and what is there in the whole world so awfully solemn so greatly important as this is Such is the strong consolation resulting from it that the Apostle in this context offers it to the believing Corinthians as a superabundant recompence for the despicable meanness and baseness of their outward condition in this world of which he had just before spoken in ver 27 28. telling them though the world contemned them as vile foolish and weak yet of God Christ is made unto them wisdom and righteousness sanctification and redemption In which words we have an Enumeration of the chief priviledges of believers and an Account of the method whereby they come to be invested with them First Their priviledges are enumerated namely wisdome righteousness sanctification and redemption mercies of 1. Quatuor Christo â—…logia hic adscribit quae totam ejus virtutem quicquid ab ipso bonorum recipimus complectuntur Calv. in loc inestimable value in themselves and such as respect a fourfold misery lying upon sinful manâ—… viz. Ignorance guilt pollution and the whole 〈◊〉 of miserable consequences and effects let in upon the nature of men yea the best and holiest of men by sin Lapsed man is not only in deep misery but grossly ignorant both that he is so and how to recover himself from it Sin hath left him at once senseless of his state and at a perfect loss about the true remedy To cure this Christ is made to him Wisdome not only by improvement of those treasures of wisdome that are in himself for the benefit of such souls as are united to him as an head consulting the good of his own members but also by imparting his wisdome to them by the Spirit of illumination whereby they come to discern both their sin and danger as also the true way of their recovery from both through the application of Christ to their souls by faith But alas Simple illumination doth but increase our burden and exasperate our misery as long as sin in the guilt of it is either imputed to our persons unto condemnation or reflected by our consciences in a way of accusation With design therefore to remedy and heal this sore evil Christ is made of God unto us righteousness compleat and perfect righteousness whereby our obligation to punishment is dissolved and thereby a solid foundation for a well settled peace of conscience firmly established Yea but although the removing of guilt from our persons and consciences be an inestimable mercy yet alone it cannot make us compleatly happy for though a man should never be damned for sin yet what is it less than an hell upon earth to be under the dominion and pollution of every base lust it's misery enough to be daily defiled by sin though a man should never be damned for it To compleat therefore the happiness of the redeemed Christ is not only made of God unto them Wisdome and righteousness the one curing our ignorance the other our guilt but he is made Sanctification also to relieve us against the dominion and pollution of our corruptions he comes both by water and by blood not by blood only but by water also 1 Joh. 5. 6. purging as well as pardoning how compleat and perfect a cure is Christ But yet something is required beyond all this to make our happiness perfect and entire wanting nothing and that is the removal of those doleful effects and consequents of sin which notwithstanding all the forementioned priviledges and mercies still lye upon the souls and bodies of illuminated justified and sanctified persons For even upon the best and holiest of men what swarms of vanity loads of deadness and fits of unbelief do daily appear in and oppress their souls to the imbittering of all the comforts of life to them And how many diseases deformities pains oppress their bodies which daily moulders away by them till they fall into the grave by death even as the bodies of other men do who never received such priviledges from Christ as they do For if Christ be in us as the Apostle speaks Rom. 8. 10. the body is dead because of sin Sanctification exempts us not from mortality But from all these and whatsoever else the fruits and consequences of sin Christ is Redemption to his people also this seals up the sum of mercies this so compleats the happiness of the Saints that it leaves nothing to desire These four wisdome righteousness sanctification and redemption take up amongst them all that is necessary or desirable to make a soul truly and perfectly blessed Secondly we have here the method and way by which the Elect come to be invested with these excellent priviledges 2. the account whereof the Apostle gives us in these words Who of God is made unto us in which expression four things are remarkable First That Christ and his benefits go inseparably and undividedly together 't is Christ himself is made all this unto us we can have no saving benefit separate and apart from the person of Christ many would willingly receive his priviledges who will not receive his person but it cannot be if we will have one we must take the other too yea we must accept his person first and then his benefits as it is in the marriage Covenant so 't is here Secondly That Christ with his benefits must be personally and particularly applied to us before we can receive any actual saving priviledge by him he must be made unto us i. e. particularly applied to us as a sum of money becomes or is made the ransome and liberty of a Captive when it is not only promised but paid down in his name and legally applied for that use and end when Christ dyed the ransome was prepared the sum laid down but yet the elect continue still in sin and misery notwithstanding till by effectual calling it be actually applied to their persons and then they are made free Rom. 5. 10 11. reconciled by Christs death by whom we have now received the attonement Thirdly That this application of Christ is the work of God and not of man Of God he is made unto us the same hand that prepared it must also apply it or else we perish notwithstanding all that the father hath done in contriving and appointing and all that the son hath done in executing and accomplishing the
of glory Col. 1. 27. So then destroy this Union and with it you destroy all our fruits priviledges and eternal hopes at one stroke Fifthly The Mystical Union is a most Efficacious Union for through this Union the divine power flows into our 5. souls both to quicken us with the life of Christ and to conserve and secure that life in us after it is so infused Without the Unition of the soul to Christ which is to be conceived efficiently as the Spirits act there can be no Union formally considered and without these no communications of life from Christ to us Eph. 4. 16. And when there is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or effectual working of the spirit of life in every part which he there speaks of as who should say the first bublings up of the new life a spiritual vitality diffused through the soul which ere while was dead in sin yet still this Union with Christ is as necessary to the maintaining as before it was to the producing of it For why is it that this life is not again extinguished and wholly suffocated in us by so many deadly wounds as are given it by temptations and corruptions surely no reason can be assigned more satisfying than that which Christ himself gives us in John 14. 19. because I live ye shall live also q. d. whilst there is vital sap in me the root you that are branches in me cannot wither and dye Sixthly The Mystical Union is an indissoluble Union there is an everlasting tye betwixt Christ and the believer and herein also it is beyond all other Unions in the world death dissolves the dear Union betwixt the husband and wife friend and friend yea betwixt soul and body but not betwixt Christ and the soul the bands of this Union rot not in the grave what shall separate us from the love of Christ saith the Apostle Rom. 8. 35 38 39. he bids defiance to all enemies and triumphs in the firmness of this Union over all hazards that seem to threaten it It is with Christ and us in respect of the Mystical Union as it was with Christ himself in respect of the hypostatical Union that was not dissolved by his death when the Natural Union betwixt his soul and body was nor can this mystical Union of our souls and bodies with Christ be dissolved when the Unions betwixt us and our dearest relations yea betwixt the soul and body are dissolved by death God calls himself the God of Abraham long after his body was turned into dust Seventhly It is an honourable Union * Apex capâ—…t vertex â—…obilitatis est Christus sine quo nibil est iâ—… toto hoâ—… sublunari orbe terraruâ—… nobile cujus solium est coelum cujus scabelluâ—… est terra terra â—…nquam in qua hâ—…rum omnis cognatio nobilitas sita-est collocata divinis illius pedibus substernitur Laurent Humâ—…redus de noâ—…ilitate lib. 2. p. 176. yea the highest honour 7. that can be done unto men the greatest honour that was ever done to our common nature was by its assumption into Unity with the second person hypostatically and the highest honour that was ever done to our single persons was their Union with Christ mystically To be a servant of Christ is a dignity transcendent to the highest advancement among men but to be a member of Christ how matchless and singular is the glory thereof and yet such honour have all the Saints Eph. 5. 30. we are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones Eighthly It is a most Comfortable Union yea the ground 8. of all solid comfort both in life and death whatever troubles wants or distresses befal such in this is abundant relief and support Christ is mine and I am his what may not a soul make out of that If I am Christs then let him take care for me and indeed in so doing he doth but care for his own he is my head and to him it belongs to consult the safety and welfare of his own members Eph. 1. 22 23. he is not only an head to his own by way of Influence but to all things else by way of dominion for their good how comfortably may we repose our selves under that cheering consideration upon him at all times and in all difficult cases Ninthly It is a fruitful Union the immediate end of it is 9. fruit Rom. 7. 4. we are married to Christ that we should bring forth fruit to God all the fruit we bear before our ingrafture into Christ is worse than none till the person be in Christ the work cannot be Evangelically good and acceptable to God we are made accepted in the beloved Eph. 1. 6. Christ is a fruitful root and makes all the branches that live in him so too Joh. 15. 8. Tenthly and Lastly It is an enriching Union for by our 10. Union with his person we are immediately interessed in all his riches 1 Cor. 1. 30. how rich and great a person do the little arms of Faith clasp and embrace All is yours 1 Cor. 3. 22. all that Christ hath becomes ours either by communication to us or improvement for us his Father Joh. 20. 17. his promises 2 Cor. 1. 20. his providences Rom. 8. 28. his glory Joh. 17. 24. it's all ours by vertue of our Union with him Thus you see briefly what the Mystical Union is Next we shall improve it Inference 1. If there be such a Union betwixt Christ and believers oh then what transcendent dignity hath God put upon believers Infer 1. Si vis vir virtutis appellari indue te Christum qui est Dei virtus sapientia in omnibus adjungâ—… te domino ita ut 〈◊〉 câ—…â—…o spiritus fias tunc vir virtutis essicieris Orig. Hom. in Numb 31. Well might Constantine perfer the honour of being a member of the Church before that of being head of the Empire for it is not only above all earthly dignities and honours but in some respect above that honour which God hath put upon the Angels of glory Great is the dignity of the Angelical nature they are the highest and most honourable species of creatures they also have the honour continually to behold the face of God in Heaven and yet in this one respect the Saints are preferr'd to them they have a Mystical Union with Christ as their head of influence by whom they are quickned with spiritual life which the Angels have not It is true there is an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or gathering together of all in heaven and earth under Christ as a common head Eph. 1. 10. he is the head of Angels as well as Saints but in different respects to Angels he is an head of dominion and government but to Saints he is both an head of dominion and vital influence too they are his chief and most honourable subjects but not his Mystical members they are as the Barons and
there are so many almost Christians in the world hence are all those vanishing imperfect works which come to nothing call'd in Scripture a morning cloud an early dew had this mighty power gone forth with the word they had never vanished or perished like Embryos as they do So then God draws not only in a moral way by proposing a suitable object to the will but also in a physical way or by immediate powerful influence upon the will not infringing the Liberty of it but yet infallibly and effectually perswading it to come to Christ. Secondly Next let us consider the marvellous way and 2. manner in which the Lord draws the souls of poor sinners to Jesus Christ and you will find he doth it 1. Gradually 2. Congruously 3. Powerfully 4. Effectually and 5. Finally First This blessed work is carried on by the Spirit gradually bringing the soul step by step in the due method and order of the Gospel to Christ illumination conviction compunction prepare the way to Christ and then faith unites the soul to him without humiliation there can be no faith Mat. 21. 32. ye repented not that ye might believe 't is the burdensome sense of sin that brings the soul to Christ for rest Mat. 11. 28. come unto me ye that are weary and heavy laden but without Conviction there can be no Compunction no humiliation he that is not convinced of his sin and misery never bewails it nor mourns for it never was there one tear of true repentance seen to drop from the eye of an unconvinced sinner And without illumination there can be no Conviction for what is Conviction but the application of the light which is in the understanding or mind of a man to his heart and Conscience Acts 2. 37. In this order therefore the Spirit ordinarily draws souls to Christ he shines into their minds by illumination applys that light to their Consciences by effectual Conviction breaks and wounds their hearts for sin in Compunction and then moves the will to embrace and close with Christ in the way of Faith for life and salvation These several steps are more distinctly discerned in some Christians than in others they are more clearly to be seen in the Adult Convert than those that were drawn to Christ in their youth in such as were drawn to him out of a state of prophaneness than those that had the advantage of a pious education but in this order the work is carried on ordinarily in all however it differ in point of clearness in the one and in the other Secondly He draws sinners to Christ Congruously and very agreeably to the nature and way of man So he speaks Hosea 11. 4. I drew them with the cords of a man with bands Fuâ—…ibus hominum i. e. humanis nâ—… quibus trahi ac deduci solent boves of love not as beasts are drawn but as men are inclined and wrought to complyance by rational Conviction of their Judgements and powerful perswasion of their wills the minds of sinners are naturally blinded by ignorance 2 Cor. 4. 3 4. and their affections bewitched to their Lusts Gal. 3. 4. and whilst it is thus no arguments of intreaties can possibly prevail to bring them off from the ways of sin to Christ. The way therefore which the Lord takes to win and draw them to Christ is by rectifying their false apprehensions and shewing them infinitely more good in Christ than in the Creature and in their Lusts yea by satisfying their understandings that there is goodness enough in Jesus Christ to whom he is drawing them First To outbid all temporal good which is to be denied for his sake Secondly To preponderate all temporal evils which are to be suffered for his sake First That there is more good in Christ than in all temporal good things which we are to deny or forsake upon his account this being once clearly and convincingly discovered to the understanding the will is thereby prepared to quit all that which entangles and with holds it from coming to Christ there is no man that loves money so much but he will willingly part with it for that which is more worth to him than the sum he parts with to purchase it Matth. 13. 45 46. The Kingdome of heaven is like to a Merchant man seeking goodly Pearls who when he hath found one Pearl of great price goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth it Such an invaluable Pearl is Jesus Christ infinitely more worth than all that a poor sinner hath to part with for him and is a more real good than the creature These are but vain shadows Prov. 23. 5. Christ is a solid substantial good yea he is and by Conviction appears to be a more suitable good than the creature the world cannot justifie and save but Christ can Christ is a more necessary good than the creature this is for our temporal Conveniency but he of eternal necessity He is a more Durable good than any creature comfort is or can be the fashion of this world passeth away 1 Cor. 7. 31. but durable riches and righteousness are in him Prov. 8. 17. Thus Christ appears in the day of conviction infinitely more excellent than the world he out-bids all the offers that the world can make and this gives the main stroke to this work of drawing a Soul to Jesus Christ. Secondly And then to remove every block out of the way to Christ God discovers to the Soul enough in him to preponderate and much more than recompence all the evils and sufferings it can endure for his sake 'T is true they that close with Christ close with his cross also they must expect to save no more but their souls by him he tells us what we must trust to Luke 14. 26 27. If any man come to me and hate not his Father and Mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters yea and his own life also he cannot be my disciple and whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple To read such a Text as this with such a Comment upon it as Satan and our own flesh can make is enough to scare a man from Christ for ever nor is it possible by all the arguments in the world to draw any soul to Christ upon such terms as these till the Lord convince it that there is enough and much more than enough in Jesus Christ to recompence all these sufferings and losses we endure for him But when the soul is satisfied that these sufferings are but external upon the vile body but the benefit that comes by Christ is internal in a mans-own soul These afflictions are but temporal Rom. 8. 18. but Christ and his benefits are eternal this must need prevail with the will to come over to Christ notwithstanding all the evils of suffering that accompany him when the reality of all this is discovered by the Lord and the power of God goes along with
regeneration and from hence is the first spiritual life of a Christian of this I am here to speak and that I may speak profitably to this point I will in the Doctrinal part labour to open these five particulars First What this spiritual life is in its nature and properties Secondly In what manner it is wrought or inspired into the Soul Thirdly For what end or with what design this life is so inspired Fourthly I shall shew this work to be wholly supernatural And then fifthly Why this quickening must be antecedent to our actual closing with Christ by Faith First We will enquire into the nature and properties of 1. this life and discover as we are able what it is And we find it to consist in that wonderful change which the Spirit of God makes upon the frame and temper of the soul by his infusing or implanting the principles of grace in all the powers and faculties thereof A change it makes upon the soul and that a marvellous one no less than from death to life for though a man be physically a living man i. e. his natural soul hath Union with his body yet his soul having no Union with Christ he is Theologically a dead man Luke 15. 24. and Col. 2. 13. alas it deserves not the name of life to have a soul serving only to season and preserve the body a little while from stinking to carry it up and down the world and only enable it to eat and drink and talk and laugh and then dye then do we begin to live when we begin to have Union with Christ the fountain of life by his Spirit communicated to us from this time we are to reckon our life * Hic jacet Similis cujus aetas multorum annorum fuit ipse septem dumtaxat annos vixit as some have done there be many changes made upon men besides this many are changed from prophaneness to Civility and from meer Civility to formality and a shadow of Religion who still remain in the state and power of spiritual death notwithstanding but when the Spirit of the Lord is poured out upon us to quicken us with the new spiritual life this is a wonderful change indeed it gives us an Esse supernaturale a new supernatural being which is therefore call'd a new creature the new man the hidden man of the heart the natural essence and faculties of the soul remain still but it is devested of the old qualities and endowed with new ones 2 Cor. 5. 17. old things are past away behold all things are become new And this change is not made by altering and rectifying the disorders of the life only leaving the temper and frame of the heart still carnal but by the infusion of a supernatural permanent principle into the soul Joh. 4. 14. it shall be in him a well of water principles are to a course of actions as fountains or springs are to the streams and rivers that flow from them and are maintain'd by them and hence is the evenness and constancy of renewed souls in the course of godliness Nor is this principle or habit acquired by accustoming our selves to holy actions as natural habits are acquired by frequent acts which beget a disposition and thence grow up to an habit or second nature but it is infused or implanted into the soul by the Spirit of God So we read Ezek. 36. 25 26. a new heart also will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you it grows not up out of our Natures but is put or infused into us as it 's said of the two witnesses Rev. 11. 11. who lay dead in a Civil sense three days and an half that the Spirit of life from God entered into them so it is here in a spiritual sense the spirit of life from God enters into the dead carnal heart it 's all by way of supernatural infusion Nor is it limited to this or that faculty of the soul but grace or life is poured into all the faculties behold all things are become new 2 Cor. 5. 17. The understanding will thoughts and affections are all renewed by it the whole inner man is changed yea the tongue and hand the discourses and actions even all the ways and courses of the outward man are renewed by it But more particularly we shall discern the nature of this spiritual life by considering the properties of it among which these are very remarkable First The soul that is joyned to Christ is quickened with a divine life so we read in 2 Pet. 1. 4. where believers are said to be partakers or consorts of the divine nature a very high expression and warily to be understood Partakers of the divine nature not essentially so it 's wholly incommunicable to the Creature nor yet Hypostatically and personally so Christ only was a partaker of it but our participation of the Divine nature must be understood in a way proper to believers that is to say we partake of it by the inhabitation of the Spirit of God in us according to 1 Cor. 3. 16 17. know ye not that ye are the Temple of God and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you the Spirit who is God by nature dwells in and actuates the soul whom he regenerates and by sanctifying causes it to live a divine life from this life of God the unsanctified are said to be alienated Eph. 4. 18. but believers are partakers of it Secondly And being divine it must needs be the most excellent and transcendent life that any creature doth or can live in this world it surmounts the natural rational and moral life of the unsanctified as much as the Angelical life excels the life that flyes and worms of the earth do live Some think it a rare life to live in sensual pleasures but the Scripture will not allow so much as the name of life to them but tells us they are dead whilest they live 1 Tim. 5. 6. certainly it is a wonderful elevation of the nature of man to be quickened with such a life as this There are two ways wherein the blessed God hath honoured poor man above the very Angels of heaven One was by the Hypostatical Union of our nature in Christ with the divine nature the other is by uniting our persons mystically to Christ and thereby communicating spiritual life to us this later is a most glorious priviledge and in one respect a more singular mercy than the former for that honour which is done to our Nature by the Hypostatical Union is common to all good and bad even they that perish have yet that honour but to be implanted into Christ by regeneration and live upon him as the branch doth upon the Vine this is a peculiar priviledge a mercy hedg'd in from the world that is to perish and only communicated to Gods elect who are to live eternally with him in heaven Thirdly This life infused by the regenerating Spirit is a most pleasant life
and promising natures have been passed by and left under spiritual death It was the observation of Mr. Ward upon his Brother Mr. Daniel Rogers who was a man of great gifts and eminent graces yet of a very bad temper and constitution Though my Brother Rogers said he have grace enough for two men yet not half enough for himself It may be you have pray'd and striven long with your relations and to little purpose yet be not discouraged How often was Mr. John Rogers that famous successful Divine a grief of heart to his relations in his younger years proving a wild and lewd young man to the great discouragement of his pious friends yet at last the Lord graciously changed him so that Mr. Richard Rogers would say when he would exercise the utmost degree of charity or hope for any that at present were vile and naught I will never despair of any man for John Rogers sake Infer 3. How honourable are Christians by their new birth they are born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of Infer 3. man but of God Joh. 1. 13. i. e. not in an impure or meer natural way but in a most spiritual and supernatural manner they are the off-spring of God the children of the most high as well by regeneration as by adoption which is the greatest advancement of the humane nature next to its hypostatical union with the second person Oh what honour is this for a poor sinful creature to have the very life of God breathed into his soul all other dignities of nature are trifles compar'd with this this makes a Christian a sacred hallowed thing the living temple of God 1 Cor. 6. 19. the special object of his delight Infer 4. How deplorable is the condition of the unregenerate world in no better case than dead men Now to affect our hearts with the Infer 4. misery of such a condition let ut consider and compare it in the following particulars First There is no beauty in the dead all their loveliness goes away at death there is no spiritual beauty or loveliness in any that are unregenerate 't is true many of them have excellent moral homilitical vertues which adorn their conversations in the eyes of men but what are all these but so many sweet flowers strewed over a dead Corpse Secondly The dead have no pleasure nor delight even so the unregenerate are incapable of the delights of the Christian life to be spiritually minded is life and peace Rom. 8. 6. i. e. this is the only serene placid and pleasant life when the prodigal who was once dead was alive then he began to be merry Luke 15. 24. they live in sensual pleasures but this is to be dead while alive in Scripture reckoning Thirdly The dead have no heat they are as cold as clay so are all the unregenerate towards God and things above their lusts are hot but their affections to God cold and frozen that which makes a gracious heart melt will not make an unregenerate heart move Fourthly The dead must be buried Gen. 23. 4. bury my dead out of my sight so must the unregenerate be buried out of Gods sight forever buried in the lowest hell in the place of darkness for ever Joh. 3. 3. Woe to the unregenerate good had it been sor them they had never been born Infer 5. How greatly are all men concerned to examine their condition Infer 5. with respect to spiritual life and death It 's very common for men to presume upon their Union with and interest in Christ this priviledge is by common mistake extended generally to all that profess Christian religion and practise the external duties of it when in truth no more are or can be united Praesumendo sperant sperando pereunt Ames to Christ than are quickened by the Spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus Rom. 8. 1 2. O try your interest in Christ by this rule if I am quickened by Christ I have Union with Christ. And First If there be spiritual sense in your souls there is spiritual life in them there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 senses belonging to the spiritual as well as to the animal life Heb. 5. 14. they can feel and sensibly groan under soul pressures and burdens of sin Rom. 7. 24. the dead feel not moan not under the burdens of sin but the living do they may be sensible indeed of the evil of sin with respect to themselves but not as against God damnation may scare them but pollution doth not hell may fright them but not the offence of God Secondly If there be spiritual hunger and thirst it 's a sweet sign of spiritual life this sign agrees to Christians of a day old 1 Pet. 2. 2. even new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word if spiritual life be in you you know how to expound that Scripture Psal. 42. 1. without any other interpreter than your own experience you will feel somewhat like the gâ—…awing of an empty stomach making you restless during the interruption of your daily communion with the Lord. Thirdly If there be spiritual conflicts with sin there is spiritual life in your soul Gal. 5. 17. not only a combat betwixt light in the higher and lust in the lower faculties nor only opposition to more gross external corruptions that carry more infamy and horror with them than other sins do but the same faculty will be the seat of War and the more inward secret and spiritual any lust is by so much the more will it be opposed and mourned over In a word the weakest Christian may upon impartial observation find such signs of spiritual life in himself if he will allow himself time to reflect upon the bent and frame of his own heart as desires after God conscience of duties fears cares and sorrows about sin delight in the society of heavenly and spiritual men a loathing and burden in the company of vain and carnal persons O but I have a very dead heart to spiritual things 'T is a sign of life that you feel and are sensible of that deadness Ob. and beside there 's a great deal of difference betwixt Sol. spiritual deadness and death the one is the state of the unregenerate the other is the disease of regenerate men Some signs of spiritual life are clear to me but I cannot close with others Ob. If you can really close with any it may satisfie you though you be dark in others if a child can't go yet if it can suck Sol. if it can't suck if it can cry if it can't cry yet if it breath it is alive The Sixth SERMON Serm. 6. JOH 1. 12. Describing that Act on our part by which we do actually and effectually apply Christ to our own souls But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name NO
cannot believe till God hath opened your eyes to see your sin your misery by sin and your remedy in Jesus Christ alone you find this act of the Spirit to be the first in order both of nature and time and introductive to all the rest Acts 26. 18. To turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God As faith without works which must be a consequent to it is dead so faith without light which must be an Antecedent to it is blind faith is the hand by which Christ is received but knowledge is the eye by which that hand is directed Well then hath God opened your eyes to see sin and misery in another manner than ever you saw it before for certainly if God have opened your eyes by saving illumination you will find as great a difference betwixt your former and present apprehensions of sin and danger as betwixt a painted Lion upon the wall or sign post and the real living Lion that meets you roaring in the way Secondly Conviction is an Antecedent to believing where this goes not before no faith can follow after the Spirit first convinces of sin then of righteousness Joh. 16. 8. So Mark 1. 15. repent ye and believe the Gospel believe it O man that breast of thine must be wounded that vain and frothy heart of thine must be pierced and stung with conviction sense and sorrow for sin thou must have some sick days and restless nights for sin if ever thou rightly close with Christ by faith 't is true there is much difference found in the strength depth and continuance of conviction and spiritual troubles in converts as there is in the labours and travailing pains of women but sure it is the child of faith is not ordinarily born without some pangs Conviction is the application of that light which God makes to shine in our minds to our particular case and condition by the conscience and sure when men come to see their miserable and sad estate by a true light it cannot but wound them and that to the very heart Thirdly Self-despair or a total and absolute loss in our selves about deliverance and the way of escape either by our selves or any other meer creature doth and must go before faith So it was with those believers Acts 2. 37. men and brethren what shall we do they are the words of men at a total loss it is the voyce of poor distressed souls that saw themselves in misery but knew not saw not nor could devise any way of escape from it by any thing they could do for themselves or any other creature for them and hence the Apostle uses that emphatical word Gal. 3. 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. shut up to the faith i. e. as men besieged and distressed in a garrison in time of a storm when the enemy pours in upon them through the breaches and over-powers them there is but one sally-port or gate at which they can escape and to that they all throng as despairing of life if they take any other course Just so do mens convictions besiege them distress them beat them off from all their holds and intrenchments and bring them to a pinching distress in themselves shutting them up to Christ as the only way of escape Duties cannot save me reformation cannot save me nor Angels nor men can save me there is no way but one Christ or Condemnation for evermore I thought once that a little repentance reformation restitution and a stricter life might be a way to escape wrath to come but I find the bed is too short and the covering too narrow all is but loss dung dross in comparison with Jesus Christ if I trust to those Aegyptian reeds they will not only fail me but pierce and wound me too I see no hope within the whole Horizon of sense Fourthly Hence come vehement and earnest crys to God for faith for Christ for help from heaven to transport the soul out of this dangerous condition to that strong rock of salvation to bring it out of this farious stormy Sea of trouble where it 's ready to wreck every moment into that safe and quiet harbour Christ. O when a man shall see his misery and danger and no way of escape but Christ and that he hath no ability in himself to come to Christ to open his heart thus to receive him but that this work of faith is wholly supernatural the operation of God How will the soul return again and again upon God with such crys as that Mark 9. 24. Lord help my unbelief Lord enable me to come to Christ give me Christ or I perish for ever what profit is there in my blood why should I dye in the sight and presence of a Saviour O Lord it is thine own work and a most glorious work reveal thine arm in this work upon my soul I pray thee give me Christ if thou deny me bread give me faith if thou deny me breath it 's more necessary that I believe than that I live O Reader reflect upon the days and nights that are past the places where thou hast been conversant where are the bed-sides or the secret corners where thou hast besieged heaven with such crys if God have thus inlightned convinced distressed thy soul and thus set thee a mourning after Christ it will be one good sign that faith is come into thy soul for here are certainly the Harbingers and fore runners of it that ordinarily make way for faith into the souls of men Secondly If you would be satisfied of the sincerity and truth 2. Mark of your faith then examine what Concomitants it is attended with in your souls I mean what frames and tempers your souls were in at that time when you think you received Christ. For certainly in those that receive Christ excepting those into whose hearts God hath in a more still and insensible way infused faith betime by his blessing upon pious education such concomitant frames of Spirit may be remarkt as these following First The heart is deeply serious and as much in earnest in this matter as ever it was or can be about any thing in the world This you see in that example of the Jaylor Acts 16. 29. he came in trembling and astonished it is the most solemn and important matter that ever the soul had before it in this world or ever shall or can have how much are the hearts of men affected in their outward straits and distresses about the concernments of the body their hearts are not a little concern'd in such questions as these What shall I eat what shall I drink where withal shall I and mine be fed and cloathed but certainly the straits that souls are in about salvation must be allowed to be greater than these and such questions as that of the Jaylors Sirs what must I do to be saved make deeper impressions upon the heart than what shall I eat or drink Some indeed
capistratus er at a mute muzzled as the word signifies by the clear testimony of his own conscience these accusations are the second work or office of conscience and they make way for the third namely Thirdly The sentence and condemnation of Conscience and truly this is an insupportable burthen the condemnation 3. of conscience is nothing else but its application of the condemning sentence of the Law to a mans person the Law curseth every one that transgresseth it Gal. 3. 10. conscience applys this curse to the guilty sinner So that it sentences the sinner in Gods name and authority from which there is no appeal the voice of conscience is the voice of God and what it pronounces in Gods name and authority he will confirm and ratifie 1 Joh. 3. 20. if our hearts i. e. our consciences condemn us God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things this is that torment which no man can endure See the effects of it in Cain in Judas and in Spira 't is a real foretast of hell torments this is that worm that never dyes Mark 9. 44. For look as a worm in the body is bred of the corruption that is there so the accusations and condemnations of conscience are bred in the soul by the corruption and guilt that is there as the worm in the body preys and bites upon the tender sensible inward parts so doth conscience touch the very quick This is its third effect or work to sentence and condemn and this also makes way for a fourth namely Fourthly To upbraid and reproach the sinner under his misery 4. and this makes a man a very terrour to himself to be pittied in misery is some relief but to be upbraided and reproached doubles our affliction you know it was one of the aggravations of Christs sufferings to be reproached by the tongue of his enemies whilest he hanged in torments upon the cursed tree but all the scoffs and reproaches the bitter jeers and Sarcasâ—…s in the world are nothing to these of a mans own conscience this will cut to the very bone O when a mans conscience shall say to him in a day of trouble as Reuben to his afflicted brethren Gen. 42. 22. Spake I not unto you saying do not sin against the child and ye would not hear therefore behold also his blood is required So conscience Did I not warn you threaten you perswade you in time against these evils but you would not hearken to me therefore behold now you must suffer to all eternity for it the wrath of God is kindled against thy soul for it this is the fruit of thy own wilful madness and obstinacy Now thou shalt know the price of sinning against God against light and conscience O this is terrible every bite of conscience makes a poor soul to startle and in a terrible fright to cry Oh the worm Oh the bitter foretast of Hell a wounded spirit who can bear This is a fourth wound of conscience and it makes way for a fifth for here it is as in the pouring out of the vials and the sounding of those woe-trumpets in the Revelation one woe is past and another cometh After all these deadly blows of conscience upon the very heart of a sinner comes another as dreadful as any that is yet named and that is Fifthly The fearful expectations of wrath to come which 5. it begets in the soul of a guilty sinner of this you read Heb. 10. 27. a fearful looking for of Judgement and fiery indignation and this makes the stoutest sinner quail and faint under the burthen of sin For the tongue of man cannot declare what it is to lye down and rise with those fearful expectations the case of such sinners is somewhat like that which is described in Deut. 28. 65 66 67. The Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart and failing of eyes and sorrow of mind and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee and thou shalt fear day and night and shalt have no assurance of thy life in the morning thou shalt say Would God it were evening and at even thou shalt say Would God it were morning for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear c. Only in this it differs in this Scripture you have the terrours of those described whose temporal life hangs in doubtful suspense but in the persons I am speaking of it is a trembling under the apprehensions and expectations of the vengeance of eternal fire Believe it Friends words cannot express what those poor creatures feel that lye down and rise under these fears and frights of conscience Lord what will become of me I am free among the dead yea among the damned I hang by the frail thred of a momentany life which will and must break shortly and may break the next moment over the everlasting burnings no pleasant bread is eaten in these days but what is like the bread of condemned men And thus you see what the burden of sin is when God makes it to bear upon the consciences of men no burden of affliction is like it losses of dearest relations sorrows for an only son are not so pungent and penetrating as these For First No creature enjoyment is pleasant under these inward troubles in other troubles they may signifie something to a mans relief but here they are nothing the wound is too deep to be healed by any thing but the blood of Jesus Christ Conscience requires as much to satisfie it as God requires to satisfie him When God is at peace with thee saith Conscience then will I be at peace with thee too but till then expect no rest nor peace from me all the pleasures and diversions in the world shall never stop my mouth go where thou wilt I will follow thee like thy shadow be thy portion in the world as sweet as it will I will drop in Gall and Wormwood into thy cup that thou shalt tast no sweetness in any thing till thou hast got thy pardon These inward troubles for sin alienate the mind from all former pleasures and delights there 's no more taste or savour in them than in the white of an Egg. Musick is out of tune all instruments jarr and groan Ornaments have no beauty what heart hath a poor creature to deck that body in which dwells such a miserable soul to feed and pamper that carcass that hath been the souls inducement to and instrument in sin and must be its companion in everlasting misery Secondly These inward troubles for sin put a dread into death beyond whatever the soul saw in it before Now it looks like the King of terrours indeed you read in Heb. 2. 15. of some that through fear of death are all their life long subject to bondage O what a lively comment is a soul in this case able to make upon such a Text they would not scare at the pale horse nor at him that sits on him though his name
be called death if it were not for what follows him Rev. 6. 8. but when they consider that hell follows they tremble at the very name or thoughts of death Thirdly Such is the nature of these inward troubles of spirit that they swallow up the sense of all other outward troubles alas these are all lost in the deeps of soul sorrows as the little rivulets are in the vast Sea he that is wounded at the heart will not cry Oh at the bite of a Flea and surely no greater is the proportion betwixt outward and inward sorrows a small matter formerly would discompose a man and put him into a fret now ten thousand outward troubles are lighter than a feather For saith he why doth the living man complain am I yet on this side eternal burnings O let me not complain then whatever my condition be have I losses in the world or pains upon my body alas these are not to be named with the loss of God and the feeling of his wrath and indignation for evermore Thus you see what troubles inward troubles for sin be Secondly If you ask in the second place how it comes 2. How souls are supported under such troubles to pass that any soul is supported under such strong troubles of Spirit that all that feel them do not sink under them that all that go down into these deep waters of sorrow are not drowned in them The Answer is First Though this be a very sad time with the soul much like that of Adam betwixt the breach of the first Covenant and the first promise of Christ made to him yet the souls that are thus heavy laden do not sink because God hath a most tender care over them and regard to them underneath them are the everlasting arms and thence it is they sink not were they left to grapple with these troubles in their own strength they could never stand but God takes care of these mourners that their Spirits do not fail before him and the souls that he hath made I mean those of his Elect whom he is this way preparing for and bringing unto Christ. Secondly The Lord is pleased to nourish still some hope in the soul under the greatest fears and troubles of Spirit though it have no comfort or joy yet it hath some hope in the bottom and that keeps up the heart the afflicted soul doth in this case as the afflicted Church Lam. 3. 29. he putteth his mouth in the dust if yet there may be hope he saith its good for a man to hope and quietly to wait for the salvation of God there are usually some glimmerings or dawnings of mercy through Christ in the midnight darkness of inward troubles non dantur purae tenebrae in hell indeed there is no hope to enlighten the darkness but it is not so upon earth Thirdly The experiences of others who have been in the same deeps of trouble are also of great use to keep up the soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est primum picturae lineamentum sumitur hic pro exemplo ut viderent quid sibi spâ—…randum sit 〈◊〉 domino gratiam esse uberiorem ac potentiorem peccatoâ—… quis qui credit diffidereti sibi paratam esse veniam Poli Synops in Loc. above water The experience of another is of great use to prop up a desponding mind whilest as yet it hath none of its own and indeed for the support of souls in such cases they were recorded 1 Tim. 1. 16. For this cause I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting for an encouraging pattern an eminent precedent to all poor sinners that were to come after him that none might absolutely despair of finding mercy through Christ. You know if a man be taken sick and none can tell what the disease is none can say that ever they heard of such a disease before it 's exceeding frightful but if one and another it may be twenty come to the sick mans bedside and tell him Sir be not afraid I have been in the very same case that you now are and so have many more and all did well at last why this is half a cure to the sick man So it is here a great support to hear the experiences of other Saints Fourthly As the experiences of others support the soul under these burdens so the riches of free grace through Jesus Christ uphold it 't is rich and abundant Psal. 130. ult plenteous redemption and 't is free and to the worst of sinners Isa. 1. 18. and under these troubles it finds it self in the way and proper method of mercy for so my Text a Text that hath upheld many thousand drooping hearts states it all this gives hope and encouragement under trouble Fifthly Lastly Though the state of the soul be sad and sinking yet Jesus Christ usually makes haste in the extremity of the trouble to relieve it by sweet and seasonable discoveries of his grace cum duplicantur lateres venit Moses in the Mount of the Lord it shall be seen It is with Christ as it was with Joseph whose bowels yearned towards his brethren and he was in pain till he had told them I am Joseph your brother This is sweetly exhibited to us in that excellent parable of the Prodigal Luke 15. when his Father saw him being yet a great way off he ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him mercy runs nimbly to help when souls are ready to fail under the pressure of sin And thus you see both how they are burthened and how upheld under the burthen Thirdly If it be enquired in the last place why God makes the burden of sin press so heavy upon the hearts of poor 3. Why doth God make the burden of sin lie so heavy upon the souls of some sinners sinners 't is answered First He doth it to divorce their hearts from sin by giving them an experimental taste of the bitterness and evil that is in sin mens hearts are naturally glewed with delight to their sinful courses all the perswasions and arguments in the world are too weak to separate them and their beloved lusts The morsels of sin go down smoothly and sweetly they roll them with much delectation under their tongues and it is but need that such bitter potions as these should be administred to make their stomachs rise against sin as that word used by the Apostle in 2 Cor. 7. 11. signifies in that ye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 indignatio stomochatio Leigh's Critica in verb. sorrowed after a godly sort what indignation it wrought it notes the rising of the stomach with rage a being angry even unto sickness and this is the way the best and most effectual way to separate the soul of a sinner from his Lusts for in these troubles conscience saith as it is in
had been right nothing but the sprinkling of the blood of Christ could have appeased their consciences Heb. 10. 22. How cold should the consideration of this thing strike to the hearts of such persons Methinks Reader if this be thy case it should send thee away with an aking heart Thou hast not yet tasted the bitterness of sin and if thou do not then shalt thou never taste the sweetness of Christ his pardons and peace Inference 4. How great a mercy is it for sin-burthened souls to be within the Inference 4. sound and call of Christ in the Gospel There be many thousands in the Pagan and Popish parts of the world that labour under distresses of conscience as well as we but have no such reliefs or means of peace and comfort as we have that live within the joyful sound of the Gospel If the conscience of a Papist be burdened with guilt all the relief he hath is to afflict his body to quiet his soul a penance or pilgrimage is all the relief they have If a Pagan be in trouble for sin he hath no knowledge of Christ nor notion of a satisfaction made by him The voice of nature is Shall I give my first-born for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul The damned endure the terrible blows and wounds of conscience for sin they roar under that terrible lash but no voice of peace or pardon is heard among them It is not come unto me ye that labour and are heavy laden but depart from me ye cursed Blessed are your ears for you hear the voice of peace you are come to Jesus the Mediator and to the blood of sprinkling O you can never set a due value upon this priviledge Inference 5. How sweet and unspeakably relieving is the closing of a burdened Inference 5. soul with Jesus Christ by faith 'T is rest to the weary soul. Soul troubles are spending and wasting troubles The pains of a distressed conscience are the most acute pains A poor soul would fain be at rest but knows not where he tryes this duty and that but finds none at last he falls into the way of believing he casts himself with his burden of guilt and fear upon Christ and there is the rest his soul desired Christ and rest come together till faith bring you to the bosome of Jesus you can find no true rest the soul is rolling and tossing sick and weary upon the billows of its own guilt and fears Now the soul is come like a Ship tossed with storms and tempests out of a raging Ocean into the quiet harbour or like a lost Sheep that hath been wandring in weariness hunger and danger into the fold Is a soft bed in a quiet chamber sweet to one that is spent and tired with travel Is the sight of a shoar sweet to the shipwrackt Mariner that looks for nothing but death much more sweet is Christ to a soul that comes to him pressed in conscience and broken in spirit under the sinking weight of sin How did the Italians rejoyce after a long dangerous voyage to see Italy again Crying with loud and united voices which made the very heavens ring again Italy Italy But no shoar is so sweet to the weather-beaten passenger as Christ is to a Italiam Italiam lâ—…to clamore salutant Virg. broken-hearted sinner this brings the soul to a sweet repose Heb. 4. 3. We which have believed do enter into rest and this endears the way of faith to their souls ever after Inference 6. Learn hence the usefulness of the Law to bring souls to Jesus Inference 6. Christ. It 's utterly useless as a Covenant to justifie us but exceeding useful to convince and humble us It cannot relieve or ease us but it can and doth awaken and rouze us it 's a fair glass to shew us the face of sin and till we have seen that we cannot see the face of Jesus Christ. The Law like the Fiery Serpents smites stings and torments the conscience this drives us to the Lord Jesus lifted up in the Gospel like the Brazen Serpent in the Wilderness to heal us The use of the Law is to make us feel our sickness this makes us look out for a Physician I was alive once without the Law saith Paul but when the Commandment came sin revived and I dyed Rom. 7. 9. The hard vain proud hearts of men require such an hammer to break them to pieces Inference 7. It 's the immediate duty of weary and heavy laden sinners to Inference 7. come to Christ by faith and not stand off from Christ or delay to accept him upon any pretence whatsoever Christ invites and commands such to come unto him 't is therefore your sin to neglect draw back or deferr whatever seeming reasons and pretences there may be to the contrary When the Jaylor was brought where I suppose thee now to be to a pinching distress that made him cry Sirs what must I do to be saved the very next counsel the Apostles gave him was Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved Acts 16. 30 31. And for your encouragement know he that calleth you to come knows your burden what your sins have been and troubles are yet he calls you if your sin hinder not Christ from calling neither should it hinder you from coming He that calls you is able to ease you to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him Heb. 7. 25. Whatever fulness of sin be in you there is a greater fulness of saving power in Christ. Moreover he that calls you to come never yet rejected any poor burdened soul that came to him and hath said he never will Joh. 6. 37. He that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out Fear not therefore he will not begin with thee or make thee the first instance and example of the feared rejection And Lastly Bethink thy self what wilt thou do and whither wilt thou go in this case if not to Jesus Christ Nothing shall ease or relieve thee till thou dost come to him Thou art under an happy necessity to go to him With him only is found rest for the weary soul. Which brings us to the third and last Observation Doct. 3. Doct. 3. That there is rest in Christ for all that come unto him under the heavy burden of Sin REST is a sweet word to a weary soul all seek it none but believers find it We which have believed Non dicit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ingressi sumus sed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ingredimur significans initia quietis fideles nunc habere plenam quietem suo temporâ—… consecuturos Pareus in loc saith the Apostle do enter into rest Heb. 4. 3. he doth not say they shall but they do enter into rest noting their spiritual rest to be already begun by faith on earth in the tranquillity of conscience and shall be consummated
the wounds of Christ Isa. 53. 5. By his stripes we are healed his blood only is innocent and precious blood 1 Pet. 1. 19. blood of infinite worth and value the blood of God Act. 20. 28. blood prepared for this very purpose Heb. 10. 5. this is the blood that performs the cure and how great a cure is it for this cure the souls of Believers shall be praising and magnifying their great Physician in Heaven to all eternity Rev. 1. 5 6. To him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood c. to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever Secondly The next evil in sin cured by Christ is the dominion 2. of it over the souls of poor sinners Where sin is in dominion the soul is in a very sad condition for it darkens the Understanding depraves the Conscience stiffens the Will hardens the Heart misplaces and disorders all the Affections and thus every faculty is wounded by the power and dominion of sin over the soul. How difficult is the cure of this disease it passes the skill of Angels or men to heal it but Christ undertakes it and makes a perfect cure of it at last and this he doth by his Spirit As he cures the guilt of sin by pouring out his blood for us so he cures the dominion of sin by pouring out his Spirit upon us Justification is the cure of guilt Sanctification the cure of the dominion of sin For First As the Dominion of sin darkens the understanding 1 Cor. 2. 14. so the spirit of holiness which Christ sheds upon his people cures the darkness and blindness of that noble faculty and restores it again Eph. 5. 8. they that were darkness are hereby light in the Lord the anointing of this Spirit teacheth them all things 1 John 2. 27. Secondly As the dominion of sin depraved and defiled the Conscience Tit. 1. 15. wounded it to that degree as to disable it to the performances of all its Offices and Functions so that it was neither able to apply convince or tremble at the word So when the Spirit of holiness is shed forth O what a tender sense fills the renewed Conscience for what small things will it check smite and rebuke how strongly will it bind to duty and bar against sin Thirdly As the dominion of sin stiffned the Will and made it stubborn and rebellious so Christ by sanctifying it brings it to be pliant and obedient to the will of God Lord saith the sinner what wilt thou have me to do Act. 9. 6. Fourthly As the power of sin hardneth the Heart so that nothing could affect it or make any impression upon it when sanctification comes upon the soul it thaws and breaks it as hard as it was and makes it dissolve in the breast of a sinner in godly sorrow Ezec. 36. 26. I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh It will now melt ingenuously under the threatnings of the word 2 Kings 22. 19. or the strokes of the Rod Jer. 31. 18. or the manifestations of grace and mercy Luke 7. 38. Fifthly As the power of sin misplaced and disordered all the affections so sanctification reduces them again and sets them right Psal. 4. 6 7. And thus you see how sanctification becomes the rectitude health and due temper of the soul so far as it prevails curing the diseases that sin in its dominion filled the soul with True it is this cure is not perfected in this life there are still some grudgings of the old diseases in the holiest souls notwithstanding sin be dethroned from its dominion over them but the cure is begun and daily advances towards perfection and at last will be compleat as will appear in the cure of the next evil of sin namely Thirdly The Inherence of sin in the soul this is a sore disease the very core and root of all our other complaints 3. and ayles This made the holy Apostle bemoan himself and waile so bitterly Rom. 7. 17. because of sin that dwelt in him and the same misery is bewailed by all sanctified persons all the world over 'T is a wonderful mercy to have the guilt and the dominion of sin cured but we shall never be perfectly sound and well till the existence or indwelling of sin in our natures be cured too When once that is done then we shall feel no more pain nor sorrows for sin and this our great Physician will at last perform for us and upon us but as the cure of guilt was by our Justification the cure of the dominion of sin by our Sanctification so the third and last which perfects the whole cure will be by our Glorification and till then it is not to be expected For it 's a clear case that sin like Ivy in the old Walls will never be gotten out till the Wall be pulled down and then it 's pulled up by the roots This cure Christ will perform in a moment upon our dissolution For 't is plain First That none but perfected souls freed from all sin are admitted into Heaven Eph. 5. 27. Heb. 12. 23. Rev. 21. 27. Secondly 'T is as plain that no such personal perfection and freedom is found in any man on this side death and the grave 1 Joh. 1. 8. 1 Kings 8. 46. Philip. 3. 12. a truth sealed by the sad experience of all the Saints on earth Thirdly If such freedom and perfection must be before we can be perfectly happy and no such thing be done in this life it remains that it must be done immediately upon their dissolution and at the very time of their glorification as sin came in at the time of the union of their souls and bodies in the womb so it will go out at the time of their separation by death then will Christ put the last hand to this glorious work and perfect that cure which hath been so long under his hand in this world and thenceforth sin shall have no power upon them it shall never tempt them more it shall never defile them more it shall never grieve and sadden their hearts any more henceforth it shall never cloud their evidences darken their understandings or give the least interruption to their communion with God when sin is gone all these its mischievous effects are gone with it So that I may speak it to the comfort of all gracious hearts according to what the Lord told the Israelites in Deut. 12. 8 9. to which I allude for illustration of this most comfortable truth Ye shall not do after all the things that ye do here this day every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes for ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you Whilst you are under Christs cure upon earth but not perfectly healed your understandings mistake your thoughts wander your affections are dead your communion
Christ he doth all gratis he sells not his medicines though they be of infinite value but freely gives them Isai. 55. 1. He that hath no money let him come if any be sent away 't is the rich Luk. 1. 53. not the poor and needy those that will not accept their remedy as a free gift but will needs purchase it at a price Ninthly and Lastly None rejoyces in the recovery of souls more than Christ doth O it is unspeakably delightful to him to see the efficacy of his blood upon our souls Isai. 53. 11. He shall see the travail of his soul i. e. the success of his death and sufferings and shall be satisfied when he foresaw the success of the Gospel upon the world it 's said Luk. 10. 21. In that hour Jesus rejoyced in spirit and thus you see there is no Physician like Christ for sick souls The Uses of this Point are For Information and Direction First From hence we are informed of many great and necessary truths deducible from this as Inference 1. How inexpressible is the grace of God in providing such a Physician Inference 1. as Christ for the sick and dying souls of Sinners O blessed be God that there is Balm in Gilead and a Physician there that your case is not as desperate forlorn and remediless as that of the Devils and damned is There is but one case excepted from cure and that such as is not incident to any sensible afflicted soul Mat. 12. 31. and this only excepted all manner of sins and diseases are capable of a cure Though there be such a disease as is incurable yet take this for thy comfort never any soul was sick i. e. sensibly burthened with it and willing to come to Jesus Christ for healing for under that sin the will is so wounded that they have no desire to Christ. O inestimable mercy that the sickest sinner is capable of a perfect cure There be thousands and ten thousands now in Heaven and earth who said once never was any case like theirs so dangerous so hopeless The greatest of sinners have been perfectly recovered by Christ 1 Tim. 1. 15. 1 Cor. 6. 11. O mercy never to be duly estimated Inference 2. What a powerful restraint from sin is the very method ordained Inference 2. by God for the cure of it Isai. 53. 5. by his stripes we are healed The Physician must dye that the Patient might live no other thing but the blood the precious blood of Christ is found in Heaven or earth able to heal us Heb. 9. 22. 26. This blood of Christ must be freshly applied to every new wound sin makes upon our souls 1 John 2. 1 2. every new sin wounds him afresh opens the wounds of Christ anew O think of this again and again you that so easily yield to the solicitations of Satan is it so cheap and easie to sin as you seem to make it Doth the cure of souls cost nothing True it is free to us but was it so to Christ No no it was not he knows the price of it though you do not hath Christ healed you by his stripes and can you put him under fresh sufferings for you so easily Have you forgot also your own sick days and nights for sin that you are careless in resisting and preventing it Sure 't is not easie for Saints to wound Christ and their own souls at one stroke if you renew your sins you must also renew your sorrows and repentance Psal. 51. Title 2 Sam. 12. 13. you must feel the throes and pains of a troubled Spirit again things with which the Saints are not unacquainted of which they may say as the Church Remembring my affliction the Wormwood and the Gall my soul hath them still in remembrance Lam. 3. 19. Yea and if you will yet be remiss in your watch and so easily incur new guilt though a pardon in the blood of Christ may heal your souls yet some Rod or other in the hand of a displeased Father shall afflict your bodies or smite you in your outward Comforts Psal. 89. 32. Inference 3. If Christ be the only Physician of sick souls what sin and folly is it for men to take Christs work out of his hands and attempt Inference 3. to be their own Physicians Thus do those that superstitiously endeavour to heal their souls by afflicting their bodies not Christs blood but their own must be the Plaister and as blind Papists â—…o many carnal and ignorant Protestants strive by confession restitution reformation and a stricter course of life to heal those wounds that sin hath made upon their souls without any respect to the blood of Christ but this course shall not profit them at all It may for a time divert but can never heal them the wounds so skinned over will open and bleed again God grant it be not when our souls shall be out of the reach of the true and only remedy Inference 4. How sad is the case of those souls to whom Christ hath not Inference 4. yet been a Physician They are mortally wounded by sin and are like to dye of their sickness no saving healing applications having hitherto been made unto their souls and this is the case of the greatest part of mankind yea of them that live under the discoveries of Christ in the Gospel which appears by these sad symptoms First In that their eyes have not yet been opened to see their sin and misery in which illumination the cure of souls begins Act. 26. 18. to this day he hath not given them Eyes to see Deut. 29. 4. but that terrible stroke of God which blinds and hardens them is too visibly upon them mentioned in Isai. 6. 9 10. no hope of healing till the sinners Eyes be opened to see his sin and misery Secondly In that nothing will divorce and separate them from their lusts a sure sign they are not under Christs cure nor were ever made sick of sin O if ever Christ be a Physician to thy soul he will make thee loath what now thou lovest and say to thy most pleasant and profitable lusts get ye hence Isai. 30. 22. till then there is no ground to think that Christ is a Physician to you Thirdly In that they have no sensible and pressing need of Christ nor make any earnest enquiry after him as most certainly you would do if you were in the way of healing and recovery These and many other sad symptoms do too plainly discover the disease of sin to be in its full strength upon your souls and if it so continue how dreadful will the issue be See Isai. 6. 9 10. Inference 5. What cause have they to be glad that are under the hand and Inference 5 care of Christ in order to a cure and who do find or may upon due examination find their souls are in a very hopeful way of recovery Can we rejoyce when the strength of a natural disease is broken and
troubled souls Fourthly Be more careful to shun sin than to get your selves clear of trouble 'T is sad to walk in darkness but worse to lye under guilt Say Lord I would rather be grieved my self than be a grief to thy Spirit O keep me from sin how long soever thou keep me under sorrow Wait on God in the way of faith and in a tender spirit towards sin and thy wounds shall be healed at last by thy great Physician Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ. The Eleventh SERMON Sermon 11. LUKE 1. 72. Text. Containing the second motive to enforce the general exhortation from a second Title of Christ. To perform the mercy promised to our Fathers and to remember his holy Covenant THis Scripture is part of Zechariahs Prophecy at the rising of that bright Star John the Harbinger and forerunner of Christ they are some of the first words he spake after God had loosed his tongue which for a time was struck dumb for his unbelief His tongue is now unbound and at liberty to proclaim to all the world the riches of mercy through Jesus Christ in a song of praise Wherein note The Mercy celebrated viz. Redemption by Christ vers 68. The description of Christ by place and property vers 69. The faithfulness of God in our Redemption this way vers 70. The benefit of being so Redeemed by Christ vers 71. The exact accomplishment of all the promises made to the Fathers in sending Christ the mercy promised into the world vers 72. To perform the mercy promised to our Fathers c. In these words we find two parts viz. 1. A mercy freely promised 2. The promised mercy faithfully performed First You have here a mercy freely promised viz. by God the Father from the beginning of the world and often repeated 1. and confirmed in several succeeding ages to the Fathers in his Covenant transactions This Mercy is Jesus Christ of whom he speaks in this Prophecie the same which he stiles an horn of salvation in the house of David vers 69. The mercy of God in Scripture is put either for 1. His free favour to the Creature or 2. The effects and fruits of that favour 'T is put for the free and undeserved favour of God to the creature and this favour of God may respect the creature two wayes either as undeserving or as ill deserving It respected innocent man as undeserving for Adam could put no obligation upon his Benefactor it respecteth fallen man as ill deserving Innocent man could not merit favour and fallen man did merit wrath the favour or mercy of God to both is every way free and that is the first acceptation of the word mercy but then it is also taken for the effects and fruits of Gods favour and they are Either 1. Principal and primary or 2. Subordinate and Secundary Of Secundary and Subordinate Mercies there are multitudes both Temporal respecting the body and Spiritual respecting the soul but the Principal and Primary Mercy is but one and that is Christ the first-born of mercy the capital mercy the comprehensive-root-mercy from whom are all other mercies and therefore called by a singular emphasis in my Text The Mercy i. e. the mercy of all mercies without whom no drop of saving mercy can flow to any of the sons of men and in whom are all the tender bowels of Divine mercy yearning upon poor sinners The Mercy and the mercy promised The first promise of Christ was made to Adam Gen. 3. 15. and was frequently renewed afterwards to Abraham to David and as the Text speaks unto the Fathers in their respective generations Secondly We find here also the promised mercy faithfully performed To perform the mercy promised What mercy 2. soever the love of God engageth him to promise the faithfulness of God stands engaged for the performance thereof Christ the promised mercy is not only performed truly but he is also performed according to the promise in all the circumstances thereof exactly So he was promised to the Fathers and just so performed to us their Children hence the Note is DOCT. That Jesus Christ the Mercy of mercies was graciously promised and faithfully performed by God to his people Doct. Three things are here to be opened First Why Christ is stiled the Mercy Secondly What kind of Mercy Christ is to his people Thirdly How this promised Mercy was performed First Christ is the mercy emphatically so called the peerless invaluable and matchless mercy because he is the 1. prime fruit of the mercy of God to Sinners The mercies of God are infinite mercy gave the world and us our beings all our protections provisions and comforts in this world are the fruits of mercy the after-births of Divine Favour but Christ is the first-born from the womb of mercy all other mercies compared with him are but fruits from that root and streams from that fountain of mercy the very bowels of Divine mercy are in Christ as in vers 78. according to the tender mercies or as the Greek the yearning bowels of the mercy of God Secondly Christ is the mercy because all the mercy of 2. God to sinners is dispensed and conveyed through Christ to them Joh. 1. 16. Col. 2. 3. Eph. 4. 7. Christ is the medium of all Divine communications the Channel of Grace through him is both the decursus recursus gratiarum the flows of mercy from God to us and the returns of praise from us to God fond and vain therefore are all the expectations of mercy out of Christ no drop of saving mercy runs beside this Channel Thirdly Christ is the mercy because all inferiour mercies derive both their nature value sweetness and duration from 3. Christ the fountain mercy of all other mercies First they derive their nature from Christ for out of him those things which men call mercies are rather traps and snares than mercies to them Prov. 1. 32. The time will come when the rich that are Christless will wish O that we had been poor and Nobles that are not ennobled by the new birth O that we had been among the lower rank of men All these things that pass for valuable mercies like Ciphers signifie much when such a speaking Figure as Christ stands before them else they signifie nothing to any mans comfort or benefit Secondly They derive their value as well as nature from Christ for how little I pray you doth it signifie to any man to be rich honourable politick and successfull in all his designs in the world if after all he must lye down in Hell Thirdly All other mercies derive their sweetness from Christ and are but insipid things without him There is a twofold sweetness in things one natural another spiritual those that are out of Christ can relish the first Believers only relish both they have the natural sweetness that is in the mercy it self and a sweetness supernatural from Christ and the Covenant the way in
but it will be hard for you to do so whose souls burn with desire after Christ. Seventhly Blessed in this that your desires after Christ will make death much the sweeter and easier to you Phil. 1. 23. I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is far better When a Christian was once asked whether he were willing to dye He returned this answer let him be unwilling to dye who is unwilling to go to Christ and Illius est nolle mori qui nolitire ad Christum much like it was that of another vivere renuo ut Christo vivam I refuse this life to live with Christ. 4th Use for Exhortation In the fourth place let me exhort and perswade all to Use 4. make Jesus Christ the desire and choice of their souls And here I fall in with the main scope and design of the Gospel and Oh that I could effectually press home this Exhortation upon your hearts Let me offer some moving Considerations to you and the Lord accompany them to your hearts First Every Creature naturally desires its own preservation do not you desire the preservation of your precious and immortal souls If you do then make Christ your desire and choice without whom they can never be preserved Jude vers 1. Secondly don 't your souls earnestly desire the bodies they live in how tender are they over them how careful to provide for them though they pay a dear rent for those Tenements they live in and is not union with Christ infinitely more desirable than the union of soul and body Oh covet union with him then shall your souls be happy when your bodies drop off from them at death 2 Cor. 5. 1 3. yea soul and body shall be happy in him and with him for evermore Thirdly How do the men of this world desire the enjoyments of it They pant after the dust of the earth they rise early sit up late eat the bread of carefulness and all this for very vanity Shall a worldling do more for earth than you for Heaven Shall the Creature be so earnestly desired and Christ neglected Fourthly What do all your desires in this world benefit you if you go Christless Suppose you had the desire of your hearts in these things how long shall you have comfort in them if you miss Christ Fifthly Doth Christ desire you who have nothing lovely or desirable in you And have you no desires after Christ the most lovely and desirable one in both worlds His desires are towards you Prov. 8. 31. O make him the desire and choice of your souls Sixthly How absolutely necessary is Jesus Christ to your souls Bread and water breath and life is not so necessary as Christ is One thing is necessary Luk. 10. 42. and that one thing is Christ if you miss your desires in other things you may yet be happy but if you miss Christ you are undone for ever Seventhly How suitable a good is Christ to your souls Comprizing whatsoever they want 1 Cor. 1. 30. Set your hearts where you will none will be found to match and suit them as Christ doth Eighthly How great are the benefits that will redound to you by Jesus Christ In him you shall have a rich inheritance setled upon you all things shall be yours when you are Christs 1 Cor. 3. 22. and is not such a Christ worth desiring Ninthly All your well-grounded hopes of glory are built upon your union with Christ 1 Cor. 1. 21. If you miss Christ you must dye without hope will not this draw your desires to him Tenthly Suppose you were at the Judgement Seat of God where you must shortly stand and saw the terrors of the Lord in that day the Sheep divided from the Goats the sentences of absolution and condemnation past by the great and awful Judge upon the righteous and the wicked would not Christ be then desirable in your eyes As ever you expect to stand with Comfort at that Bar let Christ be the desire and choice of your souls now 5th Use for Direction Do these or any other Considerations put thee upon this Use 5. enquiry how shall I get my desires kindled and inflamed towards Christ Alas my heart is cold and dead not a serious desire stirring in it after Christ to such I shall offer the following Directions Direction 1. Redeem some time every day for meditation get out of the noise and clamour of the world Psal. 4. 4. and seriously bethink your selves how the present state of your soul stands and how it is like to go with you for ever here all sound Conversion begins Psal. 119. 59. Direction 2. Consider seriously of that lamentable state in which you came into the world children of wrath by nature under the curse and condemnation of the Law So that either your state must be changed or you inevitably damned Joh. 3. 3. Direction 3. Consider the way and course you have taken since you came into the world proceeding from iniquity to iniquity What Command of God have you not violated a thousand times over What sin is committed in the world that you are not one way or other guilty of before God How many secret sins are upon your score unknown to the most intimate Friend you have in the world Either this guilt must be separated from your souls or your souls from God to all eternity Direction 4. Think upon the severe wrath of God due to every sin The wages of sin is death Rom. 6. ult and how intolerable the fulness of that wrath must be when a few drops sprinkled upon the Conscience in this world is so insupportable that it hath made some to choose strangling rather than life and yet this wrath must abide for ever upon you if you get not interest in Jesus Christ Joh. 3. 63. Direction 5. Ponder well the happy state and condition they are in who have obtained pardon and peace by Jesus Christ Psal. 32. 12. And seeing the grace of God is free and you are yet under the means thereof why may not you be as capable thereof as others Direction 6. Seriously consider the great uncertainty of your time and preciousness of the opportunities of salvation never to be recovered when they are once past Joh. 9. 4. Let this provoke you to lay hold upon those golden seasons whilst they are yet with you that you may not bewail your folly and madness when they are out of your reach Direction 7. Associate your selves with serious Christians get into their acquaintance and beg their assistance beseech them to pray for you and see that you rest not here but be frequently upon your knees begging of the Lord a new heart and a new state In Conclusion of the whole let me beseech and beg all the people of God as upon my knees to take heed and beware lest by the carelesness and scandals of their lives they quench the weak desires beginning to kindle in the hearts of
Believers are said to be made by Jesus Christ Kings and Priests unto God and his Father i. e. dignified favourites upon whom the special marks of honour are set by God In the opening of this point three things must be doctrinally discussed and opened viz. 1. What the acceptation of our persons with God is 2. How it appears that Believers are so accepted with God 3. How Christ the beloved procures this benefit for Believers First What the acceptation of our persons with God is 1. To open which we must remember that there is a twofold acceptance of persons noted in Scripture 1. One is the sinful act of a corrupt man 2. The other the gracious act of a merciful God First accepting of persons is noted in Scripture as the sinful act of a corrupt man a thing which God abhors being the corruption and abuse of that power and authority which men have in judgement overlooking the merit of the cause through sinful respect to the quality of the person whose cause it is So that the cause doth not commend the person but the person the cause this God every where brands in men as a vile perverting of judgement and utterly disclaims it himself Gal. 2. 6. God accepteth no mans person Rom. 2. 11. There is no respect of persons with God Secondly There is also an accepting of persons which is the gracious act of a merciful God whereby he receives both the persons and duties of Believers into special grace and favour for Christs sake and of this my Text speaks In which act of favour three things are supposed or included First It supposes an estate of alienation and enmity those only are accepted into favour that were out of favour and indeed so stood the case with us Ephes. 2. 12 13. Ye were aliens and strangers but now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. So the Apostle Peter in 1 Pet. 2. 10. Which in time past were not a people but now are the people of God which had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy The fall made a fearful breach betwixt God and man Sin like a thick cloud intercepted all the beams of divine favour from us the satisfaction of Christ dissolves that cloud Isai. 44. 22. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions and as a cloud thy sins This dark cloud thus dissolved the face of God shines forth again with chearful beams of favour and love upon all who by faith are interested in Jesus Christ. Secondly It includes the removing of guilt from the persons of Believers by the imputation of Christs righteousness to them Rom. 5. 1 2. Being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand for the face of God cannot shine upon the wicked the person must be first made righteous before it can be made accepted Thirdly it includes the offering up or tendering of our persons and duties to God by Jesus Christ. Accepting implies presenting or tendring Believers indeed do present themselves to God Rom. 12. 1. but Christs presenting them makes their tender of themselves acceptable to the Lord Col. 1. 22. In the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight Christ leads every Believer as it were by the hand into the gracious presence of God after this manner bespeaking acceptance for him Father here is a poor soul that was born in sin hath lived in Rebellion against thee all his days he hath broken all thy laws and deserved all thy wrath yet he is one of that number which thou gavest me before the world was I have made full payment by my blood for all his sins I have opened his eyes to see the sinfulness and misery of his condition broken his heart for his rebellions against thee bowed his will in obedience unto thy will united him to my self by faith as a living member of my body And now Lord since he is become mine by regeneration let him be thine also by special acceptation let the same love with which thou lovest me embrace him also who is now become mine And so much for the first particular viz. what acceptation with God is Secondly In the next place I must shew you how it appears 2. that Believers are thus ingratiated or brought into the special favour of God by Jesus Christ. And this will be evidenced divers ways First By the Titles of love and endearedness with which the Lord graceth and honoureth Believers who are sometimes called the houshold of God Ephes. 2. 19. the friends of God Jam. 2. 23. the dear Children of God Ephes. 5. 1. the peculiar people of God 1 Pet. 2. 9. A Crown of Glory and a Royal Diadem in the hand of their God Isai. 62. 3. the objects of his delight and pleasure Psal. 147. 10 11. Oh what tearms of endearedness doth God use towards his people Doth not all this speak them to be in special favour with him Which of all these alone doth not signifie a person highly in favour with God Secondly The gracious manner in which he treats them upon the throne of grace to which he allows them to come with boldness Heb. 4. 16. This also speaks them in the special favour of God he allows them to come to him in prayer with the liberty confidence and filial boldness of children to a Father Gal. 4. 6. Because ye are sons God hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father the familiar voice of a dear child yea which is a wonderful dignation and condescension of the great God to poor worms of the earth he saith Isai. 45. 11. Thus saith the Lord the holy One of Israel and his Maker Ask me of things to come concerning my sons and concerning the work of my hands command ye me an expression so full of grace and special favour to Believers that it needs great caution in reading and understanding such an high and astonishing expression the meaning is that God hath as it were subjected the works of his hands to the prayers of his Saints and it is as if he had said If my glory and your necessity shall require it do but ask me in prayer and whatever my almighty power can do I will do it for you however let no favourite of Heaven forget the infinite distance betwixt himself and God Abraham was a great favourite of Heaven and was called the friend of God yet see with what humility of spirit and reverential awe he addresseth to God Gen. 18. 27. Behold now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord which am but dust and ashes So that you see the Titles of favour above mentioned are no empty Titles Thirdly Gods readiness to grant as well as their liberty to ask speaks them the special favourites of
freedom that is which comes in upon believing Fourthly Open the excellency of this state of spiritual freedom First What those things are from which Believers are 1. not made free in this world we must not think that our spiritual liberty by Christ presently brings us into an absolute liberty in all respects For First Christ doth not free Believers from obedience to the moral Law 'T is true we are no more under it as a Covenant for our justification but we are and must still be under it as a rule for our direction The matter of the moral law is unchangeable as the nature of good and evil is and cannot be abolished except that distinction could be destroyed Mat. 5. 17 18. The precepts of the Law are still urged under the Gospel to enforce duties upon us Eph. 6. 12. 'T is therefore a vain distinction invented by Libertines to say it binds us as Creatures not as Christians or that it binds the unregenerate part but not the regenerate but this is a sure truth that they who are freed from its penalties are still under its precepts though Believers are no more under its curse yet they are still under its conduct the Law sends us to Christ to be justified and Christ sends us to the Law to be regulated Let the heart of every Christian joyn therefore with Davids in that holy wish Psal. 119. 4 5. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently O that my heart were directed to keep thy Statutes 'T is excellent when Christians begin to obey the Law from life which others obey for life because they are justified not that they may be justified When duties are done in the strength and for the honour of Christ which is Evangelical not in our own strength and for our own ends which is servile and legal obedience had Christ freed us from obedience such a liberty had been to our loss Secondly Christ hath not freed Believers in this world from the temptations and assaults of Satan even those that are freed from his dominion are not free from his molestation 'T is said indeed Rom. 16. 20. God shall shortly bruise Satan under your feet but mean time he hath power to bruise and buffet us by his injections 2 Cor. 12. 7. he now bruiseth Christs heel Gen. 3. 15. i. e. bruiseth him in his tempted and afflicted members though he cannot kill them yet he can and doth afflict and fright them by shooting his fiery darts of temptation among them Eph. 6. 16. 'T is true when the Saints are got safe into Heaven they are out of Gun-shot there is perfect freedom from all temptation A Believer may then say O thou enemy temptations are come to a perpetual end I am now arrived there where none of thy fiery darts can reach me but this freedom is not yet Thirdly Christ hath not yet freed Believers in this world from the motions of indwelling sin these are continually acting and infesting the holiest of men Rom. 7. 21 23 24. Corruptions like Canaanites are still left in the Land to be thorns in our eyes and goads in our sides Those that boast most of freedom from the motions of sin have most cause to suspect themselves still under the dominion of sin All Christs freemen are troubled with the same complaint who among them complains not as the Apostle did Rom. 7. 24. Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliever me from the body of this death Fourthly Jesus Christ doth not free Believers in this world from inward troubles and exercises of soul upon the account of sin God may let loose Satan and Conscience too in the way of terrible accusations which may greatly distress the soul of a Believer and wofully eclipse the light of Gods Countenance and break the peace of their souls Job Heman and David were all made free by Christ yet each of them hath left upon record his bitter complaint upon this account Job 7. 19 20. Psal. 88. 14 15 16. Psal. 38. unto vers 11. Fifthly Christ hath not freed Believers in this world from the rods of affliction God in giving us our liberty doth not abridge his own liberty Psal. 89. 32. all the Children of God are made free yet what Son is there whom the Father chastneth not Heb. 12. 8. Exemption from affliction is so far from being the mark of a Freeman that the Apostle there makes it the mark of a slave Bastards not Sons want the discipline and blessing of the Rod to be freed from affliction would be no benefit to Believers who receive so many benefits by affliction Sixthly No Believer is freed by Christ from the stroak of death though they are all freed from the sting of death Rom. 8. 10. The bodies of Believers are under the same Law of mortality with other men Heb. 9. 27. we must come to the Grave as well as others yea we must come to it through the same agonies pangs and dolours that other men do the foot of death treads as heavy upon the bodies of the redeemed as of other men Believers indeed are distinguished by mercy from others but the distinguishing mercy lies not here Thus you see what Believers are not freed from in this world if you shall now say what advantage then hath a Believer or what profit is there in regeneration I Answer Secondly That Believers are freed from many great and 2. sad miseries and evils by Jesus Christ notwithstanding all that hath been said For First All Believers are freed from the rigour and curse of the Law the rigorous yoak of the Law is broken off from their necks and the sweet and easie yoak of Jesus Christ put on Mat. 11. 28. The Law required perfect working under the pain of a curse Gal. 3. 10. accepted of no short endeavours admitted no repentance gave no strength it is not so now proportionable strength is given Phil 4. 13. Sincerity is reckoned perfection Job 1. 1. Transgression brings not under condemnation Rom. 8. 1. O blessed freedom when duty becomes delight and failings hinder not acceptance this is one part of the blessed freedom of believers Secondly All Believers are freed from the guilt of sin it may trouble but it cannot condemn them Rom. 8. 33. The hand writing which was against us is cancelled by Christ nailed to his Cross Colos. 2. 14. When the seal and hand-writing is torn off from the Bond the Debtor is made free thereby Believers are totally freed Acts 13. 39. Justified from all things and finally freed John 5. 24. They shall never come into condemnation O blessed freedom How sweet is it to lie down in our beds yea in our graves when guilt shall neither be our Bed fellow nor Grave fellow Thirdly Christ frees all Believers from the dominion as well as the guilt of sin Sin shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the Law but under Grace Rom. 6. 14. The law of the spirit of life
person and real participation of his benefits now this is the question to be determined the matter to be tryed than which nothing can be more solemn and important in the whole world Secondly The rule by which this great question may be 2. determined viz. The new Creation if any man be in Christ he is a new Creature by this rule all the titles and claims made to Christ in the professing world are to be examined if any man be he what he will high or low great or small learned or illiterate young or old if he pretend interest in Christ this is the standard by which he must be tryed if he be in Christ he is a new Creature and if he be not a new Creature he is not in Christ let his endowments gifts confidence and reputation be what it will be a new Creature not new Physically he is the same person he was but a new Creature that is a creature renewed by gracious principles newly infused into him from above which sway him and guide him in another manner and to another end than ever he acted before and these gracious principles not being educed out of any thing which was preexistent in man but infused de novo from above are therefore called in this place a new Creature this is the rule by which our claim to Christ must be determined Thirdly This general rule is here more particularly explained 3. old things are passed away behold all things are become new he satisfies not himself to lay down this rule concisely or express it in general terms by telling us the man in Christ must be a new Creature but more particularly he shews us what this new creature is and what the parts thereof are viz. Both the 1. Privative part old things are passed away 2. Positive part thereof all things are become new By old things he means all those carnal principles self ends fleshly lusts belonging to the carnal state or the old man all these are passed away not simply and perfectly but only in Non simpliciter perfectè sed partim re partim spe Estius in loc part at present and wholly in hope and expectation hereafter So much briefly of the privative part of the new Creature old things are passed away a word or two must be spoken of the positive part all things are become new He means not that the old faculties of the soul are abolished and new ones created in their room but as our bodies may be said to be new bodies by reason of their new endowments and qualities super-induced and bestowed upon them in their resurrection so our souls are now renewed by the infusion of new gracious principles into them in the work of regeneration These two parts viz. the privative part the passing away of old things and the positive part the renewing of all things do betwixt them comprize the whole nature of sanctification which in other Scriptures is expressed by equivalent phrases sometimes by putting off the old and putting on the new man Eph. 4. 24. sometimes by dying unto sin and living unto righteousness Rom. 6. 11. which is the self-same thing the Apostle here intends by the passing away of old things and making all things new and because this is the most excellent glorious and admirable work of the spirit which is or can be wrought upon man in this world therefore the Apostle asserts it with an Ecce a note of special remarque and observation behold all things are become new q. d. behold and admire this surprizing marvellous change which God hath made upon men they are come out of darkness into his marvellous light 1 Pet. 2. 9. out of the old as it were into a new world behold all things are become new Hence Note DOCT. That Gods creating of a new supernatural work of grace in the Doct. soul of any man is that mans sure and infallible evidence of a saving interest in Jesus Christ. Suitable hereunto are those words of the Apostle Eph. 4. 20 21 22 23 24. But ye have not so learned Christ if so be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness where we have in other words of the same importance the very self-same description of the man that is in Christ which the Aposte gives us in this Text. Now for the opening and stating of this point it will be necessary that I shew you 1. Why the regenerating work of the Spirit is called a new Creation 2. In what respects every soul that is in Christ is renewed or made a new Creature 3. What are the remarkable properties and qualities of this new Creature 4. The necessity of this new Creation to all that are in Christ. 5. How this new Creation evidences our interest in Christ. 6. And then Apply the whole in the proper uses of it First Why the regenerating work of the spirit is called a 1. new Creation this must be our first enquiry and doubtless the reason of this appellation is the Analogy proportion and similitude which is found betwixt the work of regeneration and Gods work in the first Creation and their agreement and proportion will be found in the following particulars First The same Almighty Author who created the world createth also this work of grace in the soul of man 2 Cor. 4. 6. God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ the same powerful word which created the natural createth also the spiritual light it is equally absurd for any man to say I make my self Minus el te fecisse hominem quam sanctum to repent or to believe as it is to say I made my self to exist and be Secondly The first thing that God created in the natural world was light Gen. 1. 3. and the first thing which God createth in the new Creation is the light of spiritual knowledge Col. 3. 10. And have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that Created him Thirdly Creation is out of nothing it requires no pre-existent matter it doth not bring one thing out of another but something out of nothing it gives a being to that which before had no being So it is also in the new Creation 1 Pet. 2. 9 10. who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light which in time past were not a people but are now the people of God which had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy the work of grace is not educed out of the power and principles of
furious beasts of prey Tantaene animis coelestibus ira O how repugnant are these practices non secus ac Cum duo conversis inimica in praelia tauri Frontibus 〈◊〉 with the study of mortification which is the great study and endeavour of all that be in Christ They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts So much for the order of the words the words themselves are a proposition wherein we have to consider both The 1. Subject 2. Predicate First The Subject of the proposition they that are Christs 1. viz. true Christians real members of Christ such as truly Vere Christiani qui ad Christum pertinent qui se ei dedâ—… regendâ—…s Pol. Synopsis belong to Christ such as have given themselves up to be governed by him and are indeed acted by his Spirit such all such persons for the indefinite is equipollent to a universal all such and none but such Secondly The predicate theâ—…â—…ve crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts by flesh 〈◊〉 are here to understand carnal 2. concupiscence the workings and motions of corrupt nature and by the affections we are to understand not the natural but the inordinate affections for Christ doth not abolish and destroy but correct and regulate the affections of those that are in him and by crucifying the flesh we are not to understand the total extinction or perfect subduing of corrupt nature but only the deposing of corruption from its regency and dominion in the soul its dominion is taken away though its life be prolonged for a season but yet as death surely though slowly follows crucifixion the life of crucified persons gradually departing from them with their blood so it is just so in the mortification of sin and therefore what the Apostle in this place calls crucifying he calls in Rom. 8. 13. mortifying if ye through the Spirit do mortifie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if ye put to death the deeds of the body but he chooses in this place to call it crucifying to shew not only the conformity there is betwixt the death of Christ and the death of sin in respect of shame pain and lingring slowness but to denote also the principle means and instrument of mortification viz. the death or cross of Jesus Christ in the vertue whereof believers do mortifie the corruptions of their flesh the great arguments and perswasives to mortification being drawn from the sufferings of Christ for sin In a word he doth not say they that believe Christ was crucified for sin are Christs but they and they only are his who feel as well as profess the power and efficacie of the sufferings of Christ in the mortification and subduing of their lusts and sinful affections And so much briefly of the parts and sense of the words The Observation followeth DOCT. That a saving interest in Christ may be regularly and strongly inferred and concluded from the mortification of the flesh with Doct. its affections and lusts This point is fully confirmed by those words of the Apostle Rom. 6. 5 6 7 8. 〈◊〉 if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin for he that is dead is freed from sin now if we be dead with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him Mark the force of the Apostles reasoning if we have been planted into the likeness of his death viz. by the mortification of sin which resembles or hath a likeness to the kind and manner of Christs death as was noted above then we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection and why so but because this mortification of sin is an undoubted evidence of the union of such a soul with Christ which is the very ground-work and principle of that blessed and glorious resurrection and therefore he saith vers 11. Reckon ye also your selves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord q. d. reason thus with your selves these mortifying influences of the death of Christ are unquestionable presages of your future blessedness God never taking this course with any but those who are in Christ and are designed to be glorified with him the death of your sin is as evidential as any thing in the world can be of your spiritual life for the present and of your eternal life with God hereafter Mortification is the fruit and evidence of your union and that union is the firm ground-work and certain pledge of your glorification and so you ought to reckon or reason the case with your selves as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there signifies Now for the stating and explicating of this point I shall in the doctrinal part labour to open and confirm these five things 1. What the mortification or crucifixion of sin imports 2. Why this work of the Spirit is expressed by crucifying 3. Why all that are in Christ must be so crucified or mortified unto sin 4. What is the true evangelical principle of mortification 5. How the mortification of sin evinces our interest in Christ. And then apply the whole First What the mortification or crucifixion of sin imports 1. And for clearness sake I shall speak to it both negatively and positively shewing you what is not intended and what is principally aimed at by the Spirit of God in this expression First The crucifying of the flesh doth not imply the total abolition of sin in Believers or the destruction of its very Neg. 1. Mortificari carnem non est eam ita perimi ut aut prorsus non sit aut nulla prava in homine desideria commoveat quod in corpore mortis bujus non contingit c. Estius in loc being and existence in them for the present sanctified souls so put off their corruptions with their bodies at death this will be the effect of our future glorification not of our present sanctification it doth exist in the most mortified Believer in the world Rom. 7. 17. it still acteth and lusteth in the regenerate soul Gal. 5. 17. yea notwithstanding its crucifixion in Believers it still may in respect of single acts surprize and captivate them Psal. 65. 3. Rom. 7. 23. This therefore is not the intention of the spirit of God in this expression Secondly Nor doth the crucifixion of sin consist in the suppression of the external acts of sin only for sin may reign over the souls of men whilst it doth not break forth into their lives in gross and open actions 2 Pet. 2. 20. Mat. 12. 43. Morality in the Heathens as Tertullian well observes did abscondere sed non abscindere vitia hide them when it could not kill them many a man shews a white and fair hand who yet hath a very foul and black
heart Thirdly The crucifixion of the flesh doth not consist in the cessation of the external acts of sin for in that respect the lusts of men may dye of their own accord even a kind of natural death The members of the body are the weapons of unrighteousness as the Apostle calls them age or sickness may so blunt or break those weapons that the soul cannot use them to such sinful purposes and services as it was wont to do in the vigorous and healthful season of life not that there is less sin in the heart but because there is less strength and activity in the body Just as it is with an old Soldier who hath as much skill policy and delight as ever in military actions but age and hard services have so infeebled him that he can no longer follow the camp Fourthly The crucifixion of sin doth not consist in the fevere castigations of the body and penancing it by stripes fasting and tiresome pilgrimages This may pass for mortification among Papists but never was any lust of the flesh destroyed by this rigour Christians indeed are bound not to indulge and pamper the body which is the instrument of sin nor yet must we think that the spiritual corruptions of the soul â—…eel those stripes which are inflicted upon the body see Col. 2. 23. 't is not the vanity of superstition but the power of true religion which crucifies and destroys corruption 't is faith in Christs blood not the spilling of our own blood which gives sin the mortal wound Secondly But if you enquire what then is implied in the Posit 2. mortification or crucifixion of sin and wherein it doth consist I answer First It necessarily implies the souls implantation into Christ and union with him without which it is impossible Errant in ipsa natura mortificationis Christianae nam corporis afflictionem injuriam reputant pro vera mortificatione cum illa non ad carnem praecipue aut inferiorem animae partem sed ad mentem voluntatem maximè pertineat Davenant in Coloss. 256. that any one corruption should be mortified they that are Christs have crucified the flesh the attempts and endeavors of all others are vain and ineffectual when we were in the flesh saith the Apostle the motions of sin which were by the Law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death Rom. 5. 7. sin was then in its full dominion no abstinence rigour or outward severity no purposes promises or solemn vows could mortifie or destroy it there must be an implantation into Christ before there can be any effectual crucifixion of sin what Believer almost hath not in the days of his first convictions tryed all external methods and means of mortifying sin and found it in experience to be to as little purpose as the binding of Sampson with green Wit hs or Cords But when he hath once come to act faith upon the death of Christ then the design of mortification hath prospered and succeeded to good purpose Secondly Mortification of sin implies the agency of the spirit of God in that work without whose assistances and aids all our endeavours must needs be fruitless of this work we may say as it was said in another case Zech. 4. 6. not by might noâ—… by power but by my spirit saith the Lord. When the Apostle therefore would shew by what hand this work of mortification is performed he thus expresseth it Rom. 8. 13. if ye through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live the duty is ours but the power whereby we perform it is Gods the spirit is the only successful Combatant against the lusts that war in our members Gal. 5. 17. 't is true this excludes not but implies our endeavours for it is we through the spirit that mortifie the deeds of the body but yet all our endeavours without the Spirits aid and influence avail nothing Thirdly The crucifixion of sin necessarily implies the subversion of its dominion in the soul a mortified sin cannot be a reigning sin Rom. 6. 12 13 14. Two things constitute the dominion of sin viz. the fulness of its power and the souls subjection tâ—… it As to the fulness of its power that rises from the suitableness it hath and pleasure it gives to the corrupt heart of man it seems to be as necessary as the right hand as useful and pleasant as the right eye Mat. 5. 29. but the mortified heart is dead to all pleasures and profits of sin it hath no delight or pleasure in it it becomes its burthen and daily complaint Mortification presupposes the illumination of the mind and conviction of the conscience by reason whereof sin cannot deceive and blind the mind or bewitch and ensnare the will and affections as it was wont to do and consequently its dominion over the soul is destroyed and lost Fourthly The crucifying of the flesh implies a gradual weakning of the power of sin in the soul. The death of the Cross was a slow and lingering death and the crucified person grew weaker and weaker every hour so it is in the mortification of sin the soul is still cleansing it self from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit and perfecting holiness in the fear of God 2 Cor. 7. 1. And as the body of sin is weakned more and more so the inward man or the new creature is renewed day by day 2 Cor. 4. 16. for sanctification is a progressive work of the spirit and as holiness increases and roots it self deeper and deeper in the soul so the power and interest of sin proportionably abates and sinks lower and lower until at length it be swallowed up in victory Fifthly The crucifying of the flesh notes to us the Believers designed application of all spiritual means and sanctified instruments for the destruction of it there is nothing in this world which a gracious heart more vehemently desires and longs for than the death of sin and perfect deliverance from it Rom. 7. 2â—… the sincerity of which desires doth accordingly manifest it self in the daily application of all Gods remedies such are daily watching against the occasions of sin Job 31. 1. I have made a Covenant with mine eyes more than ordinary vigilancy over their special or proper sin Psal. 18. 23. I kept my self from mine iniquity earnest cries to Heaven for preventing grace Psal. 19. 13. keep back thy Servant also from presumptuous sins let them not have dominion over me deep humbling of soul for sins past which is an excellent preventive unto future sins 2 Cor. 2. 11. in that he sorrowed after a Godly sort what carefulness it wrought care to give no furtherance or advantage to the design of sin by making provision for the flesh to fulfill the Lusts thereof as others do Rom. 13. 13 14. willingness to bear the due reproofs of sin Psal. 141. 5. Let the righteous smite me it shall be a kindness these and such like means of
Philosopher desired for himself an easie death without pain or terrour then get a mortified heart the Chirurgeons knife is scarce felt when it cuts off a mortified member 3d. Use for Direction Are you convinced and fully satisfied of the excellency and Use 3. necessity of mortification and inquisitive after the means in the use whereof it may be attained then for your help and encouragement I will in the next place offer my best assistance in laying down the rules for this work 1. Rule If ever you will succeed and prospâ—… in the work of mortification Rule 1. then get and daily exercise more faith Faith is the great instrument of mortification This is the victory or sword by which the victory is won the instrument by which you overcome the world even your faith 1 John 5. 4. By faith alone eternal things are discovered to our souls in their reality and excelling glory and these are the preponderating things for the sake whereof self-denial and mortification becomes easie to believers by opposing things eternal to things temporal we resist Satan 1 Pet. 5. 8. This is the shield by which we quench the fiery darts of the wicked one Eph. 6. 16. 2. Rule Walk in daily communion with God if ever you will mortifie the corruptions of nature that is the Apostles own prescription Rule 2. Gal. 1. 16. This I say then walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh Spiritual and frequent communion with God gives manifold advantages for the mortification of sin as it is a bright glass wherein the holiness of God and the exceeding sinfulness of sin as it is opposite thereunto are most clearly and sensibly discovered than which scarce any thing can set a keener edge of indignation upon the spirit of a man against fin Besides all communion with God is assimilating and transformative of the soul into his image it leaves also a heavenly relish and savour upon the soul it darkens the luster and glory of all earthly things by presenting to the soul a Glory which excelleth It marvelously improves and more deeply radicates sanctification in the soul by all which means it becomes singularly useful and successful in the work of mortification 3. Rule Keep your Consciences under the awe and in the fear of Rule 3. God continually as ever you hope to be successful in the Mortification of sin The fear of God is the great preservative from sin without which all the external rules and helps in the world signifie nothing By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil Prov. 16. 6. Not only from external and more open evils which the fear of men as well as the fear of God may prevent but from the most secret and inward evils which is a special part of Mortification Levit. 19. 14. It keeps men from those evils which no eye nor ear of man can possibly discover The fear of the Lord breaks Temptations baited with pleasure with profit and with secresie In a word if ever you be cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and spirit it must be by the fear of God 2 Cor. 7. 1. 4. Rule Study the vanity of the creature and labour to get true Rule 4. notions of the emptiness and transitoriness thereof if ever you will attain to the Mortification of your affections towards Readers if ever you would have a true sight of the emptiness and vanity of the creature and get a mortified heart to the world now is the time for at this day the providence of God hath withered all the fading flowers of earthly delights and shewed you the worlds back parts as it is departing from you it 'T is the false picture and image of the world in our fancy that crucifies us with so many cares fears and solicitudes about it and it is the true picture and image of the world represented to us in the glass of the word which greatly helps to crucifie our affections to the world O if we did but know and believe three things about the world we would never be so fond of it as we are viz. the fading defiling and destroying nature of it the best and sweetest enjoyments of the world are but fading flowers and withering grass Isa. 14. 6. James 1. 10 11. Yea it is of a defiling as well as a fading nature 1 John 5. 19. It lies in wickedness it spreads universal infection umong all mankind 2 Pet. 1. 4. Yea it destroyes as well as defiles multitudes of souls drowning men in perdition 1 Tim. 6. 9. Millions of souls will wish to eternity they had never known the riches pleasures or honours of it were this believed how would men slack their pace and cool themselves in the violent and eager pursuit of the world This greatly tends to promote Mortification 5. Rule Be careful to cut off all the occasions of sin and keep at the greatest distance from temptations if ever you will mortifie Rule 5. the deeds of the body The success and prevalency of sin mainly depends upon the wiles and stratagems it makes use of to ensnare the incautelous soul therefore the Apostle bids us keep off at the greatest distance 1 Thes. 5. 22. Abstain from all appearance of evil Prov. 8. 8. Come not nigh unto the door of her house He that dares venture to the very brink of sin discovers but little light in his understanding and less tenderness in his conscience he neither knows sin nor fears it as he ought to do and 't is usual with God to chastise self-confidence by shameful lapses into sin 6. Rule If you will successfully mortific the corruptions of your nature never engage against them in your own single strength Rule 6. Eph. 6. 10. When the Apostle draws forth Christians into the field against sin he bids them be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might O remember what a meer feather thou art in the gusts of Temptation Call to mind the height of Peters confidence though all men forsake thee yet will not I and the depth of his fall shame and sorrow A weak Christian trembling in himself depending by faith upon God and graciously assisted by him shall be able to stand against the shock of temptation when the bold and confident resolutions of others like Pendleton in our English story shall melt away as wax before the flames 7. Rule Set in with the mortifying design of God in the day of thine affliction Sanctified afflictions are ordered and prescribed in Rule 7. heaven for the purging of our corruptions Isa. 27. 9. By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away his sin 'T is a fair glass to represent the evil of sin and the vanity of the creature to imbitter the world and disgust thy affections towards it fall in therefore with the gracious design of God follow home every affliction with prayer
grown and confirmed believers and such are these First The more submissive and quiet any man is under the will of God in smart and afflicting providences the more that mans heart is mortified unto sin Psal. 119. 67 71. Col. 1. 11. Secondly The more able any one is to bear the reproaches and rebukes of his sin the more Mortification there is in that man Psal. 141. 5. Thirdly The more easily any man can resign and give up his dearest earthly comforts at the call and command of God the more progress that man hath made in the work of Mortification Heb. 11. 17. 2 Sam. 15. 25. Fourthly The more power any man hath to resist sin in the first motions of it and stifle it in the birth the greater degree of Mortification that man hath attained Rom. 7. 23 24. Fifthly If great changes upon our outward condition make no change for the worse upon our spirits but we can bear prosperous and adverse providences with an equal mind then Mortification is advanced far in our souls Phil. 4. 11 12. Sixthly The more fixed and steady our hearts are with God in duty and the less they are infested with wandring thoughts and earthly interpositions the more Mortification there is in that soul. And so much briefly of the Evidences of Mortification 5. Use for Consolation It only remains that I shut up all with a few words of consolation unto all that are under the Mortifying influence of the Use 5. spirit Much might be said for the comfort of such In brief First Mortified sin shall never be your ruine 't is only raigning sin that is ruining sin Rom. 8. 13. Mortified sins and pardoned sins shall never lye down with us in the dust Secondly If sin be dying your souls are living for dying unto sin and living unto God are inseparably connected Rom. 6. 11. Thirdly If sin be dying in you it is certain that Christ died for you and you cannot desire a better Evidence of it Rom. 6. 5 6. Fourthly If sin be dying under the Mortifying influences of the spirit and it be your daily labour to resist and overcome it you are then in the direct way to heaven and eternal salvation which few very few in the world shall find Luke 13. 24. Fifthly To shut up all if you through the spirit be daily mortifying the deeds of the body then the death of Christ is effectually applied by the spirit unto your souls and your interest in him is unquestionable for they that are Christs have Crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts and they that have so Crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts are Christs Blessed be God for a Crucified Christ. The Twenty ninth SERMON Sermon 29. 1 JOHN 2. 6. Text. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so Of the Imitation of Christ in holiness of his life and the necessity of it in all believers to walk even as he walked THe express and principal design of the Apostle in this Chapter is to propound marks and signs both Negative and Positive for the trial and examination of mens claims to Christ amongst which not to spend time about the Coherence my Text is a principal one a trial of mens interest in Christ by their imitation of Christ. It is supposed by some Expositors that the Apostle in laying down this mark had a special design to overthrow the wicked Doctrine of the Carpocratians 〈◊〉 taught as Epiphanius relates it that men might have as much Communion with God in sin as in duty In full opposition to which the Apostle lays down this Proposition wherein he asserts the necessity of a Christ-like conversation in all that claim Union with him or interest in him The words resolve themselves into two parts Viz. 1. A Claim to Christ supposed 2. The only way to have our claim warranted First We have here a claim to Christ supposed if any 1. man say he abideth in him abiding in Christ is an expression denoting proper and real interest in Christ and communion with him for it is put in opposition to those temporary light and transient effects of the Gospel which are called a morning dew or an early cloud such a receiving of Christ as that Mat. 13. 21. which is but a present flash a sudden vanishing pang abiding in Christ notes a solid durable and effectual work of the Spirit throughly and everlastingly joyning the soul to Christ. Now if any man whosoever he be for this indefinite is equivalent to an universal term let him never think his claim to be good and valid except he take this course to adjust it Secondly The only way to have this claim warranted 2. and that must be by so walking even as he walked which words carry in them the necessity of our imitation of Christ. But it is not to be understood indifferently and universally of all the works or actions of Christ some of which were extraordinary and miraculous some purely mediatory and not imitable by us in these paths no Christian can follow Christ nor may so much as attempt to walk as he walked But the words point at the ordinary and imitable ways and works of Christ therein it must be the care of all to follow him that profess and claim interest in him they must so walk as he walked this so is a very bearing word in this place the emphasis of the Text seems to lie in it however certain it is that this so walking doth not imply an equality with Christ in holiness and obedience for as he was filled with the spirit without measure and anointed with that oyl of gladness above his fellows so the purity holiness and obedience of his life is never to be matched and equallized by any of the Saints But this so walking only notes a sincere intention design and endeavour to imitate and follow him in all the paths of holiness and obedience according to the different measures of grace received The life of Christ is the Believers copy and though the Believer cannot draw one line or letter exact as his copy is yet his eye is still upon it he is looking unto Jesus Heb. 12. 2. and labouring to draw all the lines of his life as agreeably as he is able unto Christ his pattern Hence the Observation is DOCT. That every man is bound to the imitation of Christ under penalty Doct. of forfeiting his claim to Christ. The Saints imitation of Christ is solemnly enjoined by many Christiani 〈◊〉 Christo nomen acceperunt operae pretium est ut sicut sunt â—…eraedes nominis ita sint imitatores sanctitatis Bern. sent lib. p. 436. great and express commands of the Gospel so you find it 1 Pet. 1. 15. But as he that hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation So Eph. 5. 1 2. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear Children and walk in love as Christ
change from sin to grace is no way inferiour to it Nay in some respect beyond it for the change which glory makes upon the regenerate is but a gradual change but the change which regeneration makes upon the ungodly is a spiritual change Great and admirable is this work of God and let it for ever be marvellous in our eyes Inference 3. If unregenerate souls de dead souls what a fatal stroke doth death give to the bodies of all unregenerate men A soul dead in sin and Inference 3. a body dead by vertue of the curse for sin and both soul and body remaining for ever under the power of eternal death is so full and perfect a misery as that nothing can be added to make it more miserable 't is the comfort of a Christian that he can say when death comes non omnis moriar I shall not wholly die there is a life I live which death cannot touch Rom. 8. 13. The body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second death hath no power As death takes a believer from amidst many sorrows and troubles and brings him to the vision of God to the general assembly of all the perfected saints to a state of compleat freedom and full satisfaction so it drags the unregenerate from all his sensitive delights and comforts to the place of torments It buries the dead soul out of the presence of God for ever 'T is the king of terrours 't is a serpent with a deadly sting to every man that is out of Christ. Inference 4. If every unregenerate soul be a dead soul how sad is the case of Hypocrites Inference 4. and temporary believers who are twice dead These are those cursed trees of which the Apostle Jude speaks Jude v. 12. Trees whose fruit withereth without fruit twice dead plucked up by the roots The Apostle alludes unto dying trees Trees that are dying the first time in the spring they then fade decay and cast their leaves when other trees are fragrant and flourishing But from this first death they are sometimes recovered by pruning and dressing or watering the roots But if in Autumn they decay again which is the Critical and Climacterical time of trees to discover whether their disease be mortal or not if then they wither and decay the second time the fault is ab intra the root is rotten there is no hope of it The husbandman bestows no more labour about it except it be to root it up for fewel to the fire Just thus stands the case with false and hypocritical prosessours who though they were still under the power of spiritual death yet in the beginning of their profession they seemed to be alive They shewed the world the fragrant leaves of a fair profession many hopeful buddings of affection towards spiritual things were seen in them but wanting a root of regeneration they quickly began to wither and cast their untimely fruit However by the help of ordinances or some rouzing and awakening providences they seem to recover themselves again but all will not do the fault is ab intra from the want of a good root and therefore at last they who were always once dead for want of a principle of regeneration are now become twice dead by the withering and decay of their vain profession Such trees are prepared for the severest flames in hell Mat. 24. 51. Their portion is the saddest portion allotted for any of the sons of death Therefore the Apostle Peter tells us 2 Pet. 2. 20 21. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they are again intangled therein and overcome the latter end is worse with them than the beginning For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the holy Commandment delivered unto them Double measures of wrath seem to be prepared for them that die this double death Inference 5. If this be so then unregenerate persons deserve the greatest lamentations Inference 5. And were this truth heartily believed we could not but mourn over them with the most tender compassion and hearty sorrow If our husbands wives or children be dying a natural death how are our hearts rent in pieces with pity and sorrow for them what cries tears and wringing of hands discover the deep sense we have of their misery O Christians is all the love you have for your relations spent upon their bodies Are their souls of no value in your eyes is spiritual death no misery Doth it not deserve a tear The Lord open our eyes and duly affect our hearts with spiritual death and soul miseries Consider my friends and let it move your bowels if there be bowels of affection in you whilst they remain spiritually dead they are useless and wholly unserviceable unto God in the world as to any special and acceptable service unto him 2 Tim. 2. 21. they are uncapable of all spiritual comforts from God they cannot taste the least sweetness in Christ in duties or in promises Rom. 8. 6. They have no beauty in their souls how comely soever their bodies be 't is grace and nothing but grace that beautifies the inner man Ezek. 16. 6 7. The dead have neither comfort nor beauty in them They have no hope to be with God in glory for the life of glory is begun in grace Phil. 1. 6. Their graves must shortly be made to be buried out of the sight of God for ever in the lowest hell the pit digged by justice for all that are spiritually dead The dead must be buried Can such considerations as these draw no pity from your souls nor excite your endeavours for their regeneration Then 't is to be feared your souls are dead as well as theirs O pity them pity them and pray for them in this case only prayers for the dead are our duty who knows but at the last God may hear your cries and you may say with comfort as he did This my son was dead but is alive was lost but is found and they began to be merry Luke 15. 24. The Thirty second SERMON Sermon 32. JOHN 3. 18. Text. But he that believeth not is condemned already The Condemnation of unbelievers opened and applied because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God CHrist having discoursed Nicodemus in the beginning of this Chapter about the necessity of regeneration proceeds to shew in this following discourse the reason and ground why regeneration and faith are so indispensably necessary viz. Because there is no other way to set men free from the curse and condemnation of the Law The curse of the Law like the fiery serpents in the wilderness hath smitten every sinner with a deadly stroke and sting for
his Tribunal to be solemnly sentenced They are as my Text speaks condemned already but then that dreadful sentence will be solemnly pronounced by Jesus Christ whom they have despised and rejected then shall that scripture be fulfilled Luke 19. 27. These mine enemies that would not that I should reign over them bring them hither and slay them before me Inference 2. Hence be informed how great a mercy the least measure Inference 2. of saving faith is for the least measure of true faith unites the soul to Jesus Christ and then there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8. 1. Not one sentence of God against them So Acts 13. 39. By him all that believe are justified from all things The weakest believer is as free from condemnation as the strongest the righteousness of Christ comes upon all believers without any difference Rom. 3. 22. Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Christ Jesus unto all and upon all them that believe for there is no difference 'T is not in imputed as it is in inherent righteousness one man hath more holiness than another The faith that receives the righteousness of Christ may be very different in degrees of strength but the received righteousness is equal upon all believers A piece of gold is as much worth in the hand of a child as it is in the hand of a man O the exceeding preciousness of saving faith Inference 3. How dreadful a sin is the sin of unbelief which brings Inference 3. men under the condemnation of the great God! no sin startles less or damns surer 'T is a sin that doth not affright the conscience as some other sins do but it kills the soul more certainly than any of those sins could do for indeed other sins could not damn us were it not for unbelief which fixes the guilt of them all upon our persons This is the condemnation Unbelief is the sin of sins and when the spirit comes to convince men of sin he begins with this as the capital sin John 16. 9. But more particularly First Estimate the evil of unbelief from its Object It is the slighting and refusing of the most excellent and wonderful person in heaven or earth The fiducial vision of Christ is the joy of Saints on earth the facial vision of Christ is the happiness of Saints in heaven 'T is a despising of him who is altogether lovely in himself who hath loved us and given himself for us 'T is the rejecting of the only Mediator betwixt God and man after the rejecting of whom there remains no sacrifice for sin Secondly Let the evil of unbelief be valued by the offer of Christ to our souls in the Gospel 't is one part of the great mystery of godliness that Christ should be preached to the Gentiles 1 Tim. 3. 16. That the word of this salvation should be sent to us Acts 13. 26. A mercy denied to the fallen angels and the greatest part of mankind which aggravates the evil of this sin beyond all imagination So that in refusing or neglecting Jesus Christ is found vile ingratitude highest contempt of the grace and wisdom of God and in the event the loss of the only season and opportunity of salvation which is never more to be recovered to all eternity Inference 4. If this be the case of all unbelievers it is not to be admired Inference 4. that souls under the first convictions of their miserable condition are plunged into such deep distresses of Spirit It 's said of them Acts 2. 37. That they were pricked at the heart and cried out Men and brethren what shall we do And so the Jayler He came in trembling and astonished and said Sirs what must I do to be saved Certainly if souls apprehend themselves under the condemnation and sentence of the great God all their tears and tremblings their weary days and restless nights are not without just cause and reason Those that never saw their own miserable condition by the light of a clear and full conviction may wonder to see others so deeply distressed in Spirit They may misjudge the case and call it melancholy or madness but spiritual troubles do not exceed the cause and ground of them let them be as deep and great as they will and indeed it is one of the great mysteries of grace and providence a thing much unknown to men how such poor souls are supported from day to day under such fears and sorrows as are able in a few hours to break the stoutest Spirit in the world Luther was a man of great natural courage and yet when God let in spiritual troubles upon his soul it is noted of him ut nec vox nec calor nec sanguis superesset He had neither voyce nor heat nor blood appearing in him Inference 5. How groundless and irrational is the mirth and jollity of all carnal and unregenerate men they feast in their prison Inference 5. and dance in their fetters O the madness that is in the hearts of men If men did but see their mittimus made for hell or believe they are condemned already it were impossible for them to live at that rate of vanity they do and is their condition less dangerous because it is not understood Surely no but much more dangerous for that O poor sinners you have found out an effectual way to prevent your present troubles it were well if you could find out a way to prevent your eternal misery but 't is easier for a man to stifle conviction than prevent damnation Your mirth hath a twofold mischief in it it prevents repentance and encreaseth your future torment O what an hell will your hell be who drop into it out of all the sensitive and sinful pleasures of this world If ever a man may say of mirth that it is mad and of laughter what doth it he may say so in this case Inference 6. Lastly what cause have they to rejoyce admire and praise the Lord to Eternity who have a well grounded Inference 6. confidence that they are freed from Gods condemnation O give thanks to the Father who hath delivered you from the power of darkness and translated you into the Kingdom of his dear Son Col. 1. 13. Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for if you be freed from condemnation you are out of Satans power he hath no more any dominion over you The power of Satan over men comes in by vertue of their condemnation as the power of the Jayler or Executioner over the bodies of condemned prisoners doth Heb. 2. 14. If you be freed from condemnation the sting of death shall never touch you For the sting of death smites the souls of men with a deadly stroak only by vertue of Gods condemnatory sentence 1 Cor. 15. 55 56. The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law If you be freed from condemnation now you shall stand with comfort and boldness
art a guide to the blind c. And this is the temptation and delusion of knowing persons who are so far from being blind in their own account that they account themselves the guides of the blind yet who blinder than such men Fourthly External reformation is improved by the policy of Satan against true Spiritual reformation and passes current up and down the world For conversion though it serves only to strengthen Satans interest in the soul Mat. 12. 44. and for want of a real change of heart doth but increase their sin and misery 2 Pet. 2. 20. This is the generation that is pure in their own eyes and yet are not washed from their filthiness The cleanness of their hands blinds them in discovering the foulness of their hearts Fifthly The policy of Satan improves diligence in some duties against the convictions of other duties The external duties of Religion as hearing praying fasting against the great duties of repenting and believing This was their case Isa 58. 2 3. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways as a nation that did righteousness and forsook not the Ordinances of their God They ask of me the Ordinances of Justice they take delight in approching to God Wherefore have we fasted say they and thou seest not wherefore have we afflicted our souls and thou takest no knowledge Thus duty is improved against duty the externals against the internals of Religion and multitudes are blinded this way Sixthly The policy of Satan improves zeal against zeal and thereby blinds a great part of the world he allows men to be zealous against a false religion if thereby he may prevent them from being zealous in the true Religion He diverts their zeal against their own sins by spending it against other mens Thus Paul was once blinded by his own zeal for the law Act. 22. 3. And many men at this day satisfie themselves in their own zeal against the corruptions of Gods worship and the superstitions of others who never felt the power of true Religion upon their own hearts a dangerous blind of Satan Seventhly The policy of Satan improves the esteem and respect men have from the people of God against their great duty and interest to become such themselves Rev. 3. 1. Thou hast a name that thou livest but thou art dead It is enough to many men that they obtain acceptation among the Saints though they be none of that number the good opinion of others begets and confirms their good opinion of themselves Eighthly The policy of Satan improves soundness of Judgment against soundness of heart An Orthodox head against an Orthodox heart and life Dogmatical faith against justifying saith This was the case of them before mentioned Rom. 2. 18 19. Men satisfie themselves that they have a sound understanding though mean while they have a very rotten heart 'T is enough for them that their heads are regular though their hearts and lives be very irreâ—…gular Ninthly The policy of Satan improves the blessings of God against the blessings of God blinding us by the blessings of providence so as not to discern the want of spiritual blessings perswading men that the smiles of providence in their prosperity succeâ—…s and thriving designs in the world are good evidences of the love of God to their souls not at all discerning how the prosperity of fools deceives them and that riches are often given to the hurt of the owners thereof Tenthly The policy of Satan improves comforts against comfort false and ungrounded comforts under the word against the real grounds of comfort lying in the souls interest in Christ. Thus many men finding a great deal of comfort in the promises are so blinded thereby as never to look after Union with Christ the only solid ground of all true comfort Heb. 6. 5 9. And thus you see how the God of this world blindeth the minds of them that believe not and how the Gospel is hid to them that are lost The Thirty fifth SERMON Sermon 35. 2 COR. 4. 3 4. Text. But if our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them THe words have been opened and this point observed DOCT. That the understandings of all unbelievers are blinded by Satans Doct. policies in order to their everlasting perdition We have shewn already what the blinding of the mind or hiding of the Gospel from it is it hath also been demonstrated that the Gospel is hid and the minds of many blinded under it you have also seen what policies Satan uses to blind the minds of men even in the clearest light of the Gospel It remains now that I open to you the dreadful nature of this judgement of God upon the souls of men and then make application of the whole There are many Judgements of God inflicted upon the souls and bodies of men in this world but none of them are so dreadful as those Spiritual Judgements are which God inflicts immediately upon the soul and among Spiritual Judgements few or none are of more dreadful nature and consequence than this of spiritual blindness which will appear by considering First The Subject of this Judgement which is the soul and the principal power of the soul which is the mind and understanding faculty the soul is the most precious and invaluable part of man and the mind is the superiour and most noble power of the soul it is to the soul what the eye is to the body the directive faculty The bodily eye is a curious tender and most precious part of the body When we would express the value of a thing we say we prize it as our eyes The loss of the eyes is a sore loss we lose a great part of the comfort of this world by it Yet such an affliction speaking comparatively is but a trifle to this If our bodily eyes be blinded we cannot see the sun but if our spiritual eye be blinded we cannot see God we wander in the paths of sin 1 John 2. 11. we are led blindfold to hell by Satan as the Syrians were into Samaria 2 Kings 6. 19 20. and then our eyes like theirs will be opened to see our misery when it is too late The light of the body is the eye saith Christ If therefore thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light but if thine eye be evil thy whole body shall be full of darkness If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness Mat. 6. 22 23. By the eye he means the practical judgment the understanding faculty which is the seat of principles the common treasury of rules for practice according unto which a mans life is formed and his way directed If therefore this power of the soul be darkened how
design thus far And this actual application is the work of the Spirit by a singular appropriation Fourthly and Lastly This expression imports the suitableness of Christ to the necessities of Sinners What they want he is made to them and indeed as money answers all things and is convertible into meat drink rayment physick or what else our bodily necessities do require so Christ is virtually and eminently all that the necessities of our souls require bread to the hungry soul and cloathing to the naked soul. In a word God prepared and furnished him on purpose to answer all our wants which fully hits the Apostles sense when he saith Who of God is made unto us wisdome and righteousness sanctification and redemption The sum of all is Doct. Doct. That the Lord Jesus Christ with all his precious benefits becomes ours by Gods special and effectual Application There is a twofold Application of our redemption one Primary the other Secondary the former is the Act of God the Father applying it to Christ our Surety and virtually to us in him the later is the Act of the holy Spirit personally and actually applying it to us in the work of conversion the former hath the respect and relation of an example model or pattern to this and this is produced and wrought by the vertue of that What was done upon the person of Christ was not only virtually done upon us considered in him as a common publick representative person in which sense we are said to dye with him and live with him to be crucified with him and buryed with him but it was also intended for a platform or Idea of what is to be done by the Spirit actually upon our souls and bodies in our single persons As he dyed for sin so the Spirit applying his death to us in the work of mortification causes us to dye to sin by the vertue of his death and as he was quickned by the Spirit and raised unto life so the Spirit applying unto us the life of Christ causeth us to live by spiritual vivification Now this personal secondary and actual application of redemption to us by the Spirit in his sanctifying work is that which I am engaged here to discuss and open Which I shall do in these following Propositions Propos. 1. The Application of Christ to us is not only Comprehensive of our Justification but of all those works of the Spirit which are known Propos. 1. to us in Scripture by the names of regeneration vocation sanctification and conversion Though all these terms have some small respective differences among themselves yet they are all included in this general the applying and putting on of Christ Rom. 13. 14. Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. Regeneration expresses those supernatural divine new qualities infused by the Spirit into the Soul which are the principles of all holy actions Vocation expresseth the terms from which and to which the soul moves when the Spirit works savingly upon it under the Gospel call Sanctification notes that holy dedication of heart and life to God our becoming the Temples of the living God separate from all prophane sinful practices to the Lords only use and service Conversion denotes the great change it self which the Spirit causeth upon the soul turning it by a sweet irresistible efficacy from the power of Sin and Satan to God in Christ. Now all these are imported in and done by the Application of Christ to our souls for when once the efficacy of Christs death and the vertue of his resurrection come to take place upon the heart of any man he cannot but turn from Sin to God and become a new creature living and acting by new principles and rules So the Apostle observes 1 Thes. 1. 5 6. speaking of the effect of this work of the Spirit upon that people Our Gospel saith he came not to you in word only but in power and in the Holy Ghost there was the effectual application of Christ to them And you became followers of us and of the Lord ver 6. there was their effectual call And ye turned from dumb Idols to serve the living and true God ver 9. there was their conversion So that ye were ensamples to all that believe ver 7. there was their life of Sanctification or dedication to God So that all these are comprehended in effectual application Propos. 2. The Application of Christ to the souls of men is that great project Propos. 2. and design of God in this world for the accomplishment whereof all the Ordinances and all the officers of the Gospel are appointed and continued in the world This the Gospel expressly declared to be its direct and great end and the great business of all its officers Eph. 4. 11 12. And he gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some pastors and teachers till we all come in the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ i. e. the great aim and scope of all Christs Ordinances and officers is to bring men into Union with Christ and so build them up to perfection in him or to unite them to and confirm them in Christ and when it shall have finished this design then shall the whole frame of Gospel Ordinances be taken down and all its officers disbanded The Kingdom i. e. this present oeconomy manner and form of Government shall be delivered up 1 Cor. 15. 24. what are Ministers but the Bridegrooms friends Ambassadors for God to beseech men to be reconciled when therefore all the elect are brought home in a reconciled state to Christ when the marriage of the Lamb is come our work and office expire together Propos. 3. Such is the Importance and great concernment of the personal application of Christ to us by the Spirit that whatsoever the father hath Propos. 3. done in the contrivement or the Son hath done in the accomplishment of our Redemption is all inavailable and ineffectual to our Salvation without this It is confessedly true that Gods good pleasure appointing us from eternity to Salvation is in its kind a most full and sufficient Impulsive cause of our Salvation and every way able for so much as it is concerned to produce its effect And Christs humiliation and sufferings are a most compleat and sufficient meritorious cause of our Salvation to which nothing can be added to make it more apt and able to procure our Salvation than it already is yet neither the one or other can actually save any Soul without the Spirits application of Christ to it for where there are divers social causes or concauses necessary to produce one effect there the effect cannot be produced until the last cause have wrought thus it is here The Father hath elected and the Son hath redeemed but until the Spirit who is the last cause have wrought his part also we cannot be
corruptions abide and work in the very same faculties where grace hath its residence it cannot be that our Sanctification should be so perfect and compleat as our Justification is which inheres only in Christ. See Gal. 5. 17. thus are righteousness and sanctification communicated and made ours but then For Redemption that is to say absolute and plenary deliverance from all the sad remains effects and consequents of Sin both upon soul and body this is made ours or to keep to the terms Christ is made redemption to us by glorification then and not before are these miserable effects removed we put off these together with the body So that look as Justification cures the guilt of Sin and Sanctification the dominion and power of Sin so glorification removes together with its existence and being all those miseries which it let in as at a floodgate upon our whole man Eph. 5. 26 27. And thus of God Christ is made unto us wisdome and righteousness sauctification and redemption namely by imputation regeneration and glorification I shall next improve the point in some useful Inferences Inference 1. Learn from hence what a naked destitute and empty thing a poor sinner is in his natural and unregenerate state Infer 1. He is one that naturally and inherently hath neither wisdome nor righteousness sanctification nor redemption all Quin dicitur eum factum esse nobis sapieâ—…tiam justitiam sanctitatem redemptionem rursus nostra dignitas meritum excluduntur ex hoc etiam consequitur ante perceptionem ejus nos fuisse slultos injustos profanos diaboli maâ—…cipia Muscul. inloc these must come from without himself even from Christ who is made all this to a sinner or else he must eternally perish As no creature in respect of external abilities comes under more natural weakness into the world than man naked and empty and more shiftless and helpless than any other creature so it is with his soul yea much more than so all our excellencies are borrowed excellencies no reason therefore to be proud of any of them 1 Cor. 4. 7. What hast thou that thou hast not received now if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it q. d. what intolerable insolence and vanity would it be for a man that wears the rich and costly robe of Christ's righteousness in which there is not one thred of his own spinning but all made by free grace and not by free will to jett proudly up and down the world in it as if himself had made it and he were beholding to none for it O man thine excellencies whatever they are are borrowed from Christ they oblige thee to him but he can be no more obliged to thee who wearest them than the Sun is obliged to him that borrows its light or the fountain to him that draws its water for his use and benefit And it hath ever been the care of holy men when they have viewed their own gracious principles or best performances still to disclaim themselves and own free grace as the sole author of all Thus holy Paul viewing the principles of divine life in himself the richest gift bestowed upon man in this world by Jesus Christ how doth he renounce himself and deny the least part of the praise and glory as belonging to him Gal. 2. 20. Now I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and so for the best duties that ever he performed for God and what meer man ever did more for God yet when in a just and necessary defence he was constrain'd to mention them 1 Cor. 15. 10. how carefully is the like Yet not I presently added I laboured more abundantly than they all yet not I but the grace of God which was with me Well then let the sense of your own emptiness by nature humble and oblige you the more to Christ from whom you receive all you have Inference 2. Hence again we are informed that none can claim benefit by impilted Infer 2. righteousness but those only that live in the power of inherent holiness to whomsoever Christ is made righteousness to him he is also made sanctification The Gospel hath not the least favour for licentiousness it is every way as careful to press men to their duties as to instruct them in their priviledges Titus 3. 8. This is a faithful saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly That they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works It is a loose principle divulged by Libertines to the reproach of Christ and his Gospel that sanctification is not the evidence of our justification and Christ is as much wronged by them who separate holiness from righteousness as if a sensual vile life were consistent with a justified state as he is in the contrary extream by those who confound Christs righteousness with mans holiness in the point of Justification or that own no other righteousness but what is inherent in themselves the former opinion makes him a cloak for sin the later a needless sacrifice for sin It 's true our Sanctification can't justifie us before God but what then can't it evidence our Justification before men is there no necessity or use for holiness because it hath no hand in our Justification is the preparation of the soul for heaven by altering its frame and temper nothing is the glorifying of our Redeemer by the exercises of grace in this world nothing doth the work of Christ render the work of the Spirit needless God forbid he came not by blood only but by water also 1 Joh. 5. 6. And when the Apostle saith in Rom. 4. 5. but unto him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness the scope of it is neither to characterize and describe the justified person as one that is lazy and slothful and hath no mind to work or rebellious and refractory refusing obedience to the commands of God but to represent him as an humbled sinner who is convinced of his inability to work out his own righteousness by the Law and sees all his endeavours to obey the Law fall short of righteousness and therefore is said in a Law sense not to work because he doth not work so as to answer the purpose and end of the Law which accepts of nothing beneath perfect obedience And when in the same Text the ungodly are said to be Deus justâ—… impium antecedenter non consequenter Pareus justified that character describes not the temper and frame of their hearts and lives after their justification but what it was before not as it leaves but as it found them Infer 3. How unreasonable and worse than bruitish is the sin of infidelity by which the Sinner rejects Christ and with him all those mercies Infer 3. and benefits which alone can relieve and cure his misery He is by nature blind and ignorant and
yet refuses Christ who comes to him with heavenly light and wisdome he is condemned by the terrible sentence of the Law to eternal wrath and yet rejects Christ who tenders to him compleat and perfect righteousness he is wholly polluted and plunged into original and actual pollutions of nature and practice yet will have none of Christ who would become sanctification to him he is oppressed in soul and body with the deplorable effects and miseries sin hath brought upon him and yet is so in love with his bondage that he will neither accept Christ nor the redemption he brings with him to sinners Oh what monsters what beasts hath sin turned its subjects into you will not come unto me that you may have life Joh. 5. 40. sin hath stabb'd the sinner to the heart the wounds are all mortal eternal death is in his face Christ hath prepared the only plaister that can cure his wounds but he will not suffer him to apply it he acts like one in love with death and that judges it sweet to perish So Christ tells us Prov. 8. 36. all they that hate me love death Not in it self but in Non quod quisque ita insaâ—…iat ut sciens volens diligat mortem quam omnes natura exhorrescimus sed quia ista est fructus spretae sapientiae Dei ut mortem tandem afferat Lavat in loc its causes with which it is inseparably connected they are loth to burn yet willing to sin though sin kindle those everlasting flames So that in two things the unbeliever shews himself worse than bruitish he can't think of damnation the effect of sin without horror and yet cannot think of sin the cause of damnation without pleasure he is loth to perish to all eternity without remedy and yet refuses and declines Christ as if he were an enemy who only can and would deliver him from that eternal perdition How do men act therefore as if they were in love with their own ruin many poor wretches now in the way to Hell what an hard shift do they make to cast themselves away Christ meets them many times in the Ordinances where they studiously shun him many times checks them in their way by convictions which they make an hard shift to overcome and conquer oh how willing are they to accept a cure a benefit aremedy for any thing but their Souls You see then that Sinners cannot should they study all their days to do themselves a mischief take a readier course to undo themselves than by rejecting Christ in his gracious offers Surely the sin of Sodom and Gomorrha is less than this sin mercy it self is exasperated by it and the damnation of such as reject Christ so prepared for them with whatever they need and so seriously and frequently offer'd to them upon the Knee of Gospel intreaty is just inevitable and more intolerable than any in the world beside them It is just for the sinner hath but his own option or choice he is but come to the end which he was often told his way would bring him to It is inevitable for there is no other way to Salvation but that which is rejected and it will be more intolerable than the Damnation of others because neither Heathens nor Devils ever aggravated their sins by such an horrid circumstance as the wilful refusing of such an apt offered and only remedy Infer 4. What a tremendous Symptome of wrath and sad Character of Death appears upon that mans Soul to which no effectual application Infer 4. of Christ can be made by the Gospel Christ with his benefits is frequently tendered to them in the Gospel they have been beseeched once and again upon the Knee of importunity to accept him those entreaties and perswasions have been urged by the greatest arguments The Command of God the love of Christ the inconceiveable happiness or misery which unavoidably follows the accepting or rejecting of those offers and yet nothing will stick all their pleas for infidelity have been over and over confuted their reasons and consciences have stood convinced they have been Speechless as well as Christless not one sound argument is found with them to defend their infidelity they confess in general that such courses as theirs is lead to destruction they will yield them to be happy souls that are in Christ and yet when it comes to the point their own closing with him nothing will stick all arguments all entreaties return to us without success Lord what is the reason of this unaccountable obstinacy in other things it is not so if they be sick they are so far from rejecting a physician that offers himself that they will send and pray and pay him too if they be arrested for debt and any one will be a surety and pay their debts for them words can hardly express the sense they have of such a kindness but though Christ would be both physician and surety and what ever else their needs require they will rather perish to eternity than accept him what may we fear to be the reason of this but because they are not of Christs sheep Joh. 10. 26. the Lord open the eyes of poor sinners to apprehend not only how great a sin but how dreadful a sign this is Infer 5. If Christ with all his benefits be made ours by Gods special application Infer 5. what a day of mercies then is the day of conversion What multitudes of choice blessings visit the converted soul in that day This day saith Christ to Zacheus Luke 19. 9. is Salvation come to this house in this day Christ cometh into the soul and he comes not empty but brings with him all his treasures of wisdom and righteousness sanctification and redemption Troops of mercies yea of the best of mercies come with him It is a day of singular gladness and joy to the heart of Christ when he is Espoused to and received by the believing soul it is as a Coronation day to a King So you read Cant. 3. 11. Go forth O ye daughters of Zion and behold King Solomon with the Crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his Espousals and in the day of the gladness of his heart Where under the Type of Solomon in his greatest magnificence and glory when the royal Diadem was set upon his head and the people shouted for joy so that the earth did ring again is shadowed out the joy of Christs heart when poor souls by their high estimation of him and consent to his government do as it were Crown him with glory and honour and make his heart glad Now if the day of our Espousals to Christ be the day of the gladness of his heart and he reckons himself thus honoured and glorified by us what a day of joy and gladness should it be to our hearts and how should we be transported with joy to see a King from heaven with all his treasures of grace and glory bestowing himself
freely and everlastingly upon us as our portion No wonder Zacheus came down joyfully Luke 19. 6. That the Eunuch went home rejoicing Act. 8. 39. That the Jaylor rejoyced believing in God with all his houshold Act. 16. 34. That they that were converted did eat their meat with gladness praising God Act. 2. 41. 46. That there was great joy among them of Samaria when Christ came among them in the preaching of the Gospel Acts 8. 5. 8. I say it 's no wonder we read of such Joy accompanying Christ into the soul when we consider that in one day so many blessings meet together in it the least of which is not to be exchanged for all the Kingdoms of this world and the glory of them Eternity it self will but suffice to bless God for the mercies of this one day Infer 6. If Christ be made all this to every Soul unto whom he is effectually applyed what cause then have those souls that are under the Infer 6. preparatory work of the spirit and are come nigh to Christ and all his benefits to stretch out their hands with vehement desire to Christ and give him the most importunate invitation into their Souls The whole world is distinguishable into three classes or sorts of persons such as are far from Christ such as are not far from Christ and such as are in Christ they that are in Christ have heartily received him such as are far from Christ will not open to him their hearts are fast barred by ignorance prejudice and unbelief against him but those that arecome under the preparatory workings of the spirit nigh to Christ who see their own indispensable necessity of him and his suitableness to their necessities in whom also encouraging hopes begin to dawn and their souls are waiting at the foot of God for power to receive him for an heart to close sincerely and universally with him oh what vehement desires what strong pleas what moving arguments should such persons urge and plead to win Christ and get possession of him they are in sight of their only remedy Christ and Salvation are come to their very doors there wants but a few things to make them blessed for ever this is the day in which their souls are exercised greatly betwixt hopes and fears now they are much alone and deep in thoughtfulness they weep andmake supplication for an heart to believe and that against the great discouragements with which they encounter Reader if this be the case of thy soul it will not be the least piece of service I can do for thee to suggest such pleas as in this case are proper to be urged for the attainment of thy desires and the closing of the match betwixt Christ and thee First Plead the absolute necessity which now drives thee to Christ tell him thy hope is utterly perished in all other refuges thou art come like a starving beggar to the last door of hope tell him thou now beginnest to see the absolute necessity of Christ thy body hath not so much need of bread water or air as thy soul hath of Christ and that wisdom righteousness sanctification and redemption that are in him Secondly Plead the Fathers gracious design in furnishing and sending him into the world and his own design in accepting the Fathers call Lord Jesus wast thou not anointed to preach good tydings to the meek to bind up the broken hearted to proclaim liberty to the Captives and the opening of the Isai. 16. 1 2. prison to them that are bound behold an Object suitable to thine Office whilest I was ignorant of my condition I had a proud rebellious heart but conviction and self-acquaintance have now meekned it my heart was harder than the nether milstone and it was as easie to dissolve the obdurate rocks into syrrup as to thaw and melt my heart for sin but now God hath made my heart soft I sensibly feel the misery of my condition I once thought my self at perfect liberty but now I see what I conceited to be perfect liberty is perfect bondage and never did a poor prisoner sigh for deliverance more than I. Since then thou hast given me a soul thus qualified though still unworthy for the exercise of thine office and execution of thy commission Lord Jesus be according to thy name a Jesus unto me Thirdly Plead the unlimited and general invitations made to such souls as you are to come to Christ freely Lord thou hast made open Proclamation Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters Isai. 55. 1. and Revel 22. 17. him that is athirst come in obedience to thy call Lo I come had I not been invited my coming to thee dear Lord Jesus had been an act of presumption but this makes it an act of duty and obedience Fourthly Plead the unprofitableness of thy blood to God Lord there is no profit in my blood it will turn to no more advantage to thee to destroy than it will to save me if thou send me to hell as the merit of my sin calls upon thy Justice to do I shall be there dishonouring thee to all eternity and the debt I owe thee never pay'd but if thou apply thy Christ to me for righteousness satisfaction for all that I have done will be laid down in one full round sum indeed if the honour of thy Justice lay as a bar to my pardon it would stop my mouth but when thy Justice as well as mercy shall both rejoyce together and be glorified and pleased in the same act what hinders but that Christ be apply'd to my soul since in so doing God can be no loser by it Fifthly Lastly Plead thy complyance with the terms of the Gospel tell him Lord my will complys fully and heartily to all thy gracious terms I can now subscribe a blank let God offer his Christ on what terms he will my heart is ready to comply I have no exception against any Article of the Gospel and now Lord I wholly refer my self to thy pleasure do with me what seemeth good in thine eyes only give me an interest in Jesus Christ as to all other concerns I lye at thy feet in full resignation of all to thy pleasure Never yet did any perish in that posture and frame and I hope I shall not be made the first instance and example Inference 7. Infer 7. Lastly If Christ with all his benefits be made ours by special application how contented thankful comfortable and hopeful should believers be in every condition which God casts them into in this world After such a mercy as this let them never open their mouths any more to repine and grudge at the outward inconveniencies of their condition in this world what are the things you want compared with the things you enjoy what is a little money health or liberty to wisdom righteousness sanctification and redemption all the Crowns and Scepters in the world sold to their full value are no price for the
least of these mercies but I will not insist here your duty lyes much higher than contentment Be thankful as well as content in every state blessed be God saith the Apostle the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ O think what are men to Angels that Christ should pass by them to become a Saviour to men and what art thou among men that thou shouldst be taken and others left and among all the mercies of God what mercies are comparable to these confer'd upon thee O bless God in the lowest ebb of outward comforts for such priviledges as these And yet you will not come up to your Duty in all this except you be joyful in the Lord and rejoyce evermore after the receipt of such mercies as these Philip. 4. 4. Rejoyce in the Lord ye righteous and again I say rejoyce for hath not the poor Captive reason to rejoyce when he hath recovered his liberty the Debtor to rejoyce when all scores are cleared and he owes nothing the weary traveller to rejoyce though he be not owner of a shilling when he is come almost home where all his wants shall be supplied Why this is your case when Christ once becomes yours you are the Lords freemen your debts to Justice are all satisfied by Christ and you are within a little of compleat redemption from all the troubles and inconveniencies of your present state Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ. The Second SERMON Serm. 2. JOHN 17. 23. Wherein the believers Union with Christ is stated and opened as a principal part of Gospel Application I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one THE design and end of the Application of Christ to Sinners is the Communication of his benefits to them but seeing all Communications of benefits necessarily imply Communion and all Communion as necessarily presupposes Union with his person I shall therefore in this place and from this Scripture treat of the Mystical Union betwixt Christ and believers this Union being the principal act wherein the Spirits application of Christ consists of which I spake as to its general nature in the former Sermon In this Verse omitting the Contexture we find a threefold Union One betwixt the Father and Christ a second betwixt Christ and believers a third betwixt believers themselves First Thou in me this is a glorious ineffable Union and is fundamental to the other two the Father is not only in Christ in respect of dear affection as one friend is in another who is as his own soul nor only essentially in respect of the identity and sameness of nature and attributes in which respect Christ is the express Image of his person Heb. 1. 3. but he is in Christ also as Mediator by communicating the fulness of the godhead which dwells in him as God-man in a transcendant and singular manner so as it never dwelt nor can dwell in any other Col. 2. 9. Secondly I in them here is the Mystical Union betwixt Christ and the Saints q. d. thou and I are one essentially they and I are one mystically thou and I are one by the communication of the Godhead and singular fulness of the Spirit to me as Mediator and they and I are one by my communication of the Spirit to them in measure Thirdly From hence results a third Union betwixt believers themselves that they may be made perfect in one the same Spirit dwelling in them all and equally uniting them all to me as living members to their head of influence there must needs be a dear and intimate Union betwixt themselves as fellow members of the same body Now my business at this time lying in the second branch namely the Union betwixt Christ and believers I shall gather up the substance of it into this Doctrinal proposition to which I shall apply this discourse Doct. That there is a strict and dear Union betwixt Christ and all true believers The Scriptures have borrowed from the book of Nature four elegant and lively Metaphors to help the Nature of this Mystical Union with Christ into our understandings Namely that of two pieces of timber united by glew that of a graff taking hold of its stock and making one tree that of the husband and wife by the marriage Covenant becoming one flesh and that of the members and head animated by one soul and so becoming one Natural body Every one of these is more lively and full than the other and what is defective â—…in one is supplied in the other but yet neither any of these singly or all of them jointly can give us a full and compleat account of this Mystery Not that of two pieces united by glew 1 Cor. 6. 17. he that 1 Cor. 6. 17. is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 glewed to the Lord. For though this cementeth and strongly joyns them in one yet this is but a faint and imperfect shadow of our Union with Christ for though this Union by glew be intimate yet it is not vital but so is that of the soul with Christ. Nor that of the graff and stock mentioned Rom. 6. 5. for Rom. 6. 5. thought it be there said that believers are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 implanted or ingraffed by way of incision and this Union betwixt it and the stock be vital for it partakes of the vital sap and juice of it yet here also is a remarkable defect for the graff is of a more excellent kind and nature than the stock and upon that account the tree receives its denomination from it as from the more noble and excellent part but Christ into whom believers are ingraffed is infinitely more excellent than they and they are denominated from him Nor yet that Conjugal Union by marriage Covenant betwixt Eph. 6. 32. a man and his wife for though this be exceeding dear and intimate so that a man leaves father and mother and cleaves to his wife and they two become one flesh yet this Union is not indissolvable but may and must be broken by death and then the relict lives alone without any Communion with or relation to the person that was once so dear but this betwixt Christ and the soul can never be dissolved by death it abides to eternity Nor Lastly That of the head and members united by one Eph. 4. 15 16. vital Spirit and so making one Physical body mentioned Eph. 4. 15 16. for though one soul actuates every member yet it doth not knit every member alike near to the head but some are nearer and others removed farther from it but here every member is alike nearly united with Christ the head the weak are as near to him as the strong Two things are necessary to be opened in the doctrinal part of this point 1. The reality of this Union 2. The quality First For the reality of it I shall make
it appear that there is such a Union betwixt Christ and believers it is no Ens rationis 1. empty notion or cunningly devised fable but a most certain demonstrable truth which appears First From the Communion which is betwixt Christ and believers in this the Apostle is express 1 Joh. 1. 3. truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It signifies such fellowship or Copartnership as persons have by a joynt interest in one and the same enjoyment which is in common betwixt them So Heb. 3. 14. we are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ipse venit in sortem nostrae mortalitatis ut in fortem nos adduceret suae immortalitatis clarum autem est hic agi de consortibus unctionis quales sunt omnes fideles qui unctionis participes fiunt Rivet partakers of Christ and Psal. 45. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here the Saints are called the companions consorts or fellows of Christ and that not only in respect of his assumption of our mortality and investing us with his immortality but it hath a special reference and respect to the Unction of the Holy Ghost or graces of the Spirit of which believers are partakers with him and through him Now this Communion of the Saints with Christ is entirely and necessarily dependant upon their Union with him even as much as the branches participation of the sap and juice depends upon its Union and coalition with the stock take away Union and there can be no communion or communications which is clear from 1 Cor. 3. 22 23. All is yours and ye are Christs and Christ is Gods where you see how all our participation of Christs benefits is built upon our Union with Christs person Secondly The reality of the believers Union with Christ is evident from the Imputation of Christs righteousness to him for his Justification That a believer is justified before God by a righteousness without himself is undeniable from Rom. 3. 24. being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus and that Christs righteousness becomes ours by Imputation is as clear from Rom. 4. 23 24. but it can never be imputed to us except we be united to him and become one with him which is also plainly asserted in 1 Con. 1. 30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us wisdome and righteousness sanctification and redemption he communicates his merits unto none but those that are in him hence all those vain cavils of the Papists disputing against our Justification by the righteousness of Christ and asserting it to be by inherent righteousness are solidly answered When they demand how can we be justified by the righteousness of another can I be rich with another mans money or preferr'd by anothers honours Our answer is Yes if that other be my surety or husband indeed Peter cannot be justified by the righteousness of Paul but both may be justified by the righteousness of Christ imputed to them they being members joyntly knit to one common head principal and surety are one in obligation and construction of Law head and members are one body branch and stock are one tree and it 's no strange thing to see a graff live by the sap of another stock when once it is ingraffed into it Thirdly The Sympathy that is betwixt Christ and believers proves a Union betwixt them Christ and the Saints smile and sigh together St. Paul in Colos. 1. 2 4. tells us that he did fill up that which is behind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the remainders of the sufferings of Christ in his Flesh not as if Christs sufferings were imperfect for by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified Heb. 10. 14. but in these two Scriptures Christ is consider'd in a twofold capacity he suffered once in Corpore proprio in his own person as mediator these sufferings are compleat and full and in that sense he suffers no more he suffers also in Corpore mâ—…tico in his Church and members thus he still suffers in the sufferings of every Saint for his sake and though these sufferings in his Mystical body are not equal to the other either pondere mensura in their weight and value nor yet designed ex officio for the same use and purpose to satisfie by their proper merit offended Justice nevertheless they are truly reckoned the sufferings of Christ because the head suffers when the members do and without this supposition that place Acts 9. 5. is never to be understood when Christ the head in Heaven crys out Saul Saul why persecutest thou me when the toe was trod upon on earth how doth Christ sensibly feel our sufferings or we his if there be not a Mystical Union betwixt him and us Fourthly and Lastly The way and manner in which the Saints shall be raised at the last day proves this Mystical Union betwixt Christ and them for they are not to be raised as others by the naked power of God without them but by the vertue of Christs resurrection as their head sending forth vital quickening influences into their dead bodies which are united to him as well as their souls For so we find it Rom. 8. 11. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you even as it is in our awakening out of natural sleep first the animal spirits in the head begin to rouze and play there and then the senses and members are loosed throughout the whole body Now it 's impossible the Saints should be raised in the last resurrection by the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them if that Spirit did not knit and unite them to him as members to their head So then by all this it is proved that there is a real Union of the Saints with Christ. Next I shall endeavour to open the quality and nature of this Union and shew you what it is according to the weak 2. apprehensions we have of so sublime a Mystery and this I shall do in a General account of it and Particular First More generally it is an intimate conjunction of believers to Christ by the imparting of his Spirit to them whereby 1. they are enabled to believe and live in him All divine Spiritual life is originally in the Father and cometh not to us but by and through the son Joh. 5. 26. to him hath the Father given to have an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a quickening enlivening power in himself but the Son communicates this life which is in him to none but by and through the Spirit Rom. 8. 2. the Spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sin and death The Spirit must therefore first take hold of us before we can live in Christ and
when he doth so then we are enabled to exert that vital act of faith whereby we receive Christ all this lyes plain in that one Scripture Joh. 6. 57. As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father so he that cateth me that is by faith applys me even he shall live by me So that these two namely the Spirit on Christs part and Faith his work on our part are the two ligaments by which we are knit to Christ. So that the Spirits work in uniting or engrassing a soul into Christ is like the cutting off the graff from its native stock which he doth by his illuminations and convictions and closing it with the living stock when it is thus prepared and so enabling it by the infusion of faith to suck and draw the vital sap and thus it becomes one with it Or as the many members in the natural body being all quickened and animated by the same vital Spirit become one body with the head which is the principal member Eph. 4. 4. there is one body and one Spirit More particularly we shall consider the properties of this 2. Union that so we may the better understand the nature of it And here I shall open the nature of it both negatively and affirmatively First Negatively by removing all false notions and misapprehensions 1. Negatively of it And we say First The Saints Union with Christ is not a meer mental 1. Union only in conceit and notion but really exists extra mentem whether we conceit it or not I know the atheistical world censures all these things as fancies and idle imaginations but believers know the reality of them Joh. 14. 20. At that day you shall know that I am in my father and you in me and I in you This doctrine is not phantastical but scientifical Secondly The Saints Union with Christ is not a Physical Union such as is betwixt the members of a natural body and 2. the head our Nature indeed is assumed into Union with the person of Christ but it is the singular honour of that blessed and holy flesh of Christ to be so united as to make one person with him that Union is hypostatical this only Mystical Thirdly Nor is it an Essential Union or Union with the divine nature so as our beings are thereby swallowed up and 3. lost in the divine being Some there be indeed that talk at that wild rate of being Godded into God and Christed into Christ and those unwary expressions of Greg. Naz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do but too much countenance those daring Spirits but oh there is an infinite distance betwixt us and Christ in respect of nature and excellency notwithstanding this Union Fourthly The Union I here speak of is not a foederal Union or an Union by Covenant only such a Union indeed 4. there is betwixt Christ and believers but that is consequential to and wholly dependent upon this Fifthly and Lastly It is not a meer Moral Union by love and affection thus we say one soul is in two bodies a friend 5. is another self the lover is in the person beloved such a Union of hearts and affections there is also betwixt Christ and the Saints but this is of another nature that we call a Moral this a Mystical Union that only knits our affections but this knits our persons to Christ. Secondly Positively and First though this Union neither 2. Positively makes us one person or essence with Christ yet it knits our persons most intimately and nearly to the person of Christ 1. the Church is Christs body Coloss. 1. 24. not his Natural but his Mystical body that is to say his body in a Mystery because it is to him as his natural body the Saints stand to Christ in the same relation that the natural members of the body stand to the head and he stands in the same relation to them that the head stands in to the natural members and consequently they stand related to one another as the members of a natural body do to each other Christ and the Saints are not one as the Oak and the Ivy that clasps it are one but as the graff and stock are one it is not a Union by adhesion but incorporation Husband and Wife are not so near soul and body are not so near as Christ and the believing soul are near to each other Secondly The Mystical Union is wholly supernatural wrought by the alone power of God So it 's said 1 Cor. 1. 30. 2. but of him are ye in Christ Jesus we can no more unite our selves to Christ than a branch can incorporate it self into another stock it is of him i. e. of God his proper and alone work There are only two ligaments or bands of Union betwixt Christ and the Soul viz. the Spirit on his part and Faith on ours but when we say faith is the band of Union on our part the meaning is not that it 's so our own act as that it springs naturally from us or is educed from the power of our own wills no for the Apostle expressly contradicts it Eph. 2. 8. it is not of your selves it is the gift of God but we are the subjects of it and though the act on that account be ours yet the power enabling us to believe is God's Eph. 1. 19 20. Thirdly the Mystical Union is an immediate Union Immediate I say not as excluding means and instruments for 3. several means and many instruments are employ'd for the effecting of it but immediate as excluding degrees of nearness among the members of Christs mystical body Every member in the Natural body stands not as near to the head as another but so do all the mystical members of Christs body to him every member the smallest as well as the greatest hath an immediate coalition with Christ. 1 Cor. 1. 2. To the Church of God which is at Corinth to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord both theirs and ours Among the factious in this Church at Corinth those that said I am of Christ as arrogating Christ to themselves were as much a faction as those that said I am of Paul 1 Cor. 1. 30. to cure this he tells them he is both theirs and ours Such inclosures are against law Fourthly The Saints Mystical Union with Christ is a 4. fundamental Union it 's fundamental by way of Sustentation all our fruits of obedience depend upon it John 15. 4. As the branch cannot bear fruit except it abide in the Vine no more can yeâ—… except ye abide in me It 's fundamental to all our priviledges and comfortable claims 1 Cor. 3. ult all is yours for ye are Christs And it is fundamental to all our hopes and expectations of glory for it is Christ in you the hope
to believers as their head but more particularly from the several benefits they receive from him as such for in wounding Christ by their sins First They wound their head of influence through whom they live and without whom they had still remain'd in the state of sin and death Eph. 4. 16. Shall Christ send life to us and we return that which is as death to him O how absurd how disingenuous is this Secondly They wound their head of government Christ is a guiding as well as a quickening head Col. 1. 18. the is your wisdome he guides you by his counsels to glory but must he be thus requited for all his faithful conduct what do you when you sin against him but rebel against his government refusing to sollow his counsels and obeying in the mean time a deceiver rather than him Thirdly They wound their consulting head who cares provides and projects for the welfare and safety of the body Christians you know your affairs below have not been steered and managed by your own wisdome but that orders have been given from heaven for your security and supply from day to day I know O Lord saith the Prophet that the way of man is not in himself neither is it in him that walks to direct his own steps Jer. 10. 23. It 's true Christ is out of your sight and you see him not but he sees you and orders every thing that concerns you And is this a due requital of all that care he hath taken for you Do ye thus requite the Lord for all his benefits what recompence evil for good O let shame cover you Fourthly and Lastly They wound their head of honour Christ your head is the fountain of honour to you this is your glory that you relate to him as your head you are on this account as before was noted exalted above Angels Now then consider how vile a thing it is to reflect the least dishonour upon him from whom you derive all your glory O consider and bewail it Infer 5. Is there so strict and intimate a relation and Union betwixt Christ and the Saints then surely they can never want what is good for Infer 5. Qui misit filium immisit spiritum promisit vultum quid tandem denegabit their souls or bodies Every one naturally cares and provides for his own especially for his own body yet we can more easily violate the law of nature and be cruel to our own flesh than Christ can be so to his Mystical body I know it 's hard to rest upon and rejoyce in a promise when necessities pinch and we see not from whence relief should arise but oh what sweet satisfaction and comfort might a necessitous believer find in these considerations would he but keep them upon his heart in such a day of straits First Whatever my distresses are for quality number or degree they are all known even to the least circumstance by Christ my head he looks down from heaven upon all my afflictions and understands them more fully than I that feel them Psal. 38. 9. Lord all my desire is before thee and my groaning is not hid from thee Secondly He not only knows them but feels them as well as knows them we have not an high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities Heb. 4. 15. in all your afflictions he is afflicted tender Sympathy cannot but flow from such intimate Union therefore in Matth. 25. 35. he saith I was an hungred and I was a thirst and I was naked For indeed his Sympathy and tender compassion gave him as quick a resentment and as tender a sense of their wants as if they had been his own yea Thirdly He not only knows and feels my wants but hath enough in his hand and much 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 enough to supply them all for all things are delivered to him by the Father Luk 10. 22. all the storehouses in heaven and earth are his Phil. 4. 19. Fourthly He bestows all earthly good things even to superfluity and redundance upon his enemies they have more than heart can wish Psal. 73. 7. he is bountiful to strangers he loads his very enemies with these things and can it be supposed he will in the mean while starve his own and neglect those whom he loves as his own flesh it cannot be Moreover Fifthly hitherto he hath not suffered me to perish in any former straits when and where was it that he forsook me this is not the first plunge of trouble I have been in have I not found him a God at a pinch how oft have I seen him in the Mount of difficulties Sixthly and Lastly I have his promise and engagement that he will never leave me nor forsake me Heb. 13. 5. and Joh. 14. 18. a promise never crackt since the hour it was first made If then the Lord Jesus knows and feels all my wants hath enough and more than enough to supply them if he gives even to redundance unto his enemies hath not hitherto forsaken me and hath promised he never will why then is my soul thus disquieted in me surely there is no cause it should be so Infer 6. If the Saints are so nearly united to Christ as the members to Infer 6. the head O then how great a sin and full of danger is it for any to wrong and persecute the Saints For in so doing they must needs persecute Christ himself Saul Saul saith Christ why persecutest thou me Acts Agesilaus dicâ—…re solitus est se vâ—…hementer admirari eos non haberi in sacrilegorum numero qui laederent eos qui Deo supplicarent vel Deum venerantur quo iâ—…nuit eos non tantum Sacrilegos esse qui deos ipsos aut templorum ornatum spoliarent sed eos maxime qui deorum ministros praecones contumeliis afficiunt Aemyl Prob. 9. 4. The righteous God holds himself obliged to vindicate oppressed innocency though it be in the person of a wicked man how much more when it is in a member of Christ He that toucheth you toucheth the Apple of mine eye Zech. 2. 8. And is it to be imagined that Christ will sit still and suffer his enemies to thrust out the very Apples of his eyes no no He hath ordained his arrrows against the persecutors Psal. 7. 13. O it were better thy hand should wither and thine arm fall from thy shoulder than ever it should be lifted up against Christ in the poorest of his members Believe it Sirs not only your violent actions but your hard speeches are all set down upon your doomes-days book and you shall be brought to an account for them in the great day Jud. 15. Beware what arrows you shoot and be sure of your mark before you shoot them Infer 7. If there be such a Union betwixt Christ and the Saints as hath been described upon what comfortable terms then may believers Infer 7. part with their bodies at Death Christ your
these discoveries Thus the Lord draws in our own way by rational Convictions of the understanding and allurements of the will And it 's possible this may be the reason why some poor souls mis-judge the workings of the Spirit of God upon them selves thinking they never had that wonderful and mighty power of God in conversion acting upon their hearts because they find all that is done upon their hearts that way is done in the ordinary course and method of Nature they consider compare are convinced and then resolve to choose Christ and his ways whereas they expect to feel some strange operations that shall have the visible Characters of the immediate power of God upon them and such a power they might discern if they would consider it as working in this way and method but they cannot distinguish Gods acts from their own and that puzzles them Thirdly The drawings of the Father are very powerful The arm of the Lord is revealed in this work Isa. 53. 1. It was a powerful word indeed that made the light at first shine out of darkness and no less power is required to make it shine into our hearts 2 Cor. 5. 14. That day in which the soul is made willing to come to Christ is call'd the day of his power Psal. 110. 3. The Scripture expresseth the work of conversion by a threefold Metaphor viz. That of a resurrection from the dead Rom. 6. 4. That of Creation Ephes. 2. 10. And That of Victory or Conquest 2 Cor. 10. 4 5. All these set forth the infinite power of God in this work for no less than almighty power is required to each of them and if you strictly examine the distinct notions you shall find the power of God more and more illustriously display'd in each of them To raise the dead is the effect of almighty power but then there surrection suppseth pre-existent matter In the work of creation there is no pre-existent matter but then there is no opposition that which is not rebels not against the power that gives it being But Victory and Conquest supposes opposition all the power of corrupt Nature arming it self and fighting against God but yet not able to frustrate his design Let the soul whom the father draws struggle and reluctate Sâ—…avis motus in verbo sortis tractus in Deo Est enim quaedam necessitas vuluntaria Moulin Anat. Arâ—…in as much as it can it shall come yea and come willingly too when the drawing power of God is upon it O the self-conflicts the contrary resolves with which the soul finds it self distracted and rent asunder the hopes and fears the incouragements and discouragements they will and they will not but victorious grace conquers all opposition at last We find an excellent example of this in blessed Augustine * Ita due voluntates 〈◊〉 una vetus alia novâ—… illa carnalis illa spiritualis confligibant inter se atque discordando dissipabant animam medan ibi enim magis jam non ego quia ex magna parte id patiebar invitus quodâ—… faciebam volens Aug. confess lib. 8. c. 5. who speaks of this very work the drawing of his soul to Christ and how he fâ—…lt in that day two wills in himself one old the other neâ—… one carnal the other spiritual and how in these their contrary motions and conflicts he was torn asunder in his own thoughts and resolutions suffering that unwillingly which he did willingly And certainly if we consider how deep the soul is rooted by natural inclination and long continued custome in sin how extreamly averse it is to the ways of strict godliness and mortification how Satan that invidious enemy that strong man armed fortifies the soul to defend his possession against Christ and intrenches himself in the understanding will and affections by deep rooted prejudices against Christ and holiness it is the wonder of wonders to see a soul quitting all its beloved lusts and fleshly interests and endearments and coming willingly under Christs yoak Fourthly The drawings of God are very effectual there is indeed a Common and ineffectual work upon hypocrites and Apostates call'd in Scripture a morning cloud an early dew Hosea 6. 4. these may believe for a time and fall away at last Luke 8. 13. their wills may be half won they may be drawn half way to Christ and return again So it was with Agrippa Acts 26. 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 within a very little Suadere est conantis persuadere efficientis suadet qui consulit persuadit qui quo vult inducit hominem Erasm. thou perswadest me to be a Christian but in Gods elected ones it is effectual their wills are not only almost but altogether perswaded to embrace Christ and quit the ways of sin how pleasant gainful and dear soever they have been to them the Lord not only draws but draws home those souls to Christ Joh. 6. 37. all that the Father hath given me shall come to me It is confessed that in the drawing home of the very elect to Christ there may be and frequently are many pauses stands and demurrs they have convictions affections and resolutions stirring in them which like early blossoms seem to be nipt and dye away again There is frequently in young ones especially an hopeful appearance of grace they make conscience of sins and duties they have sometimes notable rouzings and awakenings under the word they are observed to affect retirements for meditation and prayer and delight to be in the company of Christians and after all this youthful lusts and vanities are found to stifle and choak these hopeful beginnings and the work seems to stand it may be some years at a pause however at last the Lord makes it victorious over all opposition and sets it home with power upon their hearts Fifthly To conclude Those whom the Father draws to Christ he draws to him finally and for ever The gifts and calling of God are without repentance Rom. 11. 29. They are so as to God the giver he never repents that he hath called his people into the fellowship of his Son Christ Jesus and they are so on the believers part he is never sorry whatever he afterwards meets with that he is come to Christ. There is a time when Christians are drawn to Christ but there shall never be a time in which they shall be drawn away from Christ Joh. 10. 29. there 's no plucking them out of the Fathers hand It was common to a Proverb in the Primitive times when they would express an impossibility you may as soon draw a Christian from Christ as do it when Christ asked that question of the disciples Will ye also go away Lord saith Peter in the name of them all to whom shall we go thou hast the words of eternal life Joh. 6. 68. They that are thus drawn do with full purpose of heart cleave unto the Lord. And thus of the manner and quality of effectual drawing
Thirdly In the last place I am to evince the impossibility of coming to Christ without the Fathers drawings and this 〈◊〉 will evidently appear upon the consideration of these two particulars First The difficulty of this work is above all the power of nature to overcome Secondly That little power and abiliâ—…y that nature hath it will never employ to such a purpose as this till the drawing power of God be upon the will of a sinner First If all the power of nature were imploy'd in this design yet such are the difficulties of this work that it surmounts all the abilities of nature this the Scripture roundly and plainly affirms Eph. 2. 8. by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God To think of Christ is easie but to come to Christ is to nature impossible to send forth lazy and ineffectual wishes to Christ we may but to bring Christ and the soul together requires the almighty power of God Eph. 1. 19. The grace of faith by which we come to Christ is as much the free gift of God as Christ himself who is the object of faith Phil. 1. 29. to you it is freely given to believe And this will easily let it self into your understandings if you but consider the Subject of this work of faith or coming to Christ. Act and Enemies First Consider the Subject of faith in which it is wrought or what it is that is drawn to Christ 't is the heart of a sinner 1. which is naturally as indisposed to this work as the wood which Elijah laid in order upon the Altar was to catch fire when he had poured so much water upon it as did not only wet the wood but also fill'd up the trench round about it 1. Kings 18. 33. For it 's naturally a dark blind and ignorant heart Job 11. 12. and such an heart can never believe till he that commanded the light to shine out of darkness do shine into it 2 Cor. 5. 14. Nor will it avail any thing to say though man be born in darkness and ignorance yet afterwards he may acquire knowledge in the use of means as we see many natural men do in a very high degree for this is not that light that brings the soul to Christ yea this natural unsanctified light blinds the soul and prejudices it more against Christ than ever it was before 1 Cor. 1. 21 26. As it is a blind and ignorant heart so it 's a selfish heart by nature all its designs and aims terminate in Self this is the Centre and weight of the soul no righteousness but its own is sought after that or none Rom. 10. 3. now for a soul to renounce and deny Self in all its forms modes and interests as every one doth that cometh to Christ To disclaim and deny natural moral and religious Self and come to Christ as a poor miserable wretched empty creature to live upon his righteousness for ever is as supernatural and wonderful as to see the hills and mountains start from their bases and Centres and flye like wandering Atomes in the Air. Nay this heart which is to come to Christ is not only dark and selfish but full of pride O'tis a desperate proud heart by nature it cannot submit to come to Christ as Benhadads servants came to the King of Israel with sackcloath on their loyns and ropes upon their heads To take guilt shame and confusion of face to our selves and acknowledge the righteousness of God in our eternal damnation to come to Christ naked and empty as one that justifies the ungodly I say nature left to it self would as soon be damned as do this the proud heart can never come to this till the Lord have humbled and broken it by his power Secondly Let us take the Act of faith into consideration also as it is here described by the souls coming to Jesâ—…s 2. Christ and you will find a necessity of the Fathers drawings for this evidently implies that which is against the stream and current of corrupt nature and that which is above the Sphere and capacity of the most refined and accomplished nature First It 's against the Stream and Current of our corrupt nature to come to Christ. For let us but consider the Term from which the soul departs when it comes to Christ. In that day it leaves all its lusts and ways of sin how pleasant sweet and profitable soever they have been unto it Isa. 55. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord way and thoughts i. e. both the practice and delight of sin must be forsaken the outward and inward man must be cleansed from it Now there are in the bosomes of unregenerate men such darling Lusts that have given them so much practical and speculative pleasure which have brought so much profit to them which have been born and bred up with them and which upon all these accounts are endeared to their souls to that degree that it 's easier for them to dye than to forsake them yea nothing is more common among such men than to venture eternal damnation rather than suffer a separation from their sins And which is yet much more difficult in coming to Christ the soul forsakes not only its sinful self but its righteous self i. e. not only its worst sins but it s best performances accomplishments and excellencies Now this is one of the greatest straits that Nature can be put to righteousness by works was the first liquor that ever was put into the vessel and it still retains the tang and savour of it and will to the end of the world Rom. 10. 3. For they being ignorant os Gods righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they have not submitted to come naked and empty to Christ and receive all from him as a free gift is to proud corrupt nature the greatest abasement and submission in the world Let the gospel furnish its Table with the richest and costliest dainties that ever the blood of Christ purchased such is the pride of nature that it disdains to tast them except it may also pay the reckoning If the old Hive be removed from the place where it was wont to stand the Bees will come home to the old place yea and many of them you shall find will dye there rather than go to the Hive though it stand in a far better place than it did before Just so stands the case with men The Hive is removed i. e. we are no more to expect righteousness as Adam did by obeying and working but by believing and coming to Christ but nature had as lieve be damned as do this it still goes about to establish its own righteousness Vertues Duties and Moral excellencies these are the Ornaments of nature here
is Nature set off in its sumptuous attire and rich embellishments and now to renounce it disclaim and contemn it as dross and dung in comparison of Christ as believers do Phil. 3. 8. this I say is against the grain of nature We reckon it the strange effect of self denyal in Mahomet the Great who being so enamoured with his beautiful Irene would be perswaded upon reasons of Knowles History of the Turks State with his own hand to strike off her head and that when she appeared in all her rich ornaments before him rather like such a Goddess as the Poets in their ecstasies use to feign than a mortal creature and yet certainly this nothing is to that self denyal which is exercised in our coming to Christ. Secondly And if we look to the other Term to which the soul moves we shall find it acting as much above the Sphere and ability of improved Nature as here it acts and moves against the stream and current of corrupted nature for how wonderful and supernatural an adventure is that which the soul makes in the day that it comes to Jesus Christ Surely for any poor soul to venture it self for ever upon Jesus Christ whom it never saw nay upon Christ whose very existence it s own unbelief calls into question whether he be or no and that when it 's even weighed down to the dust with the burdensome sense of its own vileness and total unworthiness feeling nothing in it self but sin and misery the workings of death and fears of wrath to go to Christ of whose pardoning grace and mercy it never had any the least experience nor can find any ground of hope in it self that it shall be accepted this is as much above the power of nature as it is for a stone to rise from the earth and fix it self among the Stars well might the Apostle ascribe it to that almighty power which raised up Christ from the dead Eph. 1. 19 20. if the Lord draw not the Soul and that with an omnipotent pull it can never come from it self to Christ. And yet farther Thirdly The Natural impossibility of coming to Christ will more clearly appear if we consider the enemies to faith or what blocks are roll'd by Satan and his instruments into the way to Christ to mention in this place no more but our own carnal reason as it 's armed and managed by the subtilty of Satan what a wonder is it that any soul should come to Christ These are the strong holds mentioned 2 Cor. 10. 4. out of which those objections fears and discouragements sally by which the soul is fiercely assaulted in the way to Christ. Wilt thou forsake all thy pleasures merry company and sensible comforts to live a sad retired pensive life wilt thou begger and undo thy self let go thy comforts in hand for an hope of that which thine eyes never saw nor hast thou any certainty that it 's any more than a fancy wilt thou that hast lived in reputation and credit all thy life now become the scorn and contempt of the world thinkest thou thy self able to live such a strict severe mortified and self-denying a life as the word of God requires and what if persecution should arise as thou must expect it will canst thou forsake father and mother wife and children yea and give up thine own life too to a cruel and bloody death be advised better before thou resolve in so important a matter what thinkest thou of thy fore-fathers that lived and dyed in that way thou art now leaving art thou wiser than they do not the generality of men walk in the same paths thou hast hitherto walked in if this way lead to hell as thou fearest it may think then how many millions of men must perish as well as thy self and is such a supposition consistent with the gracious and merciful nature of God Besides think what sort of people those are unto whom thou art about to joyn thy self in this new way are there not to be found among them many things to discourage thee and cool thy zeal they are generally of the lower and baser sort of men poor and despicable seest thou not though their profession be holy how earthly carnal proud factious and hypocritical many of them are found to be and doubtless the rest are like them though their hypocrisie be not yet discovered O what stands and demurrs what hesitations and doubts is the soul clog'd with in its way to Christ but yet none of these can with-hold and detain the soul when the Father draws greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world and thus you see the nature manner and efficacy of divine drawings and how impossible it is for any Soul to come to Christ without them The Inferences and Improvements of the point follow Infer 1. How deeply and throughly is the nature of man corrupted and Infer 1. what an enemy is every man to his own happiness that he must be drawn to it Joh. 5. 40. you will not come unto me that ye might have life Life is desirable in every mans eyes and eternal is the most excellent life yet in this the world is agreed rather to dye and perish for ever than come to Christ for life Had Christ told us of Fields and Vineyards Sheep and Oxen Gold and Silver honours and sensual pleasures who would not have come to him for these but to tell them of mortification self-denyal strictness of life and sufferings for his sake and all this for an happiness to be enjoyed in the world to come nature will never like such a proposition as this You see where it sticks not in a simple inability to believe but in an inability complicated with enmity they neither can come nor will come to Christ 't is true all that do come to Christ come willingly but thanks to the grace of God that hath freed and perswaded the will else they had never been willing to come who ever found his own heart first stir and move towards Christ how long may we wait and expect before we shall feel our hearts naturally burn with desires after and love to Jesus Christ This aversation of the will and affections from God is one of the master roots of original sin No argument can prevail to bring the soul to Christ till this be master'd and overpowred by the Fathers drawings In our motions to sin we need trigging but in all our motions to Christ we as much need drawing He that comes to heaven may say Lord if I had had my own way and will I had never come here if thou hadst not drawn me I should never have come to thee O the riches of the grace of God! oh unparallel'd mercy and goodness not only to prepare such a glory as this for an unworthy soul but to put forth the exceeding greatness of thy power afterwards to draw an unwilling soul to the enjoyment of it
Inference 2. What enemies are they to God and the souls of men that do all they can to discourage and hinder the Conversion of men to Christ Infer 2. God draws forward and these do all that in them lyes to draw backward i. e. to prejudice and discourage them from coming to Jesus Christ in the way of faith this is a direct opposition to God and a plain Confederacy with the Devil O how many have been thus discouraged in their way to Christ by their carnal relations I cannot say friends their greatest enemies have been the men of their own house these have pleaded as if the Devil had hired and fee'd them against the everlasting welfare of their own flesh O cruel parents brethren and sisters that jeer frown and threaten where they should encourage assist and rejoyce such parents are the Devils children Satan chuses such instruments as you are above all others for this work he knows that influence and authority you have upon them and over them and what fear love and dependance they have for you and upon you so that none in all the world are like to manage the design of their damnation so effectually as you are like to do it Will you neither come to Christ your selves nor suffer your dear relations that would had you rather find them in the Ale-house than in the Closet did you instrumentally give them their being and will you now be the instruments of ruining for ever those beings they had from you did you so earnestly desire children so tenderly nurse and provide for them take such delight in them and after all this do what in you lies to damn and destroy them if these lines shall fall into any such hands O that God would set home the conviction and sense of this horrid evil upon their hearts And no less guilty of this sin are scandalous and Ioose professors who serve to furnish the Devil with the greatest arguments he hath to dissuade men from coming to Christ 't is your looseness and hypocrisie by which he hopes to scare others from Christ. It 's said Cant. 2. 7. I charge you by the Roes and Hinds of the field that ye stir not up nor awake my beloved till he please Roes and Hinds like young Converts and comers towards Christ are shy and timerous Creatures that start at the least sound or yelp of a dog and flye away take heed what you do in this case lest you go down to hell under the guilt of damning more souls than your own Infer 3. Learn hence the true ground and reason of those strange amazing and supernatural effects that you behold and so admire in the Infer 3. world as often as you see sinners for saking their pleasant profitable corruptions and companions and embracing the ways of Christ godliness and mortification It is said 1 Pet. 4. 4. they think it strange that you run not with them into the same excess of riot the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they stand at a gaze as the hen that hath hatcht Patridge eggs doth when she sees them take the wing and flye away from her Beloved it is the worlds wonder to see their Companions in sin forsake them those that were once as prophane and vain as themselves it may be more to forsake their society retire into their Closets mourn for sin spend their time in meditation and prayer embrace the severest duties and content to run the greatest hazards in the world for Christ but they see not that almighty power that draws them which is too strong for all the sinful tyes and engagements in the world to with-hold and detain them A man would have wonder'd to see Elisha leave the Oxen and run after Elijah saying Let me go I pray thee and kiss my Father and my Mother and then I will follow thee when Elijah had said nothing to persuade him to follow him only as he past by him he cast his mantle on him 1 Kings 10. 19 20. Surely that soul whom God draws must needs leave all and follow Christ for the power of God resteth on it all carnal tyes and engagements to sin break and give way when the Father draws the soul to Christ in the day of his power Inference 4. Is this the first spring of spiritual motion after Christ learn then from hence how it comes to pass that so many excellent Sermons and Infer 4. powerful persuasions are ineffectual and cannot draw or win one soul to Christ. Surely it is because ministers draw alone and the special saving power of God goes not forth at all times alike with their endeavours Paul was a chosen Vessel fill'd with a greater measure of gifts and graces by the Spirit than any that went before him or followed after him and as his talents so his diligence in improving them was beyond any recorded example we read of amongst men he rather * flew like a Seraphim than travelled upon his masters errand about the world Apollo was an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost. eloquent preacher and mighty in the Scriptures yet Paul is nothing and Apollo nothing but God that gives the increase 1 Cor. 3. 7. We are too apt to admire men yea and the best men are but too apt to go forth in the strength of their own parts and preparations but God secures his own glory and magnifies his own power frequently in giving success to weaker endeavours and men of lower abilities when he withholds it from men of more raised refined and excellent gifts and abilities It is our great honour who are the ministers of the Gospel that we are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 workers together with God 1 Cor. 3. 9. in his strength we can prevail the weapons of our warfare are mighty through God 2 Cor. 10. 4. but if his presence blessing and assistance be not with us we are nothing we can do nothing If we prepare diligently pray heartily preach zealously and our hearers go as they came without any spiritual effects and fruits of our labours what shall we say but as Martha said to Christ Lord if thou hadst been here my Brother had not dyed had the Spirit of God gone forth with his especial efficacy and blessing with this prayer or that Sermon these souls had not departed dead and senseless from under it Infer 5. Doth all success and efficacy depend upon the Fathers drawings Infer 5. Let none then despair of their unregenerate and carnal relations over whose obstinacy they do and have cause to mourn What if they have layen as many years under the preaching of the Gospel as that poor man did at the pool of Bethesda and hitherto to no purpose a time may come at last as it did for him when the Spirit of God may move upon the waters I mean put a quickening and converting power into the means and then the desire of your souls for them shall be fulfill'd It may be you have
poured out many prayers and tears to the Lord for them you have cryed for them as Abraham for his Son O that Ishmael might live before thee O that this poor husband wise child brother or sister might live in thy sight and still you see they contain at one rate carnal dead and senseless well but yet give not up your hopes nor cease your pious endeavours the time may come when the Father may draw as well as you and then you shall see them quit all and come to Christ and nothing shall hinder them They are now drawn away of their own lusts they are easily drawn away by their sinful Companions but when God draws none of these shall withdraw them from the Lord Jesus What is their ignorance obstinacy and hardness of heart before that mighty power that subdues all things to it self Go therefore to the Lord by prayer for them and say Lord I have laboured for my poor relations in vain I have spent my exhortations to little purpose the work is too difficult for me I can carry it no farther but thou canst O let thy power go forth they shall be willing in the day of thy power Infer 6. If none can come to Christ except the Father draw them then surely none can be drawn from Christ except the Father leave Infer 6. them that power which at first drew them to Christ can secure and establish them in Christ to the end Joh. 10. 29. my Father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand When the power of God at first draws us out of our natural state to Christ it sinds us not only impotent but obstinate not only unable but unwilling to come and yet this power of God prevails against all opposition how much more is it able to preserve and secure us when his fear is put into our inward parts so that we dare â—…t depart we have no will to depart from him Well then if the world say I will ensnare thee if the Devil say I will destroy thee if the flesh say I will betray thee yet thou art secure and safe as long as God hath said I will never leave thee nor for sake thee Heb. 13. 5. Infer 7. Let this engage you to a constant attendance upon the ordinances Infer 7. of God in which this drawing power of God is sometimes put forth upon the hearts of men Beloved there are certain seasons in which the Lord comes nigh to men in the Ordinances and Duties of his worship and we know not at what time the Lord cometh forth by his Spirit upon this design he many times comes in an hour when we look not for him when we think not of him I am found of them that sought me not Isa. 65. 1. it's good therefore to be found in the way of the Spirit had that poor man that lay so long at the pool of Bethesda reasoned thus with himself so long have I lain here in vain expecting a cure it 's to no purpose to wait longer and so had been absent at that very time when the Angel came down he had in all likelihood carryed his disease to the grave with him How dost thou know but this very Sabbath this Sermon this prayer which thou hast no heart to attend and art tempted to neglect may be the season and instrument wherein the Lord may do that for thy soul which was never yet done upon it Infer 8. To conclude how are all the Saints engaged to put forth all the Infer 8. power and ability they have for God who hath put forth his infinite almighty power to draw them to Christ God hath done great things for your souls he hath drawn you out of the miserable state of sin and wrath and that when he let others go by nature as good as you he hath drawn you into Union with Christ and Communion with his glorious priviledges O that you would henceforth imploy all the power you have for God in duties of obedience and in drawing others to Christ as much as in you lies and say continually with the Church Draw me we will run after thee Cant. 1. 4. Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ. The Fifth SERMON Serm. 5. EPHES. 2. 1. And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses Opening that work of the Spirit more particularly by which the soul is enabled to apply Christ. and sins IN the former Sermons we have seen our Union with Christ in the general nature of it and the means by which it is effected both external by the preaching of the Gospel and internal by the drawings of the Father We are now to bring our thoughts yet closer to this great mystery and consider the bonds or ligaments by which Christ and believers are knit together in a blessed oneness And if we heedfully observe the Scripture expressions and ponder the nature of this Union we shall find there are two bands which knit Christ and the soul together viz. 1. The Spirit on Christs part 2. Faith on our part The Spirit on Christs part quickening us with spiritual life whereby Christ first takes hold of us and faith on our part when thus quickened whereby we take hold of Christ accordingly this Union with the Lord Jesus is expressed in Scripture sometimes by one and sometimes by the other of these means or bonds by which it is effected Christ is sometimes said to be in us so Col. 1. 27. Christ in you the hope of glory and Rom. 8. 10. And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin and other times it is expressed by the other bond on our part as 1 Joh. 5. 20. we are in him that is true even in his son Christ Jesus and 2 Cor. 5. 17. if â—…ny man be in Christ he is a new creature The difference betwixt both these is thus aptly expressed by a late Author Christ is in believers by his Spirit 1 Joh. 4. 13. the believer is in Christ by faith Joh. 1. 12. Christ Mount Pisgaâ—… p. 22 23. is in the believer by inhabitation Rom. 3. 17. the believer is in Christ by implantation Rom. 6. 35. Christ is in the believer as the head is in the body Col. 1. 18. as the root in the branches Joh. 15. 5. believers are in Christ as the members are in the head Eph. 1. 23. or as the branches are in the root Joh. 15. 1 7. Christ in the believer implyeth life and influence from Christ Col. 3. 4. the believer in Christ implyeth Communion and fellowship with Christ 1 Cor. 1. 30. when Christ is said to be in the believer we are to understand it in reference to Sanctification when the believer is said to be in Christ it is in order to Justification Thus we apprehend being our selves first apprehended by Jesus Christ Phil. 3. 12. we cannot take hold of Christ till first he take
hold of us no vital act of faith can be exercised till a vital principle be first inspired of both these bonds of Union we must speak distinctly and first of the first Christ quickening us by his Spirit in order to our Union with him of which we have an account in the Scripture before us You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins in which words we find these two things noted Viz. 1. The infusion of a vital principle of grace 2. The total indisposedness of the subject by nature First The infusion of a vital principle of grace you hath he quickened These words hath he quickened are a supplement 1. made to clear the sense of the Apostle which else would have been more obscure by reason of that long Parenthesis betwixt the first and the fifth verses for as the * Illud 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 regitur à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 5. est igitur hoc loco hyperbaton synchysis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quae est species 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cujus quidem anomaliae causa est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 interjectio sententiae prolixioris Piscator Pooles Synop. learned observe this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you is governed of the verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath he quickened verse 5. so that here the words are transposed from the plain grammatical order by reason of the interjection of a long sentence therefore with good warrant our Translators have put the verb into this first verse which is repeated verse the fifth and so keeping faithfully to the scope have excellently cleared the Syntax and order of the words Now this verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath he quickened imports the first vital act of the spirit of God â—…or his first enlivening work upon the soul in order to its Union with Jesus Christ for look as the blood of Christ is the fountain of all merit so the Spirit of Christ is the fountain of all spiritual life and until he quicken us i. e. infuse the principle of the divine life into our souls we can put forth no hand or vital act of faith to lay hold upon Jesus Christ. This his quickening work is therefore the first in order of nature to our Union with Christ and fundamental to all other acts of grace done and performed by us from our first closing with Christ throughout the whole course of our obedience and this quickening act is said verse the fifth to be together Ex Christo conjuâ—…cto nobiscum ut capite cum membris profluunt in nos omnia beneficia in quorum numero est vivificatio Rolloc in Loco with Christ either noting as some expound it that it is the effect of the same power by which Christ was raised from the dead according to Eph. 1. 19. or rather to be quickened together with Christ notes that new spiritual life which is infused into our dead souls in the time of our Union with Christ for it is Christ to whom we are conjoyned and united in our regeneration out of whom as a fountain all spiritual benefits flow to us among which this vivification or quickening is one and a most sweet and precious one Zanchy Bodius and many others will have this quickening to comprize both our justification and regeneration and to stand opposed both to infernal and spiritual death and it may well be allowed but it most properly imports our regeneration wherein the Spirit in an ineffable and mysterious way makes the soul to live to God yea to live the life of God which was before dead in trespassis and sins in which words we have Secondly In the next place the total indisposedness of 2. the subjects by nature for as it is well noted by a * Non vocat hic semi mortuos aut aegrotos ac infirmos sed prorsus mortuos omni fa ultatebene cogitandi aut agendi destituti Rolloc in Loc. learned man The Apostle doth not say of these Ephesians that they were half dead or sick and infirm but dead wholly altogether dead destitute of any faculty or ability so much as to think one good thought or perform one good act you were dead in respect of condemnation being under the damning sentence of the Law and you were dead in respect of the privation of spiritual life dead in opposition to Justification and dead in opposition to regeneration and sanctification and the fatal instrument by which their Souls dyed is here shewed them you were dead in or by trespasses and sins this was the Sword that kill'd your souls and cut them off from God Some do curiously distinguish betwixt trespasses and sins as if one pointed at original the other at actual sins but I suppose they are promiscuously used here and serve to express the cause of their ruine or means of their spiritual death and destruction this was their case when Christ came to quicken them dead in sin and being so they could not move themselves towards Union with Christ but as they were moved by the quickening Spirit of God Hence the observation will be this Doct. That those Souls which have Union with Christ are quickened with a Supernatural principle of life by the Spirit of God in order Doct. thereunto The Spirit of God is not only a living Spirit formally considered but he is also the Spirit of life effectively or causally considered and without his breathing or infusing liâ—… into our souls our Union with Christ is impossible It is the observation of learned Camero that there must be Observandum est unionem unitionem inter se disserre unio est rerum actus qui formae rationem habet nempe actus rerum unitarum quâ unitae sunt unitio autem actus significat causâ—… efficientis c. Camero de Eccles p. 222. an Unition before there can be a Union with Christ. Unition is to be conceived efficiently as the work of Gods Spirit joyning the believer to Christ and Union is to be conceived formally the joyning it self of the persons together we close with Christ by faith but that faith being a vital act presupposes a principle of life communicated to us by the Spirit therefore it 's said Joh. 11. 26. whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never dye the vital act and operation of faith springs from this quickening Spirit so in Rom. 8 1 2. the Apostle having in the first verse opened the blessed estate of them that are in Christ shews us in the second verse how we come to be in him The Spirit of life saith he which is in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sin and death There is indeed a quickening work of the Spirit which is subsequent to regeneration consisting in his exciting recovering and actuating of his own graces in us and from hence is the liveliness of a Christian and there is a quickening act of the Spirit in our
All delights all pleasures all joys which are not phantastick and delusive have their spring and origin here Rom. 8. 6. to be spiritually minded is life and peace i. e. a most serene placid life such a soul becomes so far as it is influenced and sanctified by the Spirit the very region of life and peace when one thing is thus predicated of another in casu recto saith a learned man it speaks their intimate Connexion peace is so connatural to this life that you may either call it a life that hath peace in it or a peace that hath life in it yea it hath its enclosed pleasures in it Such as a stranger intermeddles not with Prov. 14. 10. Regeneration is the term from which all true pleasure commences you never live a merry day till you begin to live to God therefore it 's said Luke 15. 24. when the prodigal son was returned to his Father and reconciled then they began to be merry None can make another by any words to understand what that pleasure is which the renewed soul feels diffused through all its faculties and affections in its communion with the Lord and in the sealings and witnessings of his Spirit That is a very apt and well known similitude which Peter Martyr used and the Lord blessed to the conversion of that Noble Marquess Galeacius If said he a man should see a company of people dancing upon the top of a remote hill he would be apt to conclude they were a company of wild distracted people but if he draw nearer and behold the excellent order and hear the ravishing sweet Musick that is among them he will quickly alter his opinion of them and fall a dancing himself with them All the delights in the sensual-life all the pleasure that ever your lusts gave you are but as the putrid stinking waters of a corrupt pond where Toads lye croaking and spawning to the Crystal streams of the most pure and pleasant fountain Fourthly This life of God with which the regenerate are quickened in their Union with Christ as it is a pleasant so it is also a growing increasing life Joh. 4. 14. It shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life It is not in our Sanctification as it is in our Justification our Justification is compleat and perfect no defect is found there but the new Creature labours under many defects all believers are equally Justified but not equally Sanctified therefore you read 2 Cor. 4. 16. that the inward man is renewed day by day and 2 Pet. 3. 18. Christians are exhorted to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour if this work were perfect and finished at once as Justification is there could be no renewing day by day nor growth in grace perfectum est cui nihil deest cui nihil addi potest the Apostle indeed prays for the Thessalonians that God would sanctifie them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wholly perfectly 1 Thes. 5. 23. and this is matter of prayer and hope for at last it will grow up to perfection but this perfect holiness is reserved for the perfect state in the world to come and none but * Perfectio Sanctificationis in isthaâ—… vil a non reperitur nisi in somniis quorundam sanaticorum 〈◊〉 deluded proud spirits boast of it here but when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away 1 Cor. 13. 9 10. and upon the imperfection of the new Creature in every faculty that warfare and dayly conflict spoken of Gal. 5. 17. and experienced by every Christian is grounded grace rises gradually in the soul as the Sun doth in the heavens which shineth more and more unto a perfect day Prov. 4. 18. Fifthly To Conclude this life with which the regenerate are quickened is an everlasting life This is the record that God hath given us eternal life and this life is in his son 1 Joh. 5. 11. this principle of life is the seed of God and that remains in the soul for ever 1 Joh. 3. 9. it is no transient vanishing thing but a fixed permanent principle which abides in the soul for ever a man may lose his gifts but grace abides the soul may and must be separated from the body but grace cannot be separated from the soul when all forsake us this sticks by us This infused principle is therefore vastly different both from the extraordinary gifts of prophecie wherein the Spirit sometimes was said to come upon men under the old Testament 1 Sam. 10. 6 10. and from the common vanishing effects he sometimes produceth in the unregenerate of which we have frequent accounts in the new Testament Heb. 6. 4. and Joh. 5. 35. it 's one thing for the Spirit to come upon a man in the way of present influence and assistance and another thing to dwell in a man as his Temple And thus of the nature and quality of this blessed work of the Spirit in quickening us Secondly Having seen the nature and properties of the spiritual life we are concerned in the next place to enquire 2. into the way and manner in which it is wrought and infused by the Spirit and here we must say First of all That the work is wrought in the soul very mysteriously so Christ tells Nicodemus Joh. 3. 8. The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth so is every one that is born of the Spirit there be many opinions among Philosophers about the original of winds but we have no certain knowledge of it we deseribe it by its effects and properties but know little of its original and if the works of God in nature be so abstruse and unsearchable how much more are these sublime and supernatural works of the Spirit so We are not able to solve the Phaenomena of nature we can give no account of our own formation in the womb Eccles. 11. 5. who can exactly describe how the parts of the body are formed and the soul infused it's curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth as the Psalmist speaks Psal. 139. 16. but how we know not Basil saith divers questions may be moved about a Fly which may pose the greatest Philosopher we know little of the forms and essences of natural things much less of these profound and abstruse spiritual things Secondly But though we cannot pry into these secrets by the eye of reason yet God hath revealed this to us in his word that it is wrought by his own almighty power Eph. 1. 19. The Apostle ascribes this work to the exceeding greatness of the power of God and this must needs be if we consider how the Spirit of God expresses it in Scripture by a new Creation i. e. a giving being to something out of nothing Eph. 2. 10. In this it differs from all the effects of humane power for man always
sooner is the soul quickened by the Spirit of God but it answers in some measure the end of God in that work by its active reception of Jesus Christ in the way of believing what this vital act of faith is upon which so great a weight depends as our Interest in Christ and everlasting blessedness this Scripture before us will give you the best account of it wherein omitting the Coherence and contexture of the words we have three things to ponder First The high and glorious priviledge conferr'd viz. power to become the sons of God Secondly The subject of this priviledge described As many as received him Thirdly The description explain'd by way of Apposition even as many as believed on his name First The priviledge conferr'd is a very high and glorious 1. one than which no created being is capable of greater power Beza hoc jus Piscator hanc dignitatem Lightfoote prarogativam Heinsius privilegium nec multo aliter vâ—…ce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hellenistae usâ—… videntur cum Câ—…aldeorum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 expresserunt Heins to become the sons of God this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is of large extent and signification and is by some rendred this right by others this dignity by others this prerogative This priviledge or honour it implys a title or right to Adoption not only with respect to the present benefits of it in this life but also to that blessed inheritance which is laid up in heaven for the sons of God and so Grotius rightly expounds it of our consummate sonship consisting in the actual enjoyment of blessedness as well as that which is inchoate not only a right to pardon favour and acceptance now but to heaven and the full enjoyment of God hereafter O what an honour dignity and priviledge is this Secondly The Subjects of this priviledge are described as many as received him This Text describes them by that 2. very grace Faith which gives them their title and right to Christ and his benefits and by that very act of faith which primarily conferrs their right to his person and secondarily to his benefits viz. receiving him there be many graces besides faith but faith only is the grace that gives us right to Christ and there be many acts of faith besides receiving but this receiving or embracing of Christ is the justifying and saving act as many as received him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as many be they of any nation sex age or condition For there is neither Greek nor Jew Circumcision nor Uncircumcision Barbarian Scythian Bond or Free but Christ is all and in all Col. 3. 11. Nothing but unbelief barrs men from Christ and his benefits as many as received him the word signifies to accept take or as we fitly render to receive assume or take to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 idem est Grot. us a word most aptly expressing the nature and office of faith yea the very justifying and saving act and we are also heedfully to note its special object 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 him the Text saith not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 him i. e. his person as he is cloathed with his offices and not only his benefits and priviledges These are secondary and consequential things to our receiving him * Oblatio est actio Dei plerunque mediata facta in verbo receptio est actio hominis ita tamen ut simul quoque sit beneficium dâ—… nec enim homo posset recipere mediatorem nisi fides quae receptionis hujus est organon 〈◊〉 deo daretur Wendel So that it is a receiving assuming or accepting the Lord Jesus Christ which must have respect to the tenders and proposals of the gospel for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith Rom. 1. 17. therein is Jesus Christ revealed proposed and offered unto sinners as the only way of justification and salvation which Gospel offer as before was opened is therefore ordinarily necessary to believing Rom. 10. 11 12 13 c. Thirdly This description is yet further explained by this additional exegetical clause even to them that believe in his 3. name here the terms are varied though the thing exprest in both be the same what he call'd receiving there is call'd believing on his name here to shew us that the very essence of saving faith consists in our receiving of Christ by his name we are to understand Christ himself it is usual to take these two believing in him and believing in his name as terms convertible and of the same importance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ipse est nomen suum nomen ejus ipse est his name Drusius is himself and himself is his name So that here we have the true nature and precious benefits of saving faith excellently exprest in this Scripture the summ of which take in this proposition Doct. That the receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ is that saving and vital act of faith which gives the soul right both to his person and Doct. benefits We cannot act spiritually till we begin to live spiritually therefore the Spirit of life must first joyn himself to us in his quickening work as was shewn you in the last Sermon which being done we begin to act spiritually by taking hold upon or receiving Jesus Christ which is the thing designed to be opened in this Sermon The soul is the life of the body faith is the life of the soul and Christ is the life of faith There are several sorts of faith besides saving faith and in saving faith there are several acts besides the justifying or saving act but this receiving act which is to be our subject this day is that upon which both our righteousness and eternal happiness do depend This as a form differences saving faith from all other kinds or sorts of faith by this it is that we are justified and saved To as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God Forma vel aliquid formae analogum ponitur differentiae loco yet it doth not justifie and save us by reason of any proper dignity that is found in this Act but by reason of the object it receives and apprehends the same thing is often exprest in Scripture by other terms as coming to Christ Joh. 6. 35. rolling or staying upon Christ Isa. 50. 10. but whatever is found in those expressions it is all comprehended in this as will appear hereafter Now the method into which I shall cast the discourse of this subject that I may handle it with as much perspicuity and profit as I can shall be First To explain and open the nature of this receiving of Christ and shew you what it includes 1. Secondly To prove that this is the justifying and saving act of faith 2. Thirdly To shew you the excellency of this act of Faith 3.
Fourthly To remove some mistakes and give you the true account of the dignity and excellency of this act 4. Fifthly And then bring home all in a proper and close application 5. First In the first place then I will endeavour to explain 1. There are divers other expressions by which the nature of saving faith is exprest in Scripture viz. eating Christs flesh and drinking his blood Joh. 6. 40. coming to Christ Mat. 11. 28. Having the son 1 Joh. 5. 12. Trusting or depending upon him for which the Hebrew use thâ—…ee emphatical woâ—…ds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The first signifies a firm and stable trust The second to lean or depend with security The third to betake ones self to a sanctuary for protection all which is supposed or included in our receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ in eating and drinking we must receive meat and drink coming to Christ is necessarily supposed in receiving him for there is no receiving at a distance Having the son and receiving him are notions of the same importance and for trusting relying with security and betaking our selves to Christ for refuge they are all involved in the receiving act for as God offers him to us as the only prop of our hearts and hopes so we receive hiâ—… o rely upon him and as he is held forth in the Gospel as the only Asylum or City of refuge so we take or receive him and accordingly betake our souls to him for refuge and open the nature of this receiving of Christ and shew you what is implyed in it And indeed it involves many deep mysteries and things of greatest weight people are generally very ignorant and unacquainted with the importance of this expression they have very sleight thoughts of faith who never past under the illuminating convincing and humbling work of the Spirit but we shall find that saving faith is quite another thing and differs in its whole kind and nature from that traâ—…itional faith and common assent which is so fatally mistaken for it in the world For First It is evident that no man can receive Jesus Christ in the darkness of natural ignorance we must understand and discern who and what he is whom we receive to be the Lord our righteousness If we know not his person and his offices we do not take but mistake Christ. It 's a good rule in the Civil Law non consentit qui non sentit a mistake of the person invalidates the match â—…e that takes Christ for a meer man or denys the satisfaction of his blood or devests him of his humane nature or denys any of his most glorious and necessary offices let them cry up as high as they will his spirituality glory and exemplary life and death they can never receive Jesus Christ aright this is such a crack such a flaw in the very foundation of faith as undoes and destroys all ignorantis non est consensus all saving faith is founded in light and knowledge and therefore it 's called knowledge Isa. 53. 11. and seeing is inseparably connected with believing Joh. 6. 40. men must hear and learn of the father before they can come to Christ Joh. 6. 45. the receiving act of faith is directed and guided by knowledge I will not presume to state the degree of knowledge which is absolutely necessary to the reception of Christ I know the first of actings faith are in most Christians accompanied with much darkness and confusion of understanding but yet we must say in the general that where ever faith is there is so much light as is sufficient to discover to the soul it s own sins dangers and wants and the all-sufficiency suitableness and necessity of Christ for the supply and remedy of all and without this Christ cannot be received Come unto me ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Mat. 11. 28. Secondly The receiving Christ necessarily implies the Assent of the understanding to the truths of Christ revealed in the Gospel viz. his person natures offices his incarnation death and satisfaction which assent though it be not in it self saving faith yet is it the foundation and ground-work of it it being impossible the soul should receive and fiducially embrace what the mind doth not assent unto as true and infallibly certain Now there are three degrees of assent Vide Dr. Sclater in Rom. 4. 3. conjecture opinion and belief Conjecture is but a slight and weak inclination to assent to the thing propounded by reason of the weighty objections that lye against it Opinion is a more steady and fixed assent when a man is almost certain though yet some fear of the contrary remains with him Belief is a more full and assured assent to the truth to which the mind may be brought four ways First By the perfect intelligence of sense not hindered or deceived So I believe the truth of these propositions Fire is hot water moist honey is sweet gall is bitter Secondly By the native clearness of self-evidencing principles So I believe the truth of these propositions The whole is more than a part the cause is before the effect Thirdly By discourse and rational deduction So I believe the truth of this proposition Where all the parts of a thing are there is the whole Fourthly By infallible Testimony when any thing is witnessed or asserted by one whose truth is unquestionable and of this sort is the assent of faith which is therefore Nec enim decebat ut cum deus ad homines loqueretur argumentis assereret suas voces tanquam aliter fides ei non haberetur sed ut oportuit est locutus quasi rerum omnium maximus judex cujus est non argumentari sed pronunciare verum c. Lactantius de falsa religione p. mihi 179. Titubat fides ubi vacillat divinarum Scripturarum autoritas Aug. call'd our receiving the witness of God 1 Joh. 5. 9. our setting to our Seal that God is true Joh. 3. 33. This prima veritas divine veracity is the very formal object of faith into this we resolve our faith Thus saith the Lord is that firm foundation upon which our assent is built and thus we see good reason to believe those profound mysteries of the incarnation of Christ the Hypostatical Union of the two natures in his wonderful person the mystical Union of Christ and believers though we cannot understand these things by reason of the darkness of our minds It satisfies the soul to find these mysteries in the written word upon that foundation it firmly builds its assent and without such an assent of faith there can be no embracing of Christ all acts of faith and religion without assent are but as so many Arrows shot at randome into the open air they signifie nothing for want of a fixed determinate object It is theresore the policy of Satan by injecting or fomenting Atheistical thoughts with which young Converts use to find themselves greatly
infested to undermine and destroy the whole work of faith but God makes his people victorious over them yea and even at that time they do assent to the truths of the word when they think they do not as appears by their tenderness and fear of sin their diligence and care of duty If I discern these things in a Christians life he must excuse me if I believe him not when he saith he doth not assent to the truths of the Gospel Thirdly our receiving Christ necessarily implies our hearty approbation liking and estimation yea the acquiescence of our very souls in Jesus Christ as the most excellent suitable and compleat remedy for all our wants sins and dangers that ever could be prepared by the wisdome and love of God for them we must receive him with such a frame of heart as rests upon him trusts to and relys upon him if ever we receive him aright to them that believe he is precious 1 Pet. 2. 7. this is the only soveraign plaister in all the world that is large enough and efficacious enough to cure our wounds and therefore as Christ is most highly esteemed and heartily approved as the only remedy for our souls so the soveraign grace and wisdome of God are admired and the way and method he hath taken to save poor lost souls by Jesus Christ most heartily approved as the most apt and excellent method both for his glory and our good that ever could be taken for 't is a plain case that none will espouse themselves with conjugal affections to that person whom they esteem not as the best for them that can be chosen none will forsake and quit all for his sake except they account him as the spouse did the chiefest of ten thousand Cant. 5. 10. There are two things in Christ which must gain the greatest approbation in the soul of a poor convinced sinner and bring it to rest upon Jesus Christ. First That it can find nothing in Christ that is distastful or unsuitable to it as it doth experimentally find in the best creatures In him is no weakness but a fulness of all saving abilities able to save to the uttermost no Pride causing him to scorn and contemn the most wretched soul that comes to him no inconstancy or levity to cause him to cast off the soul whom he hath once received no passion but a Lamb for meekness and patience there is not a spot to be found in him but he is altogether lovely Cant. 5. 16. Secondly As the believer can find nothing in Christ that is distastful so it finds nothing wanting in Christ that is necessary or desirable such is the fulness of wisdome righteousness sanctification and redemption that is in Christ that nothing is left to desire but the full enjoyment of him O saith the soul how compleatly happy shall I be if I can but win Christ I would not envy the Nobles of the earth were I but in Christ. I am an hungry and a thirst and Christ is meat indeed and drink indeed this is the best thing in all the world for me because so necessary and so suitable to the needs of a soul ready to perish I am a law-condemned and a self-condemned sinner trembling for fear of the execution of the curse upon me every moment in Christ is compleat righteousness to justifie my soul O there is nothing better for me than Christ. I see my self plunged both in nature and practice into the odious pollutions of sin and in Christ is a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness his blood is a fountain of merit his spirit a fountain of holiness and purity none but Christ none but Christ. O the manifold wisdome and unsearchable love of God to prepare and furnish such a Christ so fully answering all the needs all the distresses all the fears and burdens of a poor sinner Thus the believing soul approves of Christ as best for it And thus in believing it gives glory to God Rom. 4. 20. Fourthly Receiving Christ consists in the consent and choice of the will and this is the opening of the heart the opening and stretching forth of the soul to receive him thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power Psal. 110. 3. 'T is the great design and main scope of the Gospel to work over the wills of poor sinners to this and this was the great complaint of Christ against the incredulous Jews Joh. 5. 40. ye will not come unto me that ye might have life It is disputed by some whether faith can be seated in two distinct faculties as we seem to place it when we say it involves both the approbation of the judgement and the consent of the will I will not here intangle my discourse with that fruitless dispute I am of the same judgement with those Divines that think Faith cannot be expressed fully by any one single habit or act of the mind or will distinctly for that as one well notes there are such descriptions given of it in Scripture Dr. Owen in his Doctrine of Justification p. 135. Consensus denotare videtur concursum voluntatis cum intellectu ad sentiendum idem quod intellectus sentit 12 Q. 15. a. 1. Fides non est virtus simplex sed diversis constat partibus notitia assensu fiducia quae ad eandem potentiam non pertinent Wendelini Theol. p. 450. such things are proposed as the object of it and such is the experience of all that sincerely believe as no one single act either of the mind or will can answer unto nor do I see any thing repugnant to Scripture or Philosophy if we place it in both faculties Consent saith Vasquez seems to denote the concourse of the will with the understanding but to leave that it is most certain the saving justifying act of faith lies principally in the consent of the will which consent is the effect of the almighty power of God Eph. 1. 19. he allures and draws the will to Christ and he draws with the cords of a man i. e. he prevails with it by rational Arguments for the soul being prepared by convictions of its lost and miserable estate by sin and that there is but one door of hope open to it for an escape from the wrath to come and that is Christ being also satisfied of the fulness and compleatness of his saving ability and of his willingness to make it over for our salvation upon such just and equal terms this cannot but prevail with the will of a poor distressed sinner to consent and chuse him Fifthly and Lastly The last and principal thing included in our receiving of Christ is the respect that this act of acceptance hath unto the terms upon which Christ is tendred to us in the Gospel to which it is most agreeable 1 Cor. 15. 11. so we preach and so ye believed faith answers the Gospel offer Rom. 6. 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The will like melted
believer doth not marry the portion first and then the person but to be found in him is the first and great care of a believer I deny not but it's lawful for any to have an eye to the benefits of Christ. Salvation from wrath is and lawfully may be intended and aimed at look unto me and be ye saved all ye ends of the earth Isa. 45. 22. Nor do I deny but there are many poor souls who being in deep distress and fear may and often do look mostly to their own safety at first and that there is much confusion as well in the actings of their faith as in their condition but sure I am it is the proper order in believing first to accept the person of the Lord Jesus heaven is no doubt very desirable but Christ is more whom have I in heaven but thee Psal. 73. 25. Union with Christ is in order of nature antecedent to the Communication of his priviledges therefore so it ought to be in the order and method of believing Sixthly Christ is Advisedly offered in the Gospel to sinners as the result of Gods eternal counsel a project of grace upon which his heart and thoughts have been much set Zech. 6. 13. 6. The counsel of peace was betwixt the Father and Son And so the believer receives him most deliberately weighing the matter in his most deep and serious thoughts for this is a time of much solitude and thoughtfulness The souls espousals are acts of judgement Hosea 2. 19. on our part as well as on Gods we are therefore bid to sit down and count the cost Luke 14. 28. Faith or the actual receiving of Christ is the result of many previous debates in the soul the matter hath been ponder'd over and over the objections and discouragements both from the self-denying terms of the Gospel and our own vileness and deep guilt have been ruminated and lain upon our hearts day and night and after all things have been ballanced in the most deep consideration the soul is determined to this conclusion I must have Christ be the terms never so hard be my sins never so great and many I will yet go to him and venture my soul upon him if I perish I periâ—…h I have thought out all my thoughts and this is the result union with Christ here or separation from God for ever must be my lot And thus doth the Lord open the hearts of his elect and win the consent of their wills to receive Jesus Christ upon the deepest consideration and debate of the matter in their own most solemn thoughts they understand and know that they must deeply deny themselves take up his cross and follow him Matth. 16. 24. renounce not only sinsul but religious self these are hard and difficult things but yet the necessity and excellency of Christ makes them appear eligible and rational by all which you see faith is another thing than what the sound of that word as it is generally understood signifies to the understandings of most men This is that fiducial receiving of Christ here to be opened Secondly Our next work will be to evince this receiving 2. of Christ as it hath been opened to be that special saving faith of Gods elect this is that faith of which such great and glorious things are spoken in the Gospel which whosoever hath shall be saved and he that hath it not shall be damned and this I shall evidently prove by the following Arguments or reasons Arg. 1. First That faith which gives the soul right and title to spiritual Adoption with all the priviledges and benefits thereof Arg. 1. is true saving Faith But such a receiving of Christ as hath been describ'd gives the soul right and title to spiritual Adoption with all the priviledges and benefits thereof Therefore such a receiving of Christ as hath been describ'd is true and saving faith The Major proposition is undeniable for our right and title to spiritual Adoption and the priviledges thereof rises from our Union with Jesus Christ we being united to the son of God are by vertue of that Union reckon'd or accounted sons Gal. 3. 26. You are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ the effect of saving faith is union with Christs person the consequent of that Union is Adoption or right to the inheritance The Minor is most plain in the Text To as many as received him to them gave he power or right to become the sons of God a false faith hath no such priviledges annexed to it no unbeliever is thus dignified no stranger entitled to this inheritance Arg. 2. Secondly That only is saving and justifying faith which is in all true believers in none but true believers and in all Arg. 2. true believers at all times But such a receiving of Christ as hath been described is in all true believers in none but true believers and in all true believers at all times Therefore such a receiving of Christ as hath been describ'd is the only saving and justifying faith The Major is undenyable that must needs contain the essence of saving faith which is proper to every true believer at all times and to no other The Minor will be as clear for there is no other act of faith but this of fiducial receiving Christ as he is offer'd that doth agree to all true believers to none but true believers and to all true believers at all times There be three Acts of faith Assent Acceptance and Assurance The Papists generally give the essence of saving faith Actus fidei consistit in assâ—â— quo quis assentitur alicui propositioni à deo revelatae propter authoritatem revelantis Becan Theol. Schol. Tom. 3. cap. 8. Q. 4. to the first viz. Assent The Lutherans and some of our own give it to the last viz. Assurance but it can neither be so nor so Assent doth not agree only to true believers or justified persons Assurance agrees to justified persons and them only but not to all justified persons and that at all times Assent is too low to contain the essence of saving faith it is found in the unregenerate as well as the regenerate yea in devils as well as men Jam. 2. 19. 't is supposed and included in justifying faith but it is not the justifying or saving act Assurance is as much too high being found only in some eminent believers Many new-born Christians live like the new-born babe vivit est vitae nescius ipse suae the whole stock of many a believer consists in the bare direct acts of faith and in them too but at some times there 's many a true believer to whom the joy and comfort of assurance is denyed they may say of their Union with Christ as Paul said of his vision whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell so they whether in Christ or out of Christ they cannot tell A true believer may walk in darkness and see no
our righteousness Jer. 23. we dare not set the servant above the master we acknowledge no righteousness but what the obedience and satisfaction of Christ yields us his blood not our faith his satisfaction not our believing it is the matter of our justification before God Secondly We dare not yield this point lest we undermine all the comfort of Christians by bottoming their pardon and peace upon a weak imperfect work of their own Oh how tottering and unstable must their station be that stand upon such a bottom as this what ups and downs are there in our faith what mixtures of unbelief at all times and prevalency of unbelief at some times and is this a foundation to build our justification and hope upon debile fundamentum fallit opus if we lay the stress here we build upon very loose ground and must be at a continual loss both as to safety and comfort Thirdly We dare not wrong the justice and truth of God at that rate as to affirm that he esteems and imputes our poor weak faith for perfect legal righteousness we know that the judgement of God is always according to truth if Ergo quia fides Christum justitiam nostram recipit gratiae dei in Christo omnia tribuit ideo fidei tribuitur justificatio maxime propter Christum non ideo quia nostrum opus est Confess Helv. 〈◊〉 the justice of God requires full payment sure it will not say it 's fully satisfied by any act of ours when all that we can do amounts not to one mite of the vast summ we owe to God So that we deservedly reject this opinion also Thirdly And for the third opinion that it justifies as the Condition of the new Covenant though some of great name and worth among our Protestant Divines seem to go that way yet I cannot see according to this opinion any reason why repentance may not as properly be said to justifie us as faith for it is a condition of the new Covenant as much as faith and if faith justifie as a condition then every other grace that is a condition must justifie as well as faith I acknowledge faith to be a condition of the Covenant but cannot allow that it justifies as a condition And therefore must profess my self best satisfied in the last opinion which speaks it an instrument in our justification it is the hand which receives the righteousness of Christ that justifies us and that gives it its value above all other graces as when we say a Diamond Ring is worth one hundred pounds we mean not the Gold that receives but the stone that is set in it is worth so much faith consider'd as an habit is no more precious than other gracious habits are but consider'd as an instrument to receive Christ and his righteousness so it excels them all and this instrumentality of faith is noted in those phrases 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 3. 28. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 3. 22. by faith and through faith And thus much of the nature and excellency of saving faith The Seventh SERMON Serm. 7. JOH 1. 12. Text. But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name THe Nature and Excellency of saving faith together with its relation to justification as an Instrument in receiving Christ and his righteousness having been discoursed doctrinally already I now come to make application of it according to the nature of this weighty and fruitful point And the Uses I shall make of it will be for our 1. Information 2. Examination 3. Exhortation And. 4. Direction First Use of Information And in the first place this point yields us many and great 1. Use. and useful truths for our Information as Infer 1. Is the receiving of Christ the vital and saving act of faith Infer 1. which gives the soul right to the person and priviledges of Christ Then it follows That the rejecting of Christ by unbelief must needs be the damning and soul-destroying sin which cuts a man off from Christ and all the benefits purchased by his blood If there be life in receiving there must needs be death in rejecting Christ. There is no grace more excellent than faith no sin more execrable and abominable than unbelief faith is the saving grace and unbelief is the damning sin Mark 16. 16. He that believeth not shall be damned See Joh. 3. 18 36. and Joh. 8. 24. And the reason why this sin of unbelief is the damning sin is this because in the justification of a sinner there must be a cooperation of all the Concauses that have a joint influence into that blessed effect As there must be free grace for an impulsive cause The blood of Christ as the meritorious cause so of necessity there must be faith the Instrumental cause to receive and apply what the free grace of God designed and the blood of Christ purchased for us For where there are many social causes or concauses to produce one effect there the effect is not produced till the last cause be in Act. To him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remissions of sins Acts 10. 43. Faith in its place is as necessary as the blood of Christ in its place 't is Christ in you the hope of glory Col. 1. 27. not Christ in the womb nor Christ in the grave nor Christ in heaven except he be also Christ in you Though Christ be come in the flesh though he dyed and rose again from the dead yet if you believe not you must for all that dye in your sins Joh. 8. 24. and what a dreadful thing is this better dye the death of a dog better dye in a ditch than dye in your sins if you dye in your sins you will also rise in your sins and stand at the bar of Christ in your sins you can never receive remission till first you have received Christ. O cursed unbelief which damns the soul dishonours God 1 Joh. 5. 10. sleights Jesus Christ the wisdome of God as if that glorious design of redemption by his blood the triumph and master-piece of divine wisdome were meer foolishness 1 Cor. 1. 23 24. frustrates the great design of the Gospel Gal. 4. 11. and consequently it must be the sin of sins the worst and most dangerous of all sins leaving a man under the guilt of all his other sins Infer 2. If such a receiving of Christ as hath been described be saving and justifying faith Then faith is a work of greater difficulty Infer 2. than most men understand it to be and there are but few sound believers in the world Before Christ can be received the heart must be emptied and opened but most mens hearts are full of self righteousness and vain confidence this was the case of the Jews Rom. 10. 3. being ignorant of Gods righteousness and
assenting act of faith in the very foundation and hence I doubt I do not believe There may be and often is a true and sincere assent found in the soul that is assaulted with violent atheistical suggestions Sol. from Satan and thereupon questions the truth of it and this is a very clear evidence of the reality of our assent that whatever doubts or contrary suggestions there be yet we dare not in our practice contradict or slight those truths or duties which we are tempted to disbelieve Ex. gr we are assaulted with atheistical thoughts and tempted to slight and cast off all fears of sin and practice of religious duties yet when it comes to the point of practice we dare not commit a known sin the awe of God is upon us we dare not omit a known duty the tye of conscience is found strong enough to hold us close to it in this case 't is plain we do really assent when we think we do not A man thinks he doth not love his child yet carefully provides for him in health and is full of grief and fears about him in sickness why now so long as I see all fath rly duties performed and affections to his childs welfare manifested let him say what he will as to the want of love to him whilest I see this he must excuse me if I do not believe him when he saith he hath no love for him Just so is it in this case A man saith I do not assent to the being necessity or excellency of Jesus Christ yet in the mean time his soul is fill'd with cares and fears about securing his interest in him he is found panting and thirsting for him with vehement desires there 's nothing in all the world would give him such joy as to be well assured of an interest in him while it is thus with any man let him say or think what he will of his assent it 's manifest by this he doth truly and heartily assent and there can be no better proof of it than these real effects produc'd by it Secondly But if these and other objections were never so fully answer'd for the clearing of the assumption yet it often falls out that believers are afraid to draw the conclusion and that fear arises partly from First The weighty importance of the matter Secondly The sense of the deceitfulness of their own hearts First The conclusion is of infinite importance to them it is the everlasting happiness of their souls than which nothing is or can be of greater weight upon their spirits things in which we are most deeply concerned are not lightly and hastily received by us it seems so great and so good that we are still apt if there be any room for it to suspect the truth and certainty thereof as never being sure enough Thus when the women that were the first messengers and witnesses of Christs resurrection Luke 24. 10 11. came and told the disciples those wonderful and comfortable tydings it 's said that their words seemed to them as idle tales and they believed them not they thought it was too good to be true too great to be hastily received so is it in this case Secondly The sense they have of the deceitfulness of their own hearts and the dayly workings of hypocrisie there makes them afraid to conclude in so great a point as this is They know that very many dayly cozen and cheat themselves in this matter they know also that their own hearts are full of falseness and deceit they find them so in their daily observations of them and what if they should prove so in this why then they are lost for ever they also know there is not the like danger in their fears and jealousies that would be in their vain confidences and presumptions by the one they are only deprived of their present comfort but by the other they would be ruined for ever and therefore choose rather to dwell with their own fears though they be uncomfortable companions than run the danger of so great a mistake which would be infinitely more fatal And this being the common case of most Christians it follows that there must be many more believers in the world than do think or dare conclude themselves to be such Infer 4. If the right receiving of Jesus Christ be true saving and justifying faith then those that have the least and lowest degree and measure Infer 4. of saving faith have cause for ever to admire the bounty and riches of the grace of God to them therein If you have received never so little of his bounty by the hand of providence in the good things of this life yet if he have given you any measure of true saving faith he hath dealt bountifully indeed with you this mercy alone is enough to ballance all other wants and inconveniencies of this life Poor in the world rich in faith James 2. 5. O let your hearts take in the full sense of this bounty of God to you say with the Apostle Eph. 1. 3. blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus and you will in this one mercy find matter enough of praise and thanksgiving wonder and admiration to your dying day yea to all eternity for do but consider First The smallest measure of saving faith which is found in any of the poople of God receives Jesus Christ and in receiving him what mercy is there which the believing soul doth not receive in him and with him Rom. 8. 32. O believer though the arms of thy faith be small and weak yet they embrace a great Christ and receive the richest gift that ever God bestowed upon the world no sooner art thou become a believer but Christ is in thee the hope of glory and thou hast authority to become a son or daughter of God thou hast the broad seal of heaven to confirm thy title and claim to the priviledges of Adoption for to as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God To as many be they strong or be they weak provided they really receive Christ by faith there is authority or power given so that it 's no act of presumption in them to say God is our Father heaven is our inheritance Oh precious faith the treasures of ten thousand worlds cannot purchase such priviledges as these all the Crowns and Scepters of the earth sold at their full value are no price for such mercies Secondly The least degree of saving faith brings the soul into a state of perfect and full Justification For if it receives Jesus Christ it must therefore needs in him and with him receive a free full and final pardon of sin the least measure of faith receives remission for the greatest sins By him all that believe are justified from all things Acts 13. 39. it unites thy soul with Christ and then as
the necessary consequent of that Union there is no condemnation Rom. 8. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not one condemnation how many soever our sins have been Thirdly The least measure or degree of saving faith is a greater mercy than God hath bestowed or ever will bestow upon many that are far above you in outward respects all men have not faith nay 't is but a remnant among men that believe Few of the Nobles and Potentates of the world have such a gift as this they have houses and lands yea Crowns and Scepters but no Faith no Christ no pardon they have authority to rule over men but no authority to become the sons of God 1 Cor. 1. 26 27. Say therefore in thy most debased straitned afflicted condition Return to thy rest O my soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee Fourthly The least degree of saving faith is more than all the power of nature can produce there must be a special revelation of the arm of the Lord in that work Isa. 53. 1. Believers are not born of flesh nor of blood nor of the will of man but of God Joh. 1. 12 13. all believing motions towards Christ are the effects of the Fathers drawing Joh. 6. 44. a glorious and irresistable power goes forth from God to produce it whence it 's call'd the faith of the operation of God Col. 2. 12. So then Let not believers depise the day of small things or overlook that great and infinite mercy which is wrapt up in the least degree of saving faith Inference 5. Learn hence the impossibility of their salvation who neither know the nature nor enjoy the means of saving faith Infer 5. My soul pities and mourns over the infidel world Ah what will become of the millions of poor unbelievers there is but one door of salvation viz. Christ and but one Key of faith to open that door and as that key was never given to the heathen world so it 's laid aside or taken away from the people by their cruel guides all over the Popish world were you among them you should hear nothing else prest as necessary to your salvation but a blind implicite faith to believe as the Church believes that is to believe they know not what To believe as the Pope believes that is as an Infidel believes for so they confess he may be * Non enim fides interior Romani Poâ—…tificis ecclesiae est necessaria Canus Loc. Theol. p. 344. and though there be such a thing as an explicite faith sometimes spoken of among them yet it is very sparingly discoursed very falsely described and exceedingly slighted by them as the veriest trifle in the world First It is but sparingly discoursed of they love not to accustome the peoples ears to such doctrine one of themselves confesses that there is so deep a silence of explicit particular faith in the Romish Church that you may find many every where that believe no more of these things than heathen Navarr cap. 11. p. 142. Philosophers Secondly When it is preacht or written of it is falsely described for they place the whole nature and essence of justifying and saving faith in a naked assent which the Devils have as well as men James 2. 19. no more than this is prest upon the people at any time as necessary to their salvation Thirdly And even this particular explicit faith when it is spoken or written of is exceedingly slighted I think if the Devil himself were in the Pulpit he could hardly tell how to bring men to a more low and slight esteem of faith to represent it as a verier trifle and needless thing than these his Agents have done Some a Petr. à S. Joseph sum Art 1. p. 6. say if a man believe with a particular explicit faith i. e. if he actually assent to Scripture truths once in a year it is enough Yea and others b Bonacina Tom. 2. in 1. praecept think it too much to oblige people to believe once in twelve months and for their ease tell them if they believe once in twelve years it is sufficient and lest this should be too great a task c Jo. Sanc. Disp. 41. n. 32. others affirm that if it be done but once in their whole life and that at the point of death too it is enough especially for the rude and common people Good God! what doctrine is here it was a saying long ago of Gregory as I remember malus minister est nisus diâ—…boli a wicked minister is the devils Gosshawk that goes a birding for hell and O what game have these hawks of hell among such numerous flocks of people O bless God while you live for your deliverance from Popery and see that you prize the Gospel and means of grace you enjoy at an higher rate lest God bring you once more under that yoak which neither you nor your Fathers could bear Second Use for Examination Doth saving faith consist in a due and right receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ then let me perswade you to examine 2. Use. your selves in this great point of faith Reflect solemnly upon the transactions that have been betwixt Christ and your souls think close on this subject of meditation If all you were worth in the world lay in one precious stone and that stone were to be tried by the skilful Lapidary whether it were true or false whether it would flye or endure under the smart stroke of his Hammer sure your thoughts could not be unconcerned about the issue why all that you are worth in both worlds depends upon the truth of your saith which is now to be tried O therefore read not these lines with a running careless eye but seriously ponder the matter before you you would be loth to put to Sea though it were but to cross the channel in a rotten leaky bottome and will you dare to venture into the ocean of eternity in a false rotten faith God forbid you know the Lord is coming to try every mans faith as by fire and that we must stand or fall for ever with the sincerity or hypocrisie of our faith Surely you can never be too exact and careful about that on which your whole estate depends and that for ever Now there are three things upon which we should have a very tender and watchful eye for the discovery of the sincerity of our faith and they are The Antecedents of Faith Concomitants Consequents As these are so we must judge and reckon our faith to be And accordingly they furnish us with three general Marks or tryals of faith First If you would discern the sincerity of your faith examine 1. Mark whether those Antecedents and preparative works of the Spirit were ever found in your souls which use to introduce and usher it into the souls of Gods Elect such are illumination conviction self-despair and earnest crys to God First Illumination is a necessary antecedent to faith you
have their thoughts sinking deeper into these things than others these thoughts lye with different degrees of weight upon men but all are most solemnly and awfully concerned about their condition all frothiness and frolicks are gone and the heart settles it self in deepest earnest about its eternal state Secondly The heart that receives Jesus Christ is in a frame of deep humiliation and self-abasement O when a man begins to apprehend the first approaches of grace pardon and mercy â—…y Jesus Christ to his soul a soul convinced of its utter unworthiness and desert of hell and can scarce expect any thing else from the just and holy God but damnation how do the first dawnings of mercy melt and humble it O Lord what am I that thou shouldest feed me and preserve me that thou shouldest but for a few years spare me and forbear me but that ever Jesus Christ should love me and give himself for me that such a wretched sinner as I should obtain Union with his person pardon peace and salvation by his blood Lord whence is this to such a worm as I and will Christ indeed bestow himself upon me shall so great a blessing as Christ ever come within the arms of such a soul as mine will God in very deed be reconciled to me in his son what to me to such an enemy as I have been shall my sins which are so many so horrid so much aggravated beyond the sins of most men be forgiven me O what am I vile dust base wretch that ever God should do this for me And now is that Scripture indeed fulfill'd and made good Ezech. 16. 63. That thou maist remember and be confounded and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done saith the Lord God Thus that poor broken-hearted believer stood behind Christ weeping and washing his feet with tears as one quite melted down and overcome with the sense of mercy to such a vile sinner Luke 7. 38. Thirdly The soul that receives Jesus Christ is in a weary Condition restless and full of disquietness neither able to bear the burden of sin nor knowing how to be discharged from it except Christ will give it ease Matth. 11. 28. Come unto me that is believe in me you that are weary and heavy laden if they do not look into their own souls they know there 's no safety and if they do there 's no comfort O the burdensome sense of sin overweighs them they are ready to fail to sink under it Fourthly The soul that rightly receives Christ is not only in a weary but in a longing condition never did the hart pant more earnestly for the water-brooks never did the hireling desire the shadow never did a condemned person long for a pardon more than the soul longs after Jesus Christ. O said David that one would give me of the waters of the well of Bethlehem to drink O saith the poor humbled sinner that one would give me of the open'd fountain of the blood of Christ to drink O for one drop of that precious blood O for one encouraging smile from Christ O now were ten thousand worlds at my command and Christ to be bought how freely would I lay them all down to purchase him but he is the gift of God O that God would give me Christ if I should go in raggs and hunger and thirst all my days in this world Fifthly The soul in the time of its closing with or receiving Christ is in a state of conflict it hangs betwixt hopes and fears encouragements and discouragements which occasion many a sad stand and pause in the way to Christ sometimes the number and nature of its sins discourage it then the riches and freeness of the grace of Christ erects his hopes again there 's little hope saith unbelief nay it 's utterly impossible saith Satan that ever such a wretch as thou shouldst find mercy now the hands hang down O but then there 's a necessity an absolute necessity I have not the choice of two but am shut-up to one way of deliverance others have found mercy and the invitation is to all that are weary and to all that are athirst he saith he that cometh to him he will in no wise cast-out now new hopes inspire the soul and the hands that did hang down are again strengthned These are the Concomitant frames that accompany faith Lastly Examine the Consequents and effects of Faith if you 3. Mark would be satisfied of the truth and sincerity of it and such are First Evangelical meltings and ingenuous thawings of the heart under the apprehensions of grace and mercy Zech. 12. 10. They shall look upon me whom they have pierced and shall mourn Secondly Love to Christ his ways and people Gal. 5. 6. Faith worketh by love i. e. it represents the love of God and then makes use of the sweetness of it by way of argument to constrain the soul to all acts of obedience wherein it may testifie the reality of its love to God and Christ. Thirdly Heart purity Acts 15. 9. purifying their hearts by faith it doth not only cleanse the hands but the heart no principle in man besides faith can do this morality may hide corruption but faith only purifies the heart from it Fourthly Obedience to the commands of Christ Rom. 16. 26. the very name of faith is call'd upon obedience for it accepts Christ as Lord and urges upon the soul the most powerful arguments in the world to draw it to obedience In a word let the poor doubting believer that questions his faith reflect upon those things that are unquestionable in his own experience which being well considered will greatly tend to his satisfaction in this point It 's very doubtful to you whether you believe but yet in the mean while it may be past doubt being a matter of clear experience that you have been deeply convinced of sin struck off from all carnal props and refuges made willing to accept Jesus Christ upon what terms soever you might enjoy him you doubt whether Christ be yours but it 's past doubt that you have a most high and precious esteem of Christ that you heartily long for him that you prize and love all whether persons or things that bears his image that nothing in the world would please your hearts like a transformation into his likeness that you had rather your souls should be fill'd with his Spirit than your houses with Gold and Silver 'T is doubtful whether Christ be yours but it 's past doubt that one smile from Christ one token of his love would do you more good than all the honours and smiles of the world and nothing so grieves you as your grieving him by sin doth you dare not say that you have received him nor can you deny but that you have had many sick days and nights for him that you have gone into many secret places with
the second we partake with him the former is the remote the later the next cause thereof In the explication of this point I shall speak to these four things 1. What are those things in which Christ and believers have fellowship 2. By what means they come to have such a fellowship with Christ. 3. How great a dignity this is to have fellowship with Jesus Christ. 4. And then apply the whole in divers practical inferences First What are those things in which Christ and believers 1. have fellowship to which I must speak both negatively and positively First The Saints have no fellowship with Jesus Christ in Negatively those things that belong to him as God such as his consubstantiality coequality and coeternity with the father 't is the blasphemy of the wicked Familists to talk of being Godded into God and Christed into Christ neither men or Angels partake in these things they are the proper and incommunicable Justitia Christi fit nostra non quoad universalem valoremsed particularem necessitatem imputatur nobis non ut causis salvationis sed ut subjectis salvandis Bradshaw de justificatione glory of the Lord Jesus Secondlly The Saints have no communion or fellowship in the honour and glory of his mediatory works viz. his satisfaction to God or redemption of the elect 't is true we have the benefit and fruit of his mediation and satisfaction his righteousness also is imputed to us for our personal justification but we share not in the least with Christ in the glory of this work nor have we an inherent righteousness in us as Christ hath nor can we justifie and save others as Christ doth we have nothing to do with his peculiar honour and praise in these things though we have the benefit of being saved we may not pretend to the honour of being Saviours as Christ is to our selves or others Christs righteousness is not made ours as to its universal value but as to our particular necessity nor is it imputed to us as to so many causes of salvation to others but as to so many subjects to be saved by it our selves Secondly But then there are many glorious and excellent Posi ively things which are in common betwixt Christ and believers though in them all he hath the preeminence he shines in the fulness of them as the Sun and we with a borrowed and lesser light but of the same kind and nature as the Stars Some of these I shall particularly and briefly unfold in the following particulars First Believers have communion with Christ in his names and titles they are call'd Christians from Christ Eph. 3. 15. from him the whole family in heaven and earth is named this is that worthy name the Apostle speaks of James 2. 7. He is the son of God and they also by their union with him have power or authority to become the sons of God Joh. 1. 12. He is the heir of all things and they are joynt heirs with him Rom. 8. 17. He is both King and Priest and he hath made them Kings and Priests Rev. 1. 6. but they do not only partake in the names and titles but this communion consists in things as well as titles and therefore Secondly They have communion with him in his righteousness i. e. the righteousness of Christ is made theirs 2 Cor. 5. 21. and he is the Lord our righteousness Jer. 23. 6. 'T is true the righteousness of Christ is not inherent in us as it is in him but it is ours by imputation Rom. 4. 5. 11. and our union with him is the ground of the imputation of his righteousness to us 2 Cor. 5. 21. we are made the righteousness of God in him Phil. 3. 9. for Christ and believers are considered as one person in construction of Law as a man and his wife a debtor and surety are one and so his payment or satisfaction is in our name or upon our account Now this is a most inestimable priviledge the very ground of all our other blessings and mercies O what a benefit is this to a poor sinner that owes to God infinitely more than he is ever able to pay him by doing or suffering to have such a rich treasure of merit as lyes in the obedience of Christ to discharge in one entire payment all his debts to the least farthing Surely shall one say In the Lord have I righteousness Isa. 45. 24. even as a poor woman that owes more than she is worth in one moment is discharged of all her obligations by her marriage to a wealthy man Thirdly Believers have communion with Christ in his holiness or Sanctification for of God he is made unto them not only righteousness but Sanctification also and as in the former priviledge they have a stock of merit in the blood of Christ to justifie them so here they have the Spirit of Christ to sanctisie them 1 Cor. 1. 30. and therefore we are said of his fulness to receive grace for grace Joh. 1. 16. i. e. say some grace upon grace manifold graces or abundance of grace or grace for grace that is grace answerable to grace as in the seal and wax there is line for line and cut for cut exactly answerable to each other or grace for grace that is say others the free grace of God in Christ for the sanctification or filling of our souls with grace be it in which sense it will it shews the communion believers have with Jesus Christ in grace and holiness Now holiness is the most precious thing in the world it 's the image of God and chief excellency of man it is our evidence for glory yea and the first-fruits of glory in Christ dwells the fulness of grace and from him our head it is derived and communicated to us thus he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one Heb. 2. 11. You would think it no small priviledge to have Baggs of Gold to go to and enrich your selves with and yet that were but a very trifle in comparison to have Christs righteousness and holiness to go to for your Justification and Sanctification More particularly Fourthly Believers have communion with Christ in his death they dye with him Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ i. e. the death of Christ hath a real killing and mortifying influence upon the lusts and corruptions of my heart and nature true it is he died for sin one way and we dye to sin another way he dyed to expiate it we dye to it when we mortifie it the death of Christ is the death of sin in believers and this is a very glorious priviledge for the death of sin is the life of your souls if sin do not dye in you by mortification you must dye for sin by eternal damnation if Christ had not dyed the Spirit of God by which you now mortifie the deeds of the body could not have been given unto you then you must
that as the heathen said of moral vertue I may much more say of Christ That were he to be seen with mortal eyes he would compel love and admiration from all men for he is altogether lovely Cant. 5. 16. Infer 7. What delight and singular advantage must needs be in the communion of the Saints who have communion with Jesus Christ in all Infer 7. his graces and benefits That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ 1 Joh. 1. 3. O 't is sweet to have fellowship with those that have fellowship with God in Jesus Christ. Christ hath communicated to the Saints varieties of graces in different measures and degrees and as they all receive from Christ the fountain so it 's sweet and most delightful to be improving themselves by spiritual communion one with another yea for that end one is furnisht with one grace more eminently than another that the weak may be assisted by the strong as a Modern Divine well observes Athanasius was prudent and active Basil of an heavenly Mr. Torsâ—…ell sweet temper Chrysostome laborious without affectation Ambrose resolv'd and grave Luther couragious and Calvin acute and judicious thus every one hath his proper gift from Christ the fountain of gifts and graces 1 Cor. 7. 7. One hath quickness of parts another solidity of judgement but not ready and presential one is zealous but ungrounded another well principled but timorous one is wary and prudent another open and plain one is trembling and melting another chearful and joyous one must impart his light another his heat the Eye the knowing man cannot say to the Hand the active man I have no need of thee And O how sweet would it be if gifts graces and experiences were frequently and humbly imparted but idle notions earthly-mindedness self-interests and want of more communion with Christ have almost destroyed the comfort of Christian fellowship every where in the world Infer 8. In a word those only have ground to claim interest in Infer 8. Christ who do really participate of his graces and in whom are found the effects and fruits of their Union and communion with him If you have interest in Christ you have communion in his graces and benefits and if you have such communion it will appear in your maintaining daily actual communion with God in duties whereby will be produced First The increase of your Sanctification by fresh participations from the Fountain as Cloth which is often dipt into the Fat receives the deeper dye and livelier tincture so will your souls by assiduous communion with God It will also be discerned Secondly In your deeper humiliation and spiritual sense of your own vileness the more any man partakes of God and is acquainted with him and assimilated to him the more base and vile in his own sight he still grows Job 42. 5 6. Isa. 6. 5. Thirdly It will appear in your more vehement longings after the full enjoyment of God in heaven 1 Pet. 1. 8. and Rom. 8. 23. you that have the first-fruits will groan within your selves after the full harvest and satisfying fruition you will not be so taken with things below as to be content with the best lot on earth for your everlasting portion O if hese communicated drops be so sweet what is there in Christ the fountain And thus I have opened the method of grace in bringing home Christ and his benefits to Gods elect by Union in order to communion with him Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ. The Ninth SERMON Serm. 9. MATTH 11. 28. Text. Containing the first general use of Exhortation inviting all men to apply Jesus Christ. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest THe Impetration of our Redemption by Jesus Christ being finished in the first part and the way and means by which Christ is applied to sinners in the foregoing part of this Treatise I am now orderly come to the general Use of the whole which in the first place shall be by way of Exhortation to invite and perswade all men to come unto Christ who in all the former Sermons hath been represented in his garments of salvation red in his apparel prepared and offered to sinners as their all-sufficient and only remedy and in the following Sermons will be represented in his perfumed garments coming out of his Ivory Palaces Psal. 45. 8. to allure and draw all men unto him For a general head to this Use which will be large I have chosen this Scripture Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest These words are the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ himself in which there is a vital ravishing sound 't is your mercy to have such a joyful sound in your ears this day and in them I will consider their dependance parts and scope As to their dependance it is manifest they have an immediate relation to the foregoing verse wherein Christ opens his Commission and declares the fulness of his authority and saving power and the impossibility of coming to God any other way all things are delivered to me of my Eather and no man knoweth the Son but the Father neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him v. 27. This 28 verse is brought in proleptically to obviate the discouragements of any poor convinced and humbled soul who might thus object Lord I am fully satisfied of the fulness of thy saving power but greatly doubt whether ever I shall have the benefit thereof For I see so much sin and guilt in my self so great vileness andutter unworthiness that I am over-weighed and even sink under the burden of it my soul is discouraged because of sin This objection is prevented in the words of my Text Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden Q. d. let not the sense of your sin and misery drive you from your only remedy be your sins never so many and the sense and burthen of them never so heavy yet for all that come unto me you are the persons whom I invite and call I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance In the words three things are especially remarkable 1. The souls spiritual distress and burthen weary and heavy laden 2. It s invitation to Christ under that barthen come unto me 3. It s incouragement to that great duty I will give you rest First The souls spiritual distress and burthen exprest in 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qui laboratis scil ad defatigationem usque hac enim Emphasi differt Tò 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à verbo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod in genere significat laborare Piscator in Loc. i. e. Qui sentitis â—…nus peccatorum sub illo tantâ—…
non succumbitis Chrysostomus intelligit oneratos legalibâ—… oneribus nos vero in genere intelligimus universos eos qui peccatorum pondere naturaeque corruptae malitiâ quam sentiunt pressi ad ejiciendam pravitatem assequendam justitiam lucta t ur Muâ—… câ—…lus in Loc. two very Emphatical words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye that labour and are heavy laden the word which we translate labour signifies a labouring even to faintness and tiring to the consumption and wast of the spirits and the other word signifies such a pressure by a burden that is too heavy to be born that we do even sink down under it There is some difference among expositors about the quality of this burthen Chrysost. some others after him expound it of burden of the legal rites Ceremonies which was a heavy burden indeed such as neither they nor their fathers could bear under the task and burden of these legal observances they did sweat and toyl to obtain a righteousness to justifie them before God all in vain and this is a pious sense but others expound it of the burthen of sin in general the corruption of nature and evils of practice which souls are convinced have brought them under the curse and will bring them to hell and therefore labour and strive all that in them lyes by repentance and reformation to clear themselves from it but all in vain whilest they strive in their own strength Such are they that are here called to come to Christ which is the second thing namely Secondly The Invitation of burthened souls to Christ. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden come unto me i. e. believe in me lean and rest your burthened souls upon me I am able to ease all your burthens in me is that righteousness and peace which you seek in vain in all the legal rites and Ceremonies or in your repentance reformations and duties but it will give you no ease 't will be no benefit to you except you come unto me Faith is often expressed under this notion see Joh. 6. 37. and Joh. 7. 37. 2. and it is to be further noted that all burthened souls are invited to come All ye that labour whatever your sin or guilt hath been whatever your fears or discouragements are yet come i. e. believe in me Thirdly Here is the encouragement Christ gives to this duty And I will give you rest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will refresh you 3. Quid alibi quaeritis quod non licet invenire ego is sum qui possum vos juvare solus Musc. in Loc. I will give you rest from your labour your Consciences shall be pacified your heart at rest and quiet in that pardon peace and favour of God which I will procure for you by my death But here it must be heedfully noted that this promise of rest in Christ is not made to men simply as they are sinners nor yet as they are burthened and heavy laden sinners but as they come to Christ i. e. as they are believers For let a man break his heart with sin let him weep out his eyes for sin let him mourn as a dove and shed as many tears for sin if it were possible as ever there fell drops of rain upon the ground yet if he come not to Christ by faith his repentance shall not save him nor all his sorrows bring him to true rest Hence Note Doct. 1. That some souls are heavy laden with the burthensome sense of sin Doct. 1. Doct. 2. That all burthened souls are solemnly invited to come to Christ. Doct. 2. Doct. 3. That there is rest in Christ for all that come to him under the heavy burthen of sin Doct. 3. Doct. 1. Some souls are heavy laden with the burthensome sense of sin I Do not say all are so for fools make a mock of sin Prov. Doct. 1. 14. 9. 't is so far from being burthensome to some that it is a sport to them Prov. 10. 23. but when a mans eyes are opened to see the evil that is in sin and the eternal misery that follows it sin and hell being linkt together with such strong chains as nothing but the blood of Christ can loose then no burthen is like that of sin a wounded conscience who can bear Prov. 18. 14. For let us but consider the efficacy that the Law of God hath upon the consciences of men when it comes in the spirituality and power of it to convince and humble the soul of a sinner For then First The memory of sin long since committed is refresht and revived as if it had been but yesterday there are fresh recognitions 1. What inward troubles for sin are of sin long since acted and forgotten as if they had never been what was done in our youth is fetcht back again and by a new impression of fear and horror set home upon the trembling conscience Job 13. 26. Thou writest bitter things against me and makest me to possess the sins of my youth Conscience can call back the days that are past and draw up a new charge upon the score of old sins Gen. 42. 21. all that ever we did is recorded and entred into the book of Conscience and now is the time to open that book when the Lord will convince and awaken sinners we read in Job 14. 17. of sealing up iniquities in a bag which is an allusion to the Clerk of the Assizes that takes all the indictments that are made against persons at the Assizes and seals them up in a bag in order to a Tryal This is the first office and work of conscience upon which The second namely its Accusations do depend these accusations of Conscience are terrible things who can stand 2. before them they are full they are clear and all of them referring to the approaching Judgement of the great and terrible God Conscience dives into all sins secret as well as open and Prima est haec ultio quod se judice nemo uocens absolvitur into all the circumstances and aggravations of sin as being committed against light against mercy against the strivings warnings and regretts of conscience So that we may say of the efficacy of conscience as it is said Psal. 19. 6. of the influence of the Sun nothing is hid from the heat or power thereof Come saith the woman of Samaria see a man that hath told me all that ever I did Joh. 4. 29 Christ convinced her but of one sin by that discourse but conscience by that one fetcht in and charged all the rest upon her And as the accusations of conscience are full so they are clear and undeniable a man becomes self-convinced and there remains no shift excuse or plea to defend himself a thousand witnesses cannot prove any point more clearly than one testimony of conscience doth Matth. 22. 12. the man was speechless 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ille
Jer. 4. 18. Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee this is thy wickedness because it is great because it reacheth unto thy heart Secondly The Lord doth this to make Jesus Christ most welcome and desirable to the soul. Christ is not sweet till sin be made bitter to us Matth. 9. 12. They that be whole need not a Physician but they that be sick If once God wound the heart of a sinner with the stinging sense of sin then nothing in the world is so precious so necessary so vehemently desired and panted for as Jesus Christ. O that I had Christ if I did go in raggs if I did feed upon no other food all my dayes but the bread and water of affliction This is the language of a soul filled with the sense of the evil of sin Thirdly The Lord doth this to advance the riches of his free grace in the eyes of sinners Grace never appears Grace till sin appear to be sin The deeper our sense of the evil of sin is the deeper our apprehensions of the free grace of God in Christ will be The louder our groans have been under the burden of sin the louder will our acclamations and praises be for our salvation from it by Jesus Christ. To me saith Paul the chiefest of sinners was this grace given 1 Tim. 1. 15. Never doth the grace of a Prince melt the heart of a Traytor as when Tryal Sentence and all preparations for his execution have past before his unexpected pardon comes Fourthly The Lord doth this to prevent relapses into sin In that ye sorrowed after a godly sort what carefulness it wrought 2 Cor. 2. 7. The burnt Child dreads the fire the Bird that is delivered out of the Tallons of the Hawk trembles afterward at the noise of his Bells After such a deliverance as this should we again break thy Commandments Ezra 9. 13 14. Ask a poor penitent soul that hath been in the deeps of sorrow for sin Will you return to your former course of sin again and it sounds in his ears as if you should ask him Will you run into the fire will you go to the Rack again Noâ—…o tanti emere poenitentiam O no it hath cost him dear already Fifthly Lastly This the Lord doth to make them both skilful and compassionate in relieving others that are under like inward troubles None can speak so judiciously so pertinently so feelingly to anothers case as he that hath been in the Haud ignara mali miseris â—…currere disco Dido same case himself this furnishes them with the tongue of the learned to speak a word in season to the weary soul By this means they are able to comfort others with the same comforts wherewith they themselves have been comforted of God 2 Cor. 1. 4. Thus you have had a brief account what the burden of sin is how souls are supported under that burden and why the Lord causes sin to lye so heavy upon the souls of some sinners The improvement of all will be in a double Use viz. of Information and Direction First Use for Insormation Inference 1. Use. Is there such a load and burden in sin What then was the Inference 1. burden that our Lord Jesus Christ felt and bare for us upon whom the dead weight of all the sins of all Gods elect lay Isa. 53. 6. He hath made the iniquities of us all to meet on him Our burden is heavy but nothing to Christ. O there 's a vast difference betwixt that which Christ bare and that which we bear We feel but the single weight of our own sins Christ felt the whole weight of all our sins You do not feel the whole weight that is in any one sin alas it would sink you if God should let it bear in all its aggravations and effects upon you Psal. 130. 2 3. If thou Lord shouldst mark iniquity O Lord who shall stand You would quail and sink presently you can no more stand under it than under the weight of a mighty Mountain But Christ bare all the burden upon himself his understanding was deep and large he knew the extent of its evil which we do not we have many reliefs and helps under our burden he had none we have friends to counsel comfort and pity us all his friends and familiars forsook him and fled in the day of his trouble we have comforts from heaven he had frowns from heaven My God my God saith he in that doleful day why hast thou forsaken me there 's no compare betwixt our load and Christ's Inference 2. If there be such a burden in sin Then certainly sinners will pay Inscrence 2. dear for all the pleasure they find in sin in the dayes of their vanity What one saith of crafty counlâ—…s we may say of Consilia callida prima specie laeta tractatu dura aventu tristia Livy all sins though they seem pleasant in their first appearance they will be found sad in the event they are honey in the mouth but the gall of Asps in the belly they tickle the fancy but rend the conscience O sinner thy mirth will certainly be turned into mourning as sure as thou livest that vain and frothy breast of thine shall be wounded thou shalt feel the sâ—…ing and pain as well as relish the sweet and pleasure of sin O that thou wouldst but give thy self the leisure seriously to ponder those Scriptures in the Margent Prov. 20. 7. Prov. 23. 31 32. Job 20. 12 13 14. James 1. 15. Rom. 6. 21. me thinks they should have the same effect that the hand-writing upon the plaister of the wall had upon that Jovial King in the height of a frolick Dan. 5. 5. Reason thus with thine own heart and thou wilt find the conclusion unavoidable Either I shall repent for sin or I shall not if I shall not then must I howl under the wrath of God for sin in the lowest Hell for evermore If I shall then by what I have now read of the throbs and wounds of conscience I see what this heart of mine this vain heart of mine must feel in this world O how much wiser was the choice that Moses made Heb. 11. 25. the worst of sufferings rather than the best of sin the pleasures of sin which are but for a season Inference 3. Is there such a burden in sin Then the most tender compassion Inference 3. is due debt to souls afflicted and heavy laden with sin Their condition cryes for pity whatever their tongues do they seem to call upon you as Job upon his friends Have pity have pity upon me O ye my friends for the hand of God hath touched me Job 19. 21. and O let all that have felt the wounds and anguish of an afflicted conscience themselves learn from their own experience tenderly to pity and help others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 luxata membra in suum locum restituere
Gal. 6. 1. You that are spiritually minded restore or set him in joint again in the spirit of meekness considering thy self Israel was commanded to be kind to strangers for saith God you know the heart of a stranger and surely if any case in the world require help pity and all compassionate tenderness this doth and yet how do some slight spiritual troubles upon others Parents slight them in their own children Masters in their servants the more bruitish and wicked they O had you but felt your selves what they feel you would never handle them as you do But let this comfort such poor creatures Christ hath felt them and will pity and help them yea he therefore would feel them himself that he might have compassion upon you If men will not God will pity you if men be so cruel to persecute him whom God hath smitten God will be so kind to pour balm into the wounds that sin hath made if they pull away the shoulder from you and will not be concerned about your troubles except it be to aggravate them God will not serve you so but certainly you that have past through the same difficulties you cannot be without compassion to them that are now grapling with them Inference 4. How unexpressibly dreadful is the state of the damned who must bear the burden of all their sins upon themselves without relief or Inference 4. hope of deliverance Mark 9. 44. where their worm dyeth not and the fire is not quenched O if sin upon the soul that 's coming to Christ for deliverance be so burdensome what is it upon the soul that is shut out from Christ and all hopes of deliverance for ever For do but ponder these differences betwixt these two burdens First No soul is so capacious now to take in the fulness of the evil and misery of sin as they are who are gone down to the place of torments Even as the joyes of Gods face above are much unknown to them that have the foretastes and first-fruits of them here by faith so the misery of the damned is much unknown even to them that have in their consciences now the bitterest taste and sense of sin in this world as we have the visions of heaven so we have the visions of hell also but darkly through a glass Secondly No burden of sin presseth so continually upon the soul here as it doth there afflicted souls on earth have intermissions and breathing times but in hell there are no Lucid intervals the wrath of God there is still flowing it is in fluxu continuâ—… Isa. 30. 33. a stream of brimstone Thirdly No burden of sin lyes upon any of Gods elect so long as the damned do and must bear it our troubles about sin are but short though they should run parallel with the line of life but the troubles of the damned are parallel with the endless line of eternity Fourthly Under these troubles the soul hath hope but there all hope is cut off all the Gospel is full of hope it breathes nothing but hope to sinners that are moving Christ-ward under their troubles but in hell the pangs of desperation rend their consciences for ever So that upon all accounts the state of the damned is inexpressibly dreadful Inference 5. If the burden os sin be so heavy how sweet then must the Inference 5. pardon of sin be to a sin-burdened soul Is it a refreshment to a prisoner to have his chains knockt off a comfort to a debtor to have his debts paid and obligations cancelled What joy must it then be to a sin-burthened soul to hear the voice of pardon and peace in his trembling conscience Is the light of the morning pleasant to a man after a weary tiresome night the Spring of the year pleasant after a hard and tedious Winter they are so indeed but nothing so sweet as the favour peace and pardon of God to a soul that hath been long restless and anxious under the terrors and fears of conscience for though after pardon and peace a man remembers sin still yet it is as one that remembers the dangerous pits and deep waters from which he hath been wonderfully delivered and had a narrow escape O the unconceivable sweetness of a pardon Who can read it and not wet it with tears of joy Are we glad when the grinding pain of the Stone or racking fits of the Colick are over and shall we not be transported when the accusations and condemnations of conscience are over Tongue cannot express what these things are this joy is something that no words can convey to the understanding of another that never felt the anguish of sin Inference 6. Lastly In how sad a case are those that never felt any burden in Inference 6. sin that never were kept waking and restless one night for sin There is a burthened conscience and there is a benummed conscience The first is more painful but the last more dangerous O 't is a fearful blow of God upon a mans soul to strike it senseless and stupid so that though mountains of guilt lye upon it it feels no pain or pressure and this is so much the more sad because it incapacitates the soul for Christ and is a presage and fore-runner of hell It would grieve the heart of a man to see a delirious person in the rage and height of a fevor to laugh at those that are weeping for him call them fools and telling them he is as well as any of them much so is the case of many thousand souls the God of mercy pity them Second Use for Counsel The only further Use I shall make of this Point here shall Use 2. be to direct and counsel souls that are weary and heavy laden with the burden of sin in order to their obtaining true rest and peace And first First Counsel Satisfie not your selves in fruitless complaints to men Many 1. Counsel do so but it 's never the near I grant it 's lawful in spiritual distresses to complain to men yea and it is a great mercy if we have any near us in times of trouble that are judicious tender and faithful into whose bosomes we may pour out our troubles but to rest in this short of Christ is no better than a snare of the Devil to destroy us Is there not a God to go to in trouble The best of men in the neglect of Christ are but Physicians of no value Be wise and wary in your choice of Christian friends to whom you open your complaints some are not clear themselves in the doctrine of Christ and faith others are of a dark and troubled spirit as you are and will but entangle you more As for me saith Job is my complaint to man and if it were so why should not my spirit be troubled Job 21. 4. One hour betwixt Christ and thy soul in secret will do more to thy true relief than all other counsellors and comforters in
the world can do Second Counsel Beware of a false peace which is more dangerous than your trouble for sin can be Many men are afraid of their troubles 2. Counsel but I think they have more cause to fear their peace a great deal There is a twofold peace that ruines most men Peace in sin and peace with sin O how glad are some persons when their troubles are gone but I dare not rejoyce with them It 's like him that rejoyces his Ague is gone though it hath left him in a deep Consumption You are got rid of your troubles but God knows how you have left them your wounds are skinn'd over better they were kept open There 's no wise woman would desire to have her pains and throes cease till the Child be born And surely they have much to answer that help on these delusions healing the hurt of souls slightly by crying peace peace when there is no peace The false peace you beget in them will be a real trouble to your selves in the issue Jer. 6. 14. Third Counsel Let all that are under inward troubles for sin take heed of 3. Counsel drawing desperate conclusions against themselves and the final state of their own souls Though your case be sad 't is not desperate though the night be troublesome and tedious keep on in the way to Christ and light will spring up To mourn for sin is your duty to conclude there is no hope for you in Christ is your sin You have wronged God enough already do'nt add a farther and greater abuse to all the rest by an absolute despair of mercy 'T was your sin formerly to presume beyond any promise 't is your sin now to despair against many commands I would say as the Apostle in another case I would not have you mourn as men that have no hope your condition is sad as it is but yet it 's much better than once it was you were once full of sin and void of sense now you have the sense of sin which is no small mercy you were once quite out of the way and method of mercy now you are in that very path wherein mercy meets the elect of God Keep hope therefore at the bottom of all your troubles Fourth Counsel Observe whether your troubles for sin produce such fruits and effects in your souls as theirs do which end at last in Christ and 4. Counsel everlasting peace First One that is truly burdened with sin will not allow himself to live in the secret practice of sin either your trouble will put an end to your course of sinning or your sinning will put an end to your troubles Consult 2 Cor. 7. 11. Secondly True sorrow for sin will give you very low and vile thoughts of your selves as you were covered with pride before so you will be covered with shame after God hath convinced and humbled you Rom. 6. 21. Thirdly A soul really burdened with sin will never stand in his own justification before God nor extenuate and mince it in his confessions to him Psal. 51. 3 4. Fourthly The burdens of sin will make a man set light by all other burdens of affliction Lam. 3. 22. Mic. 7. 9. The more you feel sin the less you feel affliction Fifthly A soul truly burdened for sin will take no hearty joy or comfort in any outward enjoyment of this world till Christ come and speak peace to the soul Lam. 3. 28. Just so the soul sits alone and keepeth silence merry company is a burden and musick is but howling to him Fifth Counsel Beware of those things that make your troubles longer than they 5. Counsel ought to be There be several errors and mistakes that hold poor souls much longer in their fears and terrors than else they might be And such are First Ignorance of the nature of saving faith and the necessity of it till you come to believe you cannot have peace and while you mistake the nature or apprehend not the necessity of faith you are not like to fall into that path of peace Secondly Labouring to heal the wounds that the Law hath made upon your consciences by a more strict obedience to it for the future in the neglect of Christ and his righteousness Thirdly Inobservance of what God hath already done for you in these preparatory works of the Law in order to your salvation by Jesus Christ. O if you would but compare what you now are with what you lately were it would give some relief but the last and principal thing is this Sixth Counsel Hasten to Christ in the way of faith and you shall find rest and till then all the world cannot give you true rest The sooner 6. Counsel you transact with Christ in the way of faith the sooner you shall be at peace and enter into his rest for those that believe do now enter into rest You may tugg and strive look this way and that but all in vain Christ and peace come together No sooner do you come to him and roll your burden on him receive him as he offers himself but the soul feels it self eased on a suddain being justified by faith we have peace with God Rom. 5. 1. And thus in finishing the first we are brought home to the second Observation Doct. 2. Doct. 2. That Sin-burdened souls are solemnly invited to come to Christ. THIS Point sounds sweetly in the ear of a distressed sinner it is the most joyful voice that ever the soul heard the voice of blessing from Mount Gerezim the ravishing voice from Mount Sion Ye are come to Jesus the Mediator In opening of it I will shew 1. What it is to come to Christ. 2. How Christ invites men to come to him 3. Why his invitation is directed to burdened souls First We will enquire what it is to come to Christ and 1. how many things are involved in it In general To come to Christ is a phrase aequipollent or of the same amount with believing in Christ. It is an expression that carries the nature and necessity of faith in it and is reciprocated with believing John 6. 35. He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth in me shall never thirst Coming to Christ is believing in Christ and believing in Christ is coming to Christ they are Synonyma's and import the self same thing only in this notion of faith there are many rich and excellent things hinted to us which no other word can so aptly convey to our minds as First It hints this to us That the souls of convinced and burdened sinners do not only discern the reality of Christ or that he is but also the necessity of applying Christ and that their eternal life is in their union with him for this is most certain that the object of faith must be determinate and fixed the soul must believe that Christ is or else there can be no emotions of the soul after him all coming
to perswade us to believe Joh. 15. 26. or external namely the preaching of the Gospel by Commissionated Embassadors who in Christ's stead beseech men to be reconciled to God i. e. to come to Christ by faith in order to their reconciliation and peace with God But all means and instruments employ'd in this work of bringing men to Christ entirely depend upon the blessing and concurrence of the Spirit of God without whom they signifie nothing how long may Ministers preach before one soul come to Christ except the Spirit co-operate in that work Now as to the manner in which men are perswaded and their wills wrought upon to come to Christ I will briefly note several acts of the Spirit in order thereunto First There is an illustrating work of the Spirit upon the minds of sinners opening their eyes to see their danger and misery Till this be discovered no man stirs from his place 't is sense of danger that rouzes the secure sinner that distresses him and makes him look about for deliverance crying What shall I do to be saved and 't is the discovery of Christs ability to save which is the ground and reason as was observed above of its motion to Christ. Hence seeing the Son is joyned with believing or coming to him in John 6. 40. Secondly There is the Authoritative call or commanding voice of the Spirit in the Word a voice that 's full of awful majesty and power 1 Joh. 3. 23. This is his Commandment that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ. This call of the Spirit to come to Christ rolls one great block namely the fear of presumption out of the souls way to Christ and instead of presumption in coming makes it rebellion and inexcusable obstinacy to refuse to come This answers all pleas against coming to Christ from our unworthiness and deep guilt and mightily encourages the soul to come to Christ whatever it hath been or done Thirdly There are soul-encouraging conditional promises to all that do come to Christ in obedience to the Command Such is that in my Text I will give you rest and that in John 6. 37. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out and these breathe life and encouragement into poor souls that hang back and are daunted through their own unworthiness Fourthly There are dreadful threatnings denounced by the Spirit in the Word against all that refuse or neglect to come to Christ which are of great use to engage and quicken souls in their way to Christ Mark 16. 16. He that believes not shall be damned Dye in his sins John 8. 24. The wrath of God shall remain on him John 3. ult Which is as if the Lord had said Sinners don't dally with my Christ don 't be alwayes treating and never concluding or resolving for if there be Justice in heaven or Fire in hell every soul that comes not to Christ must and shall perish to all eternity upon your own heads let the blood and destruction of your own souls be for ever if you will not come unto him Fifthly There are moving and working examples set before souls in the Word to prevail with them to come alluring and encouraging Examples of such as have come to Christ under deepest guilt and discouragement and yet found mercy 1 Tim. 1. 15 16. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief howbeit or nevertheless for this cause I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe in him to life everlasting Who would not come to Christ after such an example as this And if this will not prevail there are dreadful examples recorded in the Word setting before us the miserable condition of all such as refuse the calls of the Word to come to Christ 1 Pet. 3. 19 20. By which also he went and preached to the spirits which are in prison which sometime were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the dayes of Noah The meaning is the sinners that lived before the Flood but now are in hell clapt up into that prison had the offers of grace made them but despised them and now lye for their disobedience in prison under the wrath of God for it in the lowest hell Sixthly and Lastly There is an effectual perswading overcoming and victorious work of the Spirit upon the hearts and wills of sinners under which they come to Jesus Christ. Of this I have spoken at large before in the fourth Sermon and therefore shall not add any thing more here This is the way and manner in which souls are prevailed with to come to Jesus Christ. Thirdly In the last place if you enquire why Christ makes his invitations to weary and heavy laden souls and to 3. no other the answer is briefly this First Because in so doing he follows the Commission which he received from his Father for so you will find it runs in Isa. 61. 1. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tydings to the meek he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted to proclaim liberty to the Captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound You see here how Christs Commission binds him up his Father sent him to poor broken hearted sinners and he will keep close to his Commission He came not to call the righteous but sinners i. e. sensible burthened sinners to repentance Matth. 9. 13. I am not sent saith he but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel Thus his Instructions and Commission from the Father limit him only to sensible and burthened souls and he will be faithful to his Commission Secondly The very order of the Spirits work in bringing men to Christ shews us to whom the invitations and offers of grace in Christ are to be made For none are convinced of righteousness i. e. of the compleat and perfect righteousness which is in Christ for their Justification until first they be convinced of sin and consequently no man will or can come to Christ by faith till convictions of sin have awakened and distressed them John 16. 8 9. This being the due order of the Spirits operation the same order must be observed in Gospel offers and invitations Thirdly It behoves that Christ should provide for his own glory as well as for our safety and not expose that to secure this but save us in that way which will bring him most honour and praise And certainly such a way is this by first convincing humbling and burthening the souls of men and then bringing them to rest in himself Alas Let those that never saw or felt the evil of sin be told of rest peace and pardon in Christ they will but despise it as a thing of no value Luke 5. 31. The whole
need not a Physician but those that are sick Bid a man that thinks himself sound and whole go to the Physician and he will but laugh at the motion If you offer him the richest composition he will refuse it slight it and it may be spill it upon the ground ay but if the same man did once feel an acute disease and were made to sweat and groan under strong pains if ever he come to know what sick dayes and restless nights are and to apprehend his life to be in eminent hazard then messengers are sent one after another in post-haste to the Physician then he begs him with tears to do what in him lyes for his relief he thankfully takes the bitterest potions and praises the care and skill of his Physician with tears of joy and so the Patients safety and the Physicians honour are both secured So is it in this method of grace The Uses follow Inference 1. Use. If sin-burthened souls are solemnly invited to come to Inference 1. Christ Then it follows that whatever guilt lye upon the Conscience of a poor humbled sinner 't is no presumption but his duty to come to Christ notwithstanding his own apprehended vileness and great unworthiness Let it be carefully observed how happily that universal particle all is inserted in Christs invitation for the encouragement of sinners Come unto me All ye that labour q. d. let no broken-hearted sinner exclude himself whenas he is not by me excluded from mercy my grace is my own I may bestow it where I will and upon whom I will 'T is not I but Satan that impales and incloses my mercy from humbled souls that are made willing to come unto me he calls that your presumption which my invitation makes your Duty But I doubt my case is excepted by Christ himself in Matth. Object 1. 12. 31. where blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is exempted from pardon and I have had many horrid blasphemous thoughts injected into my soul. Art thou a burdened and heavy laden soul If so thy case is not in that or any other Scripture exempted from mercy Sol. for the unpardonable sin is alwayes found in an impenitent heart as that sin finds no pardon with God so neither is it followed with contrition and sorrow in the soul that commits it But if I am not guilty of that sin I am certainly guilty of many Object 2. great and heinous abominations of another kind too great for me to expect mercy for and therefore I dare not go to Christ. The greater your sins have been the more need you have to go to Jesus Christ. Let not a Motive to Christ be made Sol. an Obstacle in your way to him Great sinners are expresly called Isa. 1. 18. great sinners have come to Christ and found mercy 1 Cor. 6. 7. And to conclude it 's an high reproach and dishonour to the blood of Christ and mercy of God which flowes so freely through him to object the greatness of sin to either of them Certainly you have not sinned beyond the extent of mercy or beyond the efficacy of the blood of of Christ but pardon and peace may be had if you will thus come to Christ for it Oh but it 's now too late I have had many thousand calls by the Gospel and refused them many purposes in my heart 3. Obj. to go to Christ and quenched them my time therefore is past and now 't is to no purpose If the time of grace be past and God intends no mercy for thee how comes it to pass thy soul is now filled with trouble Sol. and distress for sin Is this the frame of a mans heart that is past hope Do such signs as these appear in men that are hopeless Beside the time of grace is a secret hid in the breast of God but coming to Christ is a duty plainly revealed in the Text and why will you object a thing that is secret and uncertain against a duty that is so plain and evident Nor do you your selves believe what you object for at the same time that you say your seasons are over it is too late you are notwithstanding found repenting mourning praying and striving to come to Christ. Certainly if you knew it were too late you would not be found labouring in the use of means Go on therefore and the Lord be with you 'T is not presumption but obedience to come when Christ calls as here he doth Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden Inference 2. Hence it follows That none have cause to be troubled when God makes the souls of their friends or relations sick with the Inference 2. sense of sin It was the saying as I remember of Hierom to Sabinian Nothing said he makes my heart sadder than that nothing can make thy heart sad 'T is matter of joy to all that rightly understand the matter when God smites the heart of any man with the painful sense of sin of such sickness it may be said This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God Yet how do many carnal relations lament and bewail this as a misery as an undoing to their friends and acquaintance as if then they must be reckon'd lost and never till then that Christ is finding and saving them O if your hearts were spiritual and wise their groans for sin would be as musick in your ears When they go alone to bewail their sin you would go alone also to bless God for such a mercy that ever you should live to such a happy day you would say now is my friend in the blessed pangs of the new birth now is he in the very way of mercy never in so hopeful a condition as now I had rather he should groan now at the feet of Christ than groan hereafter under the wrath of God for ever O Parents beware as you love the souls of your Children that you don't damp and discourage them tempt or threaten them divert or hinder them in such cases as this lest you bring the blood of their souls upon your own heads Inference 3. It also follows from hence That those to whom sin was never Inference 3. any burthen are not yet come to Christ nor have they any interest in him We may as well suppose a Child to be born without any pangs or throes as a soul to be born again and united to Christ without any sense or sorrow for sin I know many have great frights of conscience that never were made duly sensible of the evil of sin many are afraid of burning that never were afraid of sinning Slight and transient troubles some have had but it 's vanisht like an early cloud lickt up like a morning dew Few men are without checks and throbs of conscience at one time or other but instead of going to the Closet they run to the Ale house or Tavern for a cure If their sorrow for sin
in heaven in the full enjoyment of God There is a sweet calm upon the troubled soul after believing an ease or rest of the mind which is an unspeakable mercy to a poor weary soul. Christ is to it as the Ark was to the Dove when she wandred over the watery World and found not a place to rest the soal of her foot Faith centres the unquiet spirit of man in Christ brings it to repose it self and its burden on him It is the souls dropping anchor in a storm which stayes and settles it The great debate which cost so many anxious thoughts is now issued into this resolution I will venture my all upon Christ let him do with me as seemeth him good It was impossible for the soul to find rest whilest it knew not where to bestow it self or how to be secured from the wrath to come but when all is embarqued in Christ for eternity and the soul fully resolved to lean upon him and trust to him now it feels the very initials of eternal rest in it self it finds an heavy burden unloaded from its shoulders it is come as it were into a new world the case is strangely altered The word rest in this place notes and is so rendered by some a recreation 't is restored renewed and recreated as it Recreabo vos nempe à lassitudine à molestia onere Vatab. Erasm. were by that sweet repose it hath upon Christ. Believers know that faith is the sweetest recreation you can take Others seek to divert and lose their troubles by sinful recreations vain company and the like but they little know what that recreation and sweet restoring rest that faith gives the soul is You find in Christ what they seek in vain among the creatures Believing is the highest recreation known in this world But to prevent mistakes three Cautions need to be premised lest we do in ipso limine impingere stumble at the threshold and so lose our way all along afterward Caution 1. You are not to conceive that all the souls fears troubles and sorrows are presently over and at an end as soon as it is come to Caution 1. Christ by faith They will have many troubles in the world after that it may be more than ever they had in their lives Luther upon his conversion was so buffeted by Satan ut nec calor nec sanguis nec sensus nec vox superesset Our flesh saith Paul had no rest 2 Cor. 7. 5. They will be infested with many temptations after that it may be the assaults of Satan may be more violent upon their souls than ever horribilia de deo terribilia de fide Injections that make the very bones to quake and the belly to tremble they will not be freed from sin that rest remains for the people of God nor from inward trouble and grief of soul about sin These things are not to be expected presently Caution 2. We may not think that all believers do immediately enter into Caution 2. the full actual sense of rest and comfort but they presently enter into the state of rest Being justified by faith we have peace with God Rom. 5. 1. i. e. we enter into the state of peace immediately Peace is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart Psal. 97. 11. And he is a rich man that hath a thousand acres of corn in the ground as well as he that hath so much in his barn or the money in his purse They have rest and peace in the seed of it when they have it not in the fruit they have rest in the promise when they have it not in possession and he is a rich man that hath good Bonds and Bills for a great summ of money if he have not twelve pence in his pocket All believers have the promise have rest and peace granted them under Gods own hand in many promises which faith brings them under and we know that the truth and faithfulness of God stands engaged to make good every line and word of the promise to them So that though they have not a full and clear actual sense and feeling of rest they are nevertheless by faith come into the state of rest Caution 3. We may not conceive that faith it self is the souls rest but Caution 3. the means and instrument of it only We cannot find rest in any work or duty of our own but we may find it in Christ whom faith apprehends for Justification and Salvation Having thus guarded the point against misapprehensions by these needful cautions I shall next shew you how our coming to Christ by faith brings us to rest in him And here let it be considered what those things are that burden grieve and disquiet the soul before its coming to Christ and how it is relieved and eased in all those respects by its coming to the Lord Jesus and you shall find First That one principal ground of trouble is the guilt 1. of sin upon the conscience of which I spake in the former point The curse of the Law lyes heavy upon the soul so heavy that nothing is found in all the world able to relieve it under that burthen as you see in a condemned man spread a Table in Prison with the greatest dainties and send for the rarest Musicians all will not charm his sorrow but if you can produce an authentick pardon you ease him presently just so it is here faith plucks the thorn out of the conscience which so grieved it unites the soul with Christ and then that ground of trouble is removed for there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Rom. 8. 11. The same moment the soul comes to Christ it is past from death to life is no more under the Law but Grace If a mans debt be paid by his surety he need not fear to shew his face boldly abroad he may freely meet the Sergeant at the prison door Secondly The soul of a convinced sinner is exceedingly 2. burdened with the uncleanness and filthiness wherewith sin hath defiled and polluted it Conviction discovers the universal pollution of heart and life so that a man loaths and abhorrs himself by reason thereof If he do not look into his own corruptions he cannot be safe and if he do he cannot bear the sight of it he hath no quiet Nothing can give rest but what gives relief against this evil And this only is done by faith uniting the soul with Jesus Christ. For though it be true that the pollution of sin be not presently and perfectly taken away by coming to Christ yet the burden thereof is exceedingly eased for upon our believing there is an heart-purifying principle planted into the soul which doth by degrees cleanse that fountain of corruption and will at last perfectly free the soul from it Acts 15. 9. Purifying their hearts by faith and being once in Christ he is concerned for the soul as
a member now of his own mystical body to purifie and cleanse it that at last he may present it perfect to the Father without spot or wrinkle or any such thing Eph. 5. 26. The reigning power of it is gone immediately upon believing and the very existence and being of it shall at last be destroyed O what rest must this give under those troubles for sin Thirdly It was an intolerable burthen to the soul to be under the continual fears aiarms and frights of death and 3. damnation It s life hath been a life of bondage upon this account ever since the Lord opened his eyes to see his condition Poor souls lye down with tremblings for fear what a night may bring forth 'T is a sad life indeed to live in continual bondage to such fears But faith sweetly relieves the trembling Conscience by removing the guilt which breeds it fears The sting of death is sin when guilt is removed fears vanish Smite Lord smite said Luther for my sins are forgiven Now if sickness come 't is another thing than it was Feri Domine feri nam à peccatis meis absolutus sum Luth. wont to be Isai. 33. 21. The Inhabitant shall not say I am sick the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquities a man scarce feels his sickness in comparison to what he did whilst he was without Christ and hope of pardon Fourthly A convinced sinner out of Christ sees every thing 4. against him nothing yields any comfort yea every thing increases and aggravates his burthen whether he look to things past present or to come If he reflect upon things past his soul is filled with anguish to remember the sins committed and the seasons neglected and the precious mercies that have been abused if he look upon things present the case is doleful and miserable nothing but trouble and danger Christless and comfortless and if he look forward to things to come that gives him a deeper cut to the heart than any thing else for though it be sad and miserable for the present yet he fears it will be much worse hereafter all these are but the beginning of sorrows and thus the poor awakened sinner becomes a Magor missabib fear round about But upon his coming to Christ all things are marvellously altered a quite contrary face of things appears to him every thing gives him hope and comfort which way soever he looks so speaks the Apostle 1 Cor. 3. 22 23. All things are yours saith he whether life or death or things present or things to come all is yours and ye are Christs and Christ is Gods they are ours i. e. for our advantage benefit and comfort more particularly upon our coming to Christ First Things past are ours they conduce to our advantage and comfort Now the soul can begin to read the gracious end and design of God in all its preservations and deliverances whereby it hath been reserved for such a day as this O! it melts his heart to consider his Companions in sin and Vanity are cut off and he spared and that for a day of such mercy as the day of his espousals with Christ is Now all his past sorrows and deep troubles of spirit which God hath exercised him with begin to appear the greatest mercies that ever he received being all necessary and introductive to this blessed union with Christ. Secondly Things present are ours though it be not yet with us as we would have it Christ is not sure enough the heart is not pure enough sin is too strong and grace is too weak many things are yet out of order yet can the soul bless God for this with tears of joy and praise him for this brimful of admiration and holy astonishment that it is as it is that he is where he is though he be not yet where he would be O 't is a blessed life to live as a poor recumbent by acts of trust and affiance though as yet it have but little evidence that it is resolved to trust all with Christ though it be not yet certain of the issue O this is a comfortable station a sweet condition to what it was either when it wallowed in sin in the days before conviction or was swallowed up in fears and troubles for sin after conviction now it hath hope though it want assurance and hope is sweet to a soul coming out of such deep distresses now it sees the remedy and is applying it whereas before the wound seemed desperate now all hesitations and debates are at an end in the Soul 't is no longer bivious and unresolved what to do all things have been deeply considered and after consideration issued into this resolve or decree of the will I will go to Christ I will venture all upon his Command and Call I will imbarque my eternal interests in that Bottom here I fix and upon this ground I resolve to live and dye O how much better is this than that floating life it lived before rolling upon the billows of inward fears and troubles not able to drop Anchor any where nor knowing where to find an Harbour Thirdly Things to come are ours and this is the best and sweetest of all man is a prospecting creature his eye is much upon things to come and it will not satisfie him that it is well at present except he have a prospect that it shall be so hereafter but now the soul hath committed it self and all its concernments to Christ for eternity and this being done it 's greatly relieved against evils to come I cannot saith the Believer think all my troubles over and that I shall never meet any more afflictions it were a fond vanity to dream of that but I leave all these things where I have left my soul he that hath supported me under inward will carry me through outward troubles also I cannot think all my temptations to sin past O I may yet meet with sore assaults from Satan yet it is infinitely better to be watching praying and striving against sin than it was when I was obeying it in the lusts of it God that hath delivered me from the love of sin will I trust preserve me from ruine by sin I know also death is to come I must feel the pangs and agonies of it but yet the aspect of death is much more pleasant than it was I come Lord Jesus to thee who art the death of death whose death hath disarmed death of its sting I fear not its dart if I feel not its sting And thus you see briefly how by faith Believers enter into rest How Christ gives rest even at present to them that come to him and all this but as a beginning of their everlasting rest Inference 1. Is there rest in Christ for weary souls that come unto him Then certainly it 's a design of Satan against the peace and welfare Inference 1. of mens souls to discourage them from coming to Christ in
the way of faith He is a restless spirit himself and would make us so too it is an excellent note of Minutius Foelix Those desperate Ad Solamen calamitatis suae non definunt per iâ—…i perdere Minut Felix and restless Spirits saith he have no other pleasure but in bringing us to the same misery themselves are in he goeth about as a roaring Lyon seeking whom he may devour It frets and grates his proud and envious mind to see others find rest when he can find none an effectual Plaister applied to heal our wound when his own must bleed to eternity and he obtains his end fully if he can but keep off souls from Christ look therefore upon all those objections and discouragements raised in your hearts against coming to Christ as so many Artifices and cunning Devices of the Devil to destroy and ruine your souls 'T is true they have a very specious and colourable appearance they are guilded over with pretences of the Justice of God the heinous nature of sin the want of due and befitting qualifications for so holy and pure a God the lapsing of the reason of mercy and an hundred other of like nature but I beseech you lay down this as a sure conclusion and hold it fast that whatever it be that discourages and hinders you from coming to Christ is directly against the interest of your souls and the hand of the Divil is certainly in it Inference 2. Hence also it follows That unbelief is the true reason of all that disquietness and trouble by which the minds of poor sinners are Inference 2. so rackt and tortured If you will not believe you cannot be established till you come to Christ peace cannot come to you Christ and peace are undivided Good souls consider this you have tryed all other ways you have tried duties and no rest comes you have tried reformation restitution and a stricter course of life yet your wounds are still open and fresh bleeding these things I grant are in their places both good and necessary but of themselves without Christ utterly insufficient to give what you expect from them why will you not try the way of faith why will you not carry your burthen to Christ O that you would be perswaded to it how soon would you find what so long you have been seeking in vain how long will you thus oppose your own good how long will you keep your selves upon the rack of Conscience is it easie to go under the throbs and wounds of an accusing and condemning Conscience You know it is not you look for peace but no good comes for a time of healing and behold trouble alas it must and will be so still untill you fall into the way of faith which is the true and only method to obtain rest Inference 3. What cause have we all to admire the goodness of God in providing for us a Christ in whom we may find rest to our Inference 3. souls How hath the Lord filled and furnished Jesus Christ with all that is suitable to a Believers wants Doth the guilt of sin terrifie his Conscience Lo in him is perfect righteousness to remove that guilt so that it shall neither be imputed to his person nor reflected by his Conscience in the way of condemnation as it was before In him also is a Fountain opened for washing and for cleansing the filth of sin from our souls in him is the fulness both of Merit and of Spirit two sweet Springs of Peace to the souls of men well might the Apostle say Christ the wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1. 30. and well might the Church say he is altogether lovely Cant 5. 16. Had not God provided Jesus Christ for us we had never known one hours rest to all eternity Inference 4. How unreasonable and wholly inexcusable in Believers is the sin of backsliding from Christ Have you found rest in him Inference 4. when you could not find it in any other Did he receive and ease your souls when all other persons and things were Physicians of no value and will you after this backslide from him again O what madness is this Will a man leave the Snow of Lebanon which cometh from the Rock of the Field or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken No man that is in his wits would leave the pure cold refreshing streams of a Crystal Fountain to go to a filthy pudled Lake or an empty Cistern as the best enjoyments of this world are in comparison with Jesus Christ. It was Christs melting expostulation with the Disciples Joh. 6. 67 68. when some had forsaken him will ye also go away and it was a very suitable return they made Lord whither away from thee should we go q. d. from thee Lord no no where can we mend our selves Be sure of it when ever you go from Christ ye go from rest to trouble Had Judas rest had Spira rest and do you think you shall have reâ—… no no The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways Prov. 14. 14. you shall have your bellies full of it Cursed be the man that departeth from him he shall be as the Heath in the Desart that seeth not when good cometh and shall inhabit the parched places of the wilderness Jer. 17. 5. If fear of sufferings and worldly temptations ever draw you off from Christ you may come to those straights and terrors of Conscience that will make you wish your selves back again with Christ in a Prison with Christ at a Stake Inference 5. Let all that come to Christ learn to improve him to the rest and peace of their own souls in the midst of all the troubles and Inference 5. outward distresses they meet with in the world Surely rest may be found in Christ in any condition he is able to give you peace in the midst of all your troubles here So he tells you in Joh. 16. ult These things have I spoken to you that in me you might have peace in the world you shall have tribulation by peace he means not a deliverance from troubles by taking off affliction from them or taking them away by death from all afflictions but it is something they enjoy from Christ in the very thick of troubles and amidst all their afflictions that quiets and gives them rest so that troubles cannot hurt them certainly Believers you have peace in Christ when there is little in your own hearts and your hearts might be filled with peace too if you would exercise faith upon Christ for that end 't is your own fault if you be without rest in any condition in this world Set your selves to study the fulness of Christ and to clear your interest in him believe what the Scriptures reveal of him and live as you believe and you will quickly find the peace of God filling your hearts and minds Blessed be God for Jesus Christ. The Tenth SERMON
Sermon 10. MAT. 9. 12. But when Jesus heard that he said unto them Text. Wherein the general Exhortation is enforced by one Motive drawn from the first Title of Christ. They that be whole need not a Physician but they that be sick HAving opened in the former discourses the nature and method of the Application of Christ to sinners it remains now that I press it upon every soul as ever it expects peace and pardon from God to apply and put on Jesus Christ i. e. to get union with him by faith whilst he is yet held forth in the free and gracious tenders of the Gospel to which purpose I shall now labour in this general Use of Exhortation in which my last Subject engaged me wherein divers Arguments will be further urged both from The 1. Titles and of Jesus Christ. 2. Priviledges The Titles of Christ are so many Motives or arguments fitted to perswade men to come unto him Amongst which Christ as the Physician of Souls comes under our first Consideration in the Text before us The occasion of these words of Christ was the call of Matthew the Publican who having first opened his Heart next opened his House to Christ and entertains him there this strange and unexpected change wrought upon Matthew quickly rings in all the Neighbourhood and many Publicans and Sinners resorted thither at which the stomachs of the proud Pharisees began to swell from this occasion they took offence at Christ and in this verse Christ takes off the offence by such an answer as was fitted both for their conviction and his own vindication But when Jesus heard that he said unto them The whole have no need of a Physician but they that be sick He gives it saith one as a reason why he conversed so much with Publicans and Sinners and so little among the Pharisees because there was more work for him men set up where they think Trade will be quickest Christ came to be a Physician to sick souls Pharisees were so well in their own conceit that Christ saw he should have little to do among them and so he applied himself to those who were more sensible of their sickness In the words we have an account of the temper and state both Of 1. The secure and unconvinced Sinner 2. The humbled and convinced And 3. Of the Carriage of Christ and his different respect to either  1. First The secure sinner is here described both with respect to his own apprehensions of himself as one that is whole and also by his low value and esteem for Christ he sees no need of him the whole have no need of the Physician 2. Secondly The Convinced and Humbled Sinner is here also described and that both by his state and condition he is sick and by his valuation of Jesus Christ he greatly needs him they that be sick need the Physician 3. Thirdly We have here Christs carriage and different respect to both the former he rejects and passeth by as those with whom he hath no concernment the later he converses with in order to their cure The words thus opened are fruitful in observations I shall neither note nor insist upon any beside this one which fuits the scope of my Discourse viz. DOCT. That the Lord Jesus Christ is the only Physician for sick souls The world is a great Hospital full of sick and dying souls Doct. all wounded by one and the same mortal weapon sin Some are senseless of their misery feel not their pains value not a Physician others are full of sense as well as danger mourn under the apprehension of their condition and sadly bewail it The merciful God hath in his abundant compassion to the perishing world sent a Physician from Heaven and given him his Orders under the Great Seal of Heaven for his Office Isai. 61. 1 2. which he opened and read in the audience of the people Luke 4. 18. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach good tydings unto the meek he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted c. He is the tree of life whose leaves are for the healing of the Nations he is Jehova Rophe the Lord that healeth us and that as he is Jehovah Tzidkenu the Lord our righteousness The Brazen Serpent that healed the Israelites in the Wilderness was an excellent Type of our Great Physician Christ and is expresly applied to him John 3. 14. he rejects none that come and heals all whom he undertakes but more particularly I will First Point at those Diseases which Christ heals in sick souls and by what means he heals them Secondly the excellency of this Physician above all others there is none like Christ he is the only Physician for wounded souls First We will enquire into the Diseases which Christ the Physician cures and they are reducible to two heads 〈◊〉 viz. 1. Sin and 2. Sorrow First The disease of sin in which three things are found exceeding burthensome to sick souls 1. The Guilt of sin all cured by this Physician and how 2. The Dominion 3. The Inherence First The guilt of sin this is a mortal wound a stab in 1. the very heart of a poor sinner 'T is a fond and groundless distinction that Papists make of sins Mortal and Venial all sin in its own nature is mortal Rom. 6. 23. The wages of sin is death yet though it be so in its own nature Christ can and doth cure it by the Soveraign Balfom of his own precious blood Eph. 1. 7. In whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace This is the deepest and deadliest wound the soul of man feels in this world what is guilt but the obligation of the soul to everlasting punishment and misery It puts the soul under the sentence of God to eternal wrath the condemning sentence of the great and terrible God than which nothing is found more dreadful and insupportable put all pains all poverty all afflictions all miseries in one Scale and Gods condemnation in the other and you weigh but so many Feathers against a talent of Lead This Disease our great Physician Christ cures by Remission which is the dissolving of the obligation to punishment the loosing of the soul that was bound over to the Wrath and Condemnation of God Coll. 2. 13 14. Heb. 6. 12. Micah 7. 17 18 19. this remission being made the soul is immediately cleared from all its obligations to punishment Rom. 8. 1. There is no condemnation all Bonds are cancelled the guilt of all sins is healed or removed original and actual great and small This cure is performed upon souls by the blood of Christ nothing is found in Heaven or earth besides his blood that is able to heal this disease Heb. 9. 22. Without shedding of blood there is no remission nor is it any blood that will do it but that only which dropt from
with God is daily interrupted but it shall not be so in Heaven where the cure is perfect you shall not know love or delight in God as you do this day for you are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you and so much as to the diseases of sin and Christs method of curing them Secondly As sin is the disease of the Saints so also is Sorrow The best of Saints must pass through the vally of 2â—… Bacha to Heaven How many tears fall from the Eyes of the Saints upon the account of outward as well as inward troubles even after their reconciliation with God Through much tribulation we must enter into the Kingdom of God Acts 14. 22. It would be too great a digression in this place to note but the more general heads under which almost infinite particulars of troubles and afflictions are found It shall suffice only to shew that whatever distress or trouble any poor soul is in upon any account whatsoever if that soul belong to Jesus Christ he will take care of it for present and deliver it at last by a compleat cure First Christ cures troubles by sanctifying them to the souls of his that are under affliction and makes their very troubles medicinal and healing to them Trouble is a Scorpion and hath a deadly sting but Christ is a wise Physician and extracts a Soveraign Oyl out of this Scorpion that heals the wound it makes By affliction our wise Physician purges our corruptions and so prevents or cures greater troubles by lesser inward sorrows by outward ones Isai. 27. 9. By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away his sin Secondly Christ cures outward troubles by inward consolations which are made to rise in the inner man as high as the waters of affliction do upon the outward man 2 Cor. 1. 5. One drop of spiritual comfort is sufficient to sweeten a whole Ocean of outward trouble It was an high expression of an Nihil Corpus sent it in nervâ—… cum Anima sit in Coelo afflicted Father whom God comforted just upon the death of his dear and only Son with some clearer manifestations of his love than was usual O said he might I but have such consolations as these I could be willing were it possible to lay an only Son into the grave every day I have to live in this world Thus all the troubles of the world are cured by Christ John 16. 33. In the world ye shall have trouble but in me ye shall have peace Thirdly Christ cures all outward sorrows and troubles in his people by death which is their removal from the place of sorrows to peace and rest for evermore Now God wipes all tears from their eyes and the days of their mourning are at an end they then put off the Garments and Spirit of mourning and enter into peace Isai. 57. 2. they come to that place and state where tears and sighs are things unknown to the Inhabitants one step beyond the state of this mortality brings us quite out of the sight and hearing of all troubles and lamentations These are the diseases of souls sin and sorrow and thus they are cured by Christ the Physician Secondly Next I shall shew you that Jesus Christ is the only Physician of souls none like him for a sick sinner and this will be evident in divers respects First None so wise and judicious as Jesus Christ to understand 2. and comprehend the nature depth and danger of soul diseases O how ignorant and unacquainted are men with the state and case of afflicted souls but Christ hath the tongue of the Learned that he should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary Isai. 50. 4. He only understands the weight of sin and depth of inward troubles for sin Secondly None so able to cure and heal the wounds of afflicted souls as Christ is he only hath those medicines that can cure a sick soul. The blood of Christ and nothing else in Heaven or Earth is able to cure the mortal wounds which guilt inflicts upon a trembling Conscience let men try all other receipts and costly experience shall convince them of their insufficiency Conscience may be benummed by stupefactive medicines prepared by the Devil for that end but pacified it can never be but by the blood of Christ Heb. 16. 22. Thirdly None so tender hearted and sympathizing with sick souls as Jesus Christ he is full of bowels and tender compassions to afflicted souls he is one that can have compassion because he hath had experience Heb. 5. 2. If I must come into the Chirurgeons hand with broken bones give me such a one to choose whose own bones have been broken who hath felt the anguish in himself Christ knows what it is by experience having felt the anguish of inward troubles the weight of Gods wrath and the terrors of a forsaking God more than any or all the sons of men this makes him tender over distressed souls Isai. 42. 3. A bruised reed he will not break and smoaking flax he shall not quench Fourthly None cures in so wonderful a method as Christ doth he heals us by his stripes Isai. 53. 5. The Physician dyes that the Patient may live his wounds must bleed that ours may be cured he feels the smart and pain that we might have the ease and comfort No Physician but Christ will cure others at this rate Fifthly None so ready to relieve a sick soul as Christ he is within the call of a distressed soul at all times Art thou sick for sin weary of sin and made truly willing to part with sin Lift up but thy sincere cry to the Lord Jesus for help and he will quickly be with thee when the Prodigal the embleme of a convinced humbled sinner said in himself I will return to my Father the Father ran to meet him Luke 15. 20. he can be with thee in a moment Sixthly none so willing to receive and undertake all distressed and afflicted souls as Jesus Christ is he refuses none that come to him Joh. 6. 37. He that cometh unto me I will in no wayes cast out whatever their sins have been or their sorrows are however they have wounded their own souls with the deepest gashes of guilt how desperate and helpless soever their case appears in their own or others Eyes he never puts them off or discourages them if they be but willing to come Isai. 1. 18 19. Seventhly None so happy and successful as Christ he never fails of performing a perfect cure upon those he undertakes never was it known that any soul miscarried in his hands John 3. 15 16. other Physicians by mistakes by ignorance or carelesness fill Church-yards and cast away the lives of men but Christ suffers none to perish that commit themselves to him Eighthly none so free and generous as
nature begins to recover ease and vigour again and shall we not much more rejoyce when our souls begin to mend and recover sensibly and all comfortable signs of life and health appear upon them particularly when the understanding which was ignorant and dark hath the light of life beginning to dawn into it such is that in 1 John 2. 27. When the will which was rebellious and inflexible to the will of God is brought to comply with that holy will saying Lord what wilt thou have me to do Acts 9. 6. When the heart which was harder than an Adamant is now brought to contrition for sin and can mourn as heartily over it as ever a tender Father did for a dead Son a beloved and only Son When its aversations from God are gone at least have no such power as once they had but the thoughts are now fixed much upon God and spiritual things begin to grow pleasant to the soul when times of duty come to be longed for and the soul never better pleased than in such seasons When the Hypocrisie of the heart is purged out so that we begin to do all that we do heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men Coll. 3. 23. 1 Thess. 2. 4. when we begin to make Conscience of secret sins Psal. 119. 113. and of secret duties Mat. 6. 5 6. when we have an equal respect to all Gods Commandments Psal. 119. 6. and our hearts are under the holy and awful Eye of God which doth indeed over-awe our souls Gen. 17. 1. O what sweet signs of a recovering soul are these Surely such are in the skilful hand of the great Physician who will perfect what yet remains to be done Second Use for Direction In the last place this point yields us matter of advice and direction to poor souls that are under the disease of sin Use 2. and they are of two sorts which I will distinctly speak to viz. First Such as are under their first sickness or spiritual sorrow for sin and know not what course to take or Secondly such as have been longer in the hands of Christ the Physician but are troubled to see the cure advance so slowly upon them and fear the issue First As to those that are in their first troubles for sin 1. and know not what course to take for ease and safety I would address to them these following Counsels First Shut your Ears against the dangerous counsels of carnal persons or relations for as they themselves are unacquainted with these troubles so also are they with all proper memedies and it is very usual with the Devil to convey his temptations to distressed souls by such hands because by them he can do it with least suspicion It was Augustins complaint that his own Father took little care for his soul and many Parents act in this case as if they were imployed by Satan Secondly Be not too eager to get out of trouble but be content to take Gods way and wait his time no woman that is wise would desire to have her travail hastned one day before the due time nor will it be your interest to hasten too soon out of trouble 'T is true times of trouble are apt to seem tedious but a false peace will endanger you more than a long trouble a man may lengthen his own troubles to the loss of his own peace and he may shorten them to the hazard of his own soul. Thirdly Open your case to wise judicious and experienced Christians and especially the Ministers of Christ whose office it is to counsel and direct you in these difficulties and let not your troubles lye like a secret smothering fire always in your own breasts I know men are more ashamed to open their sins under convictions than they were to commit them before conviction but this is your interest and the true way to your rest and peace If there be with or near you an Interpreter one of a thousand to shew you your righteousness and remedy as it lies in Christ neglect not your own souls in a sinful concealment of your case it will be the joy of their hearts to be imployed in such work as this is Fourthly Be much with God in secret open your hearts to him and pour out your complaints into his Bosome The 102. Psalm bears a title very suitable to your case and duty yea you will find if your troubles work kindly and God intend a cure upon your souls that nothing will be able to keep God and your souls asunder whatever your incumbrances in the world be some time will be daily redeemed to be so spent betwixt you and God Fifthly Plead hard with God in prayer for help and healing Heal my soul saith David for I have sinned against thee Psal. 41. 4. tell him Christ hath his Commission sealed for such as you are he was sent to bind up the broken hearted Isai. 61. 1. tell him he came into the world to seek and save that which was lost and so are you now in your own account and apprehension Lord what profit is there in my bood Wilt thou pursue a dried leaf And why is my heart wounded with the sense of sin and mine eyes opened to see my danger and misery are not these the first dawnings of mercy upon sinners O let it appear that the time of mercy even the set time is now come Sixthly Understand your peace to be in Christ only and faith to be the only way to Christ and rest let the great enquiry of your souls be after Christ and faith study the nature and necessity of these and cry to God day and night for strength to carry you to Christ in the way of faith Secondly As to those that have been longer under the hands of Christ and yet are in troubles still and cannot 2. attain peace but their wounds bleed still and all they hear in Sermons or do in way of duty will not bring them to rest to such I only add two or three words for a close First Consider whether you ever rightly closed with Christ since your first awakening and whether there be not some way of sin in which you still live if so no wonder your wounds are kept open and your souls are strangers to peace Secondly If you be conscious of no such flaw in the foundation consider how much of this trouble may arise from your constitution and natural temper which being melancholy will be doubtful and suspicious you may find it so in other cases of less moment and be sure Satan will not be wanting to improve it Thirdly Acquaint your selves more with the nature of true justifying faith a mistake in that hath prolonged the troubles of many if you look for it in no other act but assurance you may easily overlook it as it lies in the mean time in your affiance or acceptance A true and proper conception of saving faith would go far in the cure of many
true God is merciful plenteous in mercy his mercy is great above the heavens mercy pleaseth him and all this they that are in Christ shall find experimentally to their comfort and salvation but what is all this to thee if thou beest Christless There is not one drop of saving mercy that comes in any other Chanel than Christ to the soul of any man But must I then expect no mercy out of Christ This is a hard case very uncomfortable doctrine Yes thou maist be a Christless and Covenantless soul and yet have variety of temporal mercies as Ishmael had Gen. 17. 20 21. God may give thee the fatness of the Earth Riches Honours Pleasures a numerous and prosperous Posterity will that content thee Yes if I may have Heaven too no no neither Heaven nor Pardon nor any other Spiritual or Eternal mercy may be expected out of Christ Jude vers 21. O deceive not your selves in this point There are two bars betwixt you and all Spiritual mercies viz. the guilt of sin and the filth of sin and nothing but your own union with Christ can remove these and so open the passage for Spiritual mercies to your souls Why but I will repent of sin strive to obey the Commands of God make restitutions for the wrongs I have done cry to God for mercy bind my soul with vows and strong resolutions against sin for time to come will not all this lay a ground work for hope of mercy to my soul No no this will not this cannot do it First All your sorrows tears and mournings for sin cannot obtain mercy could you shed as many tears for any one sin that ever you committed as all the children of Adam have shed upon any account whatsoever since the creation of the World they will not purchase the pardon of that one sin for the Law accepts no short payment it requires plenary satisfaction and will not discharge any soul without it nor can it acknowledge or own your sorrows to be such the repentance of a soul in Christ finds through him acceptance with God but out of him it 's nothing Secondly All your strivings to obey the Commands of God and live more strictly for time to come will not obtain mercy Mat. 5. 20. Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Thirdly Your restitution and reparation of wrongs you have done cannot obtain mercy Judas restored and yet was damned man is repaired but God is not remission is the act of God 't is he must loose your Consciences from the bond of guilt or they can never be loosed Fourthly All your cryes to God for mercy will not prevail for mercy if you be out of Christ Mat. 7. 22. Job 27. 9. A righteous Judge will not reverse the just sentence of the Law though the Prisoner at the Bar fall upon his knees and cry mercy mercy Fifthly Your vows and engagements to God for time to come cannot obtain mercy for they being made in your own strength 't is impossible you should keep them and if you could yet it is impossible they should obtain remission and mercy should you never sin more for time to come yet how shall God be satisfied for sins past Justice must have satisfaction or you can never have remission Rom. 3. 25 26. and no work wrought by man can satisfie Divine Justice nor is the satisfaction of Christ made over to any for their discharge but to such only as are in him therefore never expect mercy out of Christ. Inference 2. Is Christ the mercy of mercies greater better and more necessary Inference 2. than all other mercies then let no inferiour mercy satisfie you for your portion God hath mercies of all sorts to give but Christ is the chief the prime mercy of all mercies O be not satisfied without that mercy When Luther had a rich present sent him Valde protestatus sum me nolle sie ab eo satiari Luth. he protested God should not put him off so and David was of the same mind Psal. 17. 14. If the Lord should give any of you the desires of your hearts in the good things of this life let not that satisfie you whilst you are Christless For First What is there in these earthly enjoyments whereof the vilest of men have not a greater fulness than you Job 21. 7 8 9 10 11. Psal. 17. 10. Psal. 73. 3 12. Secondly What comfort can all these things give to a soul already condemned as thou art Joh. 3. 18. Thirdly What sweetness can be in them whilst they are all unsanctified things to you Enjoyments and their sanctification are two distinct things Psal. 37. 16. Prov. 10. 22. Thousands of unsanctified enjoyments will not yield your souls one drop of solid spiritual comfort Fourthly What pleasure can you take in these things out of which death must shortly strip you naked You must die you must dye and whose then shall all those things be for which you have laboured Be not so fond to think of Tunc edax flamma combâ—…ret quos nunc carnalis delectatio polluit leaving a great name behind you 't is but a poor felicity as Chrysostom well observes to be tormented where thou art and praised where thou art not the sweeter your portion hath been on earth the more intolerable will your condition be in Hell yea these earthly delights do not only encrease the torments of the damned but also prepare as they are instruments of sin the souls of men for damnation Prov. 1. 32. Surely the prosperity of fools shall destroy them be restless therefore till Christ the mercy of mercies be the root and fountain yielding and sanctifying all other mercies to you Inference 3. Is Jesus Christ the mercy of mercies infinitely better than all other mercies then let all that be in Christ be content and well Inference 3. satisfied whatever other inferiour mercies the wisdom of God seems fit to deny them you have a Benjamins portion a plentiful inheritance in Christ will you yet grumble Others have Houses splendid and magnificent upon earth but you have an house made without hands eternal in the Heavens 2 Cor. 5. 1. Others are cloathed with rich and costly apparel your souls are cloathed with the white pure robes of Christs righteousness Isai. 61. 10. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord my soul shall be joyfull in my God for he hath cloathed me with the garment of salvation he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness as a Bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments and as a Bride adorneth her self with Jewels Let those that have full Tables heavy Purses rich Lands but no Christ be rather objects of your pity than envy 't is better like store-cattle to be kept lean and hungry than with the fatted Ox to tumble in flowry Meadows thence to be led away to the shambles God hath not a better
mercy to give than Christ thy portion in him all necessary mercies are secured to thee and thy wants and straits sanctified to thy good O therefore never open thy mouth to complain against thy bountiful God Inference 4. Is Christ the mercy i. e he in whom all the tender mercies Inference 4. of God towards poor sinners are then let none be discouraged in going to Christ by reason of the sin and unworthiness that is in them his very name is mercy and as his name is so is he Poor drooping sinner incourage thy self in the way of faith the Christ to whom thou art going is mercy it self to broken-hearted sinners moving towards him in the way of faith Doubt not that mercy will repulse thee 't is against both its name and nature so to do Jesus Christ is so merciful to poor souls that come to him that he hath received and pardoned the chiefest of sinners men that stood as remote from mercy as any in the world 1 Tim. 1. 15. 1 Cor. 6. 11. Those that shed the blood of Christ have yet been washed in that blood from their sin Act. 2. 36 37. Mercy receives sinners without exception of great and heinous ones Joh. 7. 37. If any man thirst let him come to me and drink Gospel invitations run in general terms to all sinners that are heavy laden Mat. 11. 28. When Mr. Billney the Martyr heard a Minister preaching at this rate O thou old Sinner who hast been serving the Devil these fifty or sixty years dost thou think that Christ will receive thee now O said he what a preaching of Christ is here Had Christ been thus preached to me in the day of my trouble for sin what had become of me But blessed be God there is a sufficiency both of merit and mercy in Jesus Christ for all sinners for the vilest among sinners whose hearts shall be made willing to come unto him So merciful is the Lord Jesus Christ that he moves first Isai. 65. 1 2. So merciful that he upbraids none Ezec. 18. 22. So merciful that he will not despise the weakest if sincere desires of souls Isai. 42. 3. So merciful that nothing more grieves him than our unwillingness to come unto him for mercy Joh. 5. 40. So merciful that he waiteth to the last upon sinners to shew them mercy Rom. 10. 21. Mat. 23. 37. In a word so merciful that it is his greatest joy when sinners come unto him that he may shew them mercy Luk. 15. 5. 22. But yet it cannot enter into my thoughts that I should obtain Object mercy First You measure God by your selves 1 Sam. 24. 19. If Sol. a man find his enemy will he let him go well away Man will not but the merciful God will upon the submission of his enemies to him Secondly You are discouraged because you have not tryed Go to Jesus Christ poor distressed sinner try him and then report what a Christ thou findest him to be But I have neglected the time of mercy and now it is too late Object How know you that Have you seen the Book of Life or turned over the Records of Eternity Or do you not unwarrantably Sol. intrude into the secrets of God which belong not to you Besides if the treaty were at an end how is it that thy heart is now distressed for sin and solicitous after deliverance from it But I have waited long and yet see no mercy for me May not mercy be coming and you not see it or have you Object not waited at the wrong dore If you wait for the mercy of Sol. God through Christ in the way of humiliation and faith and continue waiting assuredly mercy shall come at last Inference 5. Hath God performed the mercy promised to the Fathers the great mercy the capital mercy Jesus Christ then let no Inference 5. man distrust God for the performance of lesser mercies contained in any other promises of the Scripture the performance of this mercy secures the performance of all other mercies to us For First Christ is a greater mercy than any other which yet remains to be performed Rom. 8. 32. Secondly This mercy virtually comprehends all other mercies 1 Cor. 3. 21 22 23. Thirdly The promises that contain all other mercies are ratified and confirmed to Believers in Christ 2 Cor. 1. 20. Fourthly It was much more improbable that God would bestow his own Son upon the world than that he should bestow any other mercy upon it Wait therefore in a comfortable expectation of the fulfilling of all the rest of the promises in their seasons hath he given thee Christ he will give thee bread to eat rayment to put on support in troubles and whatsoever else thy soul or body stands in need of the blessings contained in all other promises are fully secured by the performance of this great promise thy pardon peace acceptance with God now and enjoyment of him for ever shall be fulfilled the great mercy Christ makes way for all other mercies to the souls of Believers Inference 6. Lastly How mad are they that part with Christ the best of Inference 6. mercies to secure and preserve any temporal lesser mercies to themselves Thus Demas and Judas gave up Christ to gain a little of the world O soul-undoing bargain How dear do they pay for the world that purchase it with the loss of Christ and their own peace for ever Blessed be God for Jesus Christ the mercy of mercies The Twelfth SERMON Sermon 12. CANT 5. part of verse 16. Text. Containing a third motive to enliven the general exhortation from a third title of Christ. yea he is altogether lovely AT the ninth verse of this Chapter you have a query propounded to the Spouse by the Daughters of Jerusalem What is thy Beloved more than another Beloved To this question the Spouse returns her answer in the following verses wherein she asserts his excellency in general vers 10. He is the chiefest among ten thousands confirms that general assertion by an enumeration of his particular excellencies to vers 16. where she closes up her Character and Encomium of her Beloved with an elegant Epiphonema in the words that I have read Yea he is altogether lovely The words you see are an affirmative proposition setting forth the transcendent loveliness of the Lord Jesus Christ and naturally resolve themselves into three parts viz. 1. The Subject 2. The Predicate 3. The manner of Predication First The subject He viz. the Lord Jesus Christ after 1. whom she had been seeking for whom she was sick of love concerning whom these Daughters of Jerusalem had enquired whom she had endeavoured so graphically to describe in his particular excellencies This is the great and excellent Subject of whom she here speaks Secondly The predicate or what she affirmeth or saith of 2. him viz. that he is a lovely one machamaddim desires according to the import of
call it fancies are as various as faces and confederacies presuppose mutual acquaintance and conference Fourthly Christ the desire of all Nations implies the vast extent his Kingdom hath and shall have in the world out of every Nation under Heaven some shall be brought to Christ and to Heaven by him And though the number of Gods elect compared with the multitudes of the ungodly in all Nations is but a remnant a little flock and in that comparative sense there are few that shall be saved yet considered absolutely and in themselves they are a vast number which no man can number Mat. 8. 11. Many shall come from the East and from the West and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven In order whereunto the Gospel like the Sun in the Heavens circuits the world it arose in the East and takes its course towards the western world rising by degrees upon the remote Idolatrous Nations of the earth out of all which a number is to be saved even Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands to God Pfal 68. 31. And this consideration should move us to pray carnestly for the poor Heathens who yet sit in darkness and the shadow of death there is yet hope for them Fifthly It holds forth this that when God opens the eyes of men to see their sin and danger by it nothing but Christ can give them satisfaction 't is not the amenity fertility riches and pleasures the Inhabitants of any Kingdom of the world do enjoy that can quench and satisfie the desires of their souls when once God touches their hearts with the sense of sin and misery Christ and none but Christ is desirable and necessary in the eyes of such persons Many Kingdoms of the world abound with riches and pleasures the providence of God hath carved liberal portions of the good things of this life to many of them and scarce left any thing to their desires that the world can afford Yet all this can give no satisfaction without Jesus Christ the desire of Nations the one thing necessary when once they come to see the necessity and excellency of him then take the world who will so they may have Christ the desire of their souls Thus we see upon what grounds and reasons Christ is stiled the desire of all Nations But there lies one great Objection against this truth Object which must be satisfied viz. if Christ be the desire of all Nations how comes it to pass that Jesus Christ finds no entertainment in so many Nations of the world among whom Christianity is hissed at and Christians not tolerated to live among them who see no beauty in him that they should dedesire him First We must remember the Nations of the World have their times and seasons of conversion Those that Sol. once embraced Christ have now lost him and Idols are now set up in the places where he once was sweetly worshipped The Sun of the Gospel is gone down upon them and now shines in another Hemisphere and so the Nations of the World are to have their distinct days and seasons of illumination The Gospel like the Sea gaineth in one place what it loseth in another and in the times and seasons appointed by the Father they come successively to be enlightned in the knowledge of Christ and then shall that promise be fulfilled Isai. 49. 7. Thus saith the Lord the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One to him whom the nation abhorreth to a servant of Rulers Kings shall see and arise Princes also shall worship because of the Lord that is faithful Secondly Let it also be remembered that although Christ be rejected by the Rulers and Body of many Nations yet he is the desire of all the Elect of God dispersed and scattered among those Nations Secondly In the next place we are to enquire upon what 2. account Christ becomes the desire of all Nations i. e. of all those in all the Nations of the world that belong to the election of grace And the true ground and reason thereof is because Christ only hath that in himself which relieves their wants and answers to all their needs As First They are all by nature under condemnation Rom. 5. 16 18. under the curse of the Law against which nothing is found in Heaven or earth able to relieve their Consciences but the blood of sprinkling the pure and perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus and hence it is that Christ becomes so desirable in the eyes of poor sinners all the world over If any thing in nature could be found to pacifie and purge the Consciences of men from guilt and fear Christ would never be desirable in their eyes but finding no other remedy but the blood of Jesus to him therefore shall all the ends of the earth look for righteousness and for peace Secondly All Nations of the world are polluted with the filth of sin both in nature and practice which they shall see and bitterly bewail when the light of the Gospel shall shine amongst them and the same light by which this shall be discovered will also discover the only remedy of this evil to I le in the spirit of Christ the only fountain opened to all Nations for sanctification and cleansing and this will make the Lord Jesus incomparably desirous in their eyes Oh how welcome will he be that cometh unto them not by blood only but by water also John 1. 5 6. Thirdly When the light of the Gospel shall shine upon the Nations they shall then see that by reason of the guilt and filth of sin they are all barr'd out of Heaven Those dores are chained up against them and that none but Christ can open an entrance for them into that Kingdom of God that no man cometh to the Father but by him John 14. 6. neither is there any name under Heaven given among men whereby they must be saved but the name of Christ Act. 4. 12. Hence the hearts of sinners shall pant after him as the Hart panteth for the water brooks And thus we see upon what grounds Christ becomes the desire of all Nations The improvement of all followeth in five several uses of the point viz. 1. For Information 2. For Examination 3. For Consolation 4. For Exhortation 5. For Direction Use for Information First Is Christ the desire of all Nations How vile a sin is Use 1. it then in any Nation upon whom the light of the Gospel hath shined to reject Jesus Christ and say as those in Job 21. 14. Depart from us we desire not the knowledge of thy ways To thrust away his worship government and servants from amongst them and in effect to say as it is Luke 19. 14. we will not have this man to reign over us thus did the Jews Act. 13. 46. they put away Christ from among them and thereby judged themselves unworthy of eternal life This is at once a fearful sin and a dreadful
all to be administred in his name Church Officers are Commissioned by him Eph. 4. 11. The Judgement of the world in the great day will be administred by him Mat. 25. 31. Then shall he sit upon the Throne of his Glory To conclude Jesus Christ shall have glory and honour ascribed to him for evermore by Angels and Saints upon the account of his Mediatorial work This some Divines call his passive glory the glory which he is to receive from his redeemed ones Rev. 5. 8 9 10. And when he had taken the Book the four Beasts and the four and twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb having every one of them Harps and golden Vials full of Odours which are the prayers of the Saints and they sung a new Song saying Thou art worthy to take the Book and to open the Seals thereof for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every Kindred and Tongue and People and Nation c. And thus you see that our Lord Jesus Christ is upon all accounts the Lord of Glory The Uses follow Inference 1. How wonderful was the love of Christ the Lord of glory to be so abased and humbled as he was for us vile and sinful Inference 1. dust 'T is astonishing to conceive that ever Jesus Christ should strip himself out of his Robes of Glory to cloath himself with the thread-bare tatters of our flesh Oh what a stoop did he make in his incarnation for us If the most magnificent Monarch upon earth had been degraded into a Toad if the Sun in the Heavens had been turned into a wandring Atom if the most glorious Angel in Heaven had been transformed into a silly Fly it had been nothing to the abasement of the Lord of Glory This act is every where celebrated in Scripture as the great mystery the astonishing wonder of the whole world 2 Tim. 3. 16. Phil. 2. 8. Rom. 8. 3. The Lord of glory looked not like himself when he came in the habit of a man Isai. 53. 3. We hid as it were our faces from him nay rather like a worm than a man Psal. 22. 6. A reproach of men and despised of the people The Birds of the air and Beasts of the earth were here provided of better accommodations than the Lord of glory Mat. 8. 20. Oh stupendious abasement Oh love unspeakable Though he was rich yet for our sakes he became poor that we through his poverty might be rich 2 Cor. 8. 9. He put off the Crown of Glory to put on the Crown of Thorns quanto pro me vilior tanto mihi charior said Bernard the lower he humbled himself for me the dearer he shall be to me Inference 2. How transcendently glorious is the advancement of Believers by their union with the Lord of Glory This also is an admirable Inference 2. and astonishing mystery 't is the highest dignity of which our nature is capable to be hypostatically united and the greatest glory of which our persons are capable to be mystically united to this Lord of Glory to be bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh O what is this Christian dost thou know and believe all this and thy heart not burn within thee in love to Christ O then what a heart hast thou What art thou by nature but sinful dust a loathsom sinner viler than the vilest Toad cast out to the loathing of thy person in the day of thy nativity O that ever the Lord of Glory should unite himself to such a lump of vileness take such a wretch into his very bosom Be astonished O Heavens and earth at this this is the great mystery which the Angels stoopt down to look into Such an honour as this could never have entred into the heart of man it would have seemed a rude blasphemy in us once to have thought or spoken of such a thing had not Christ made the first motion thereof Yet how long didst thou make this Lord of Glory wait upon thy undetermined will before he gained thy consent Might he not justly have spurned thee into Hell upon thy first refusal and never have made thee such another offer Wilt thou not say Lord what am I and what is my Fathers house that so great a King should stoop so far beneath himself to such a worm as I am That strength should unite it self to weakness infinite glory to such baseness O grace grace for ever to be admired Inference 3. Is Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory then let no man count Inference 3. himself dishonoured by suffering the vilest indignities for his sake the Lord of Glory puts glory upon the very sufferings you undergo in this world for him Moses esteemed the reproaches of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt Heb. 11. 26. He cast a Kingdom at his heels to be crowned with reproaches for the name of Christ. The Diadem of Egypt was not half so glorious as self-denial for Christ. This Lord of Glory freely degraded himself for thee wilt thou stand huckling with him upon terms 'T is certainly your honour to be dishonoured for Christ Act. 5. 41. To you it is given in behalf of Christ not only to believe but also to suffer for his sake Phil. 1. 29. The gift of suffering is there matched with the gift of faith 't is given as an honorarium a badge of Honour to suffer for the Lord of Glory as all have not the honour to wear the Crown of Glory in Heaven so few have the honour to wear the chain of Christ upon earth Thuanus Cur me non quoque torque donas insi nis hujus ordinis mili em creas Thuanus reports of Lodovicus Marsacus a Knight of France that being led to suffer with other Martyrs who were bound and he unbound because a person of Honour he cryed out Why don't you honour me with a Chain too and create me a Knight of that Noble Order My brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations Jam. 1. 2. i. e. tryals by sufferings David thought it an honour to be vile for God and that 's a true observation that disgrace it self is glorious when endured for the Lord of Glory Inference 4. Is Christ the Lord of Glory How glorious then shall the Saints one day be when they shall be made like this glorious Inference 4. Lord and partake of his glory in Heaven John 17. 22. the glory which thou gavest me I have given them yea the vile bodies of Believers shall be made like to the glorious body of Christ Phil. 3. 21. What glory then will be communicated to their souls True his essential glory is incommunicable but there is a glory which Christ will communicate to his people When he comes to judge the world he will come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe 2 Thes. 1. 10. Where he seemeth to account his social glory which shall
he only 2. is matter of Consolation to Believers which will demonstratively appear by this Argument He that brings to their souls all that is comfortable and removes from their souls all that is uncomfortable must Argu. needs be the only consolation of Believers But Jesus Christ brings to their souls all that is comfortable and removes from their souls all that is uncomfortable Therefore Christ only is the Consolation of Believers First Jesus Christ brings whatsoever is comfortable to the souls of Believers Is pardon comfortable to a person condemned Nothing can be matter of greater comfort in this world Why this Christ brings to all Believers Jer. 23. 6. And this is the name whereby he shall be called The Lord our righteousness this cannot but give strong consolation righteousness is the foundation of peace and joy in the Holy Ghost Rom. 14. 17. The work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever Isai. 32. 17. Come to a dejected soul labouring under the burthen of guilt and say Cheer up I bring you good tidings there is such an Estate befallen you or such a troublesom business comfortably ended for you alas this will not reach the heart If you can bring me saith he good news from Heaven that my sins are forgiven and God reconciled how soon should I be comforted And therefore as one well observes this was the usual receipt with which Christ cured the souls of men and women when he was here on earth Son or Daughter be of good cheer thy sins be forgiven thee and indeed it is as easie to separate light and warmth from the beams of the Sun as cheeriness and comfort from the voice of pardon Are the hopes and expectation of Heaven and glory comfortable Yes sure nothing is comfortable if this be not Rom. 5. 2. We rejoyce in hope of the glory of God Now Christ brings to the souls of men all the solid grounds and foundations upon which they build their expectations of glory Col. 1. 27. Which is Christ in you the hope of glory Name any thing else that is solid matter of comfort to the souls of men and the grounds thereof will be found in Christ and in none but Christ as might easily be demonstrated by the enumeration of multitudes of particular instances which I cannot now insist upon Secondly Jesus Christ removes fom Believers whatever is uncomfortable therein relieving them against all the matters of their affliction and sorrow As namely First Is sin a burthen and matter of trouble to Believers Christ and none but Christ removes that burthen Rom. 7. 24 25. O wretched man that I am saith sin burthened Paul who shall deliver me from the body of this death I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. The satisfaction of his blood Eph. 5. 2. The sanctification of his Spirit John 1. 5 6. His perfect deliverance of his people from the very being of sin at last Eph. 5. 26 27. This relieves at present and removes at last the matter and ground of all their troubles and sorrows for sin Secondly Do the temptations of Satan burthen Believers O yes by reason of temptations they go in trouble and heaviness of spirit Temptation is an enemy under the walls temptation greatly endangers and therefore cannot but greatly afflict the souls of Believers but Christ brings the only matter of relief against temptations The intercession of Christ is a singular relief at present Luke 22. 32. But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not and the promises of Christ are a full relief for the future The God of peace shall shortly tread Satan under your feet Rom. 16. 20. Thirdly Is spiritual desertion and the hiding of Gods face matter of affliction and casting down to Believers Yes yes it quails their hearts nothing can comfort them Thou hidest thy face and I was troubled Psal. 30. 7. Outward afflictions do but break the skin this touches the quick they like rain fall only upon the Tiles this soaks into the House but Christ brings to Believers substantial matter of Consolation against the troubles of desertion he himself was deserted of God for a time that they might not be deserted for ever in him also the relieving promises are made to Believers that notwithstanding God may desert them for a time yet the union betwixt him and them shall never be dissolved Heb. 13. 5. Jer. 32. 40. Though he forsake them for a moment in respect of evidenced favour yet he will return again and comfort them Isai. 54. 7. Though Satan tug hard yet he shall never be able to pluck them out of his Fathers hand John 10. 20. Oh what relief is this What consolation is Christ to a deserted Believer Fourthly Are outward afflictions matter of dejection and trouble Alas who finds them not to be so How do our hearts fail and our spirits sink under the many smarting rods of God upon us but our relief and consolation under them all is in Christ Jesus for the rod that afflicts us is in the hand of Christ that loveth us Rev. 3. 19. Whom I love I rebuke and chasten his design in affliction is our profit Heb. 12. 10. That design of his for our good shall certainly be accomplished Rom. 8. 28. and after that no more afflictions for ever Rev. 21. 3 4. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes So that upon the whole two things are most evident First Nothing can comfort the soul without Christ he is the soul that animates all Comforts they would be but dead things without him Temporal enjoyments riches honours health relations yield not a drop of true Comfort without Christ. Spiritual enjoyments Minister ordinances promises are fountains sealed and springs shut up till Christ open them a man may go comfortless in the midst of them all Secondly No troubles sorrows or afflictions can deject or sink the soul that Christ comforteth 2 Cor. 6. 10. As sorrowful yet always rejoycing A Believer may walk with a heart brim full of comfort amidst all the troubles of this world Christ makes the darkness of trouble to be light round about his people So that the conclusion stands firm and never to be shaken that Christ and Christ only is the Consolation of Believers which was the thing to be proved In the Third place I am to shew you that Believers and 3. none but Believers can have consolation in Christ which will convincingly appear from the consideration of those things which we laid down before as the requisites to all true Spiritual Coonsolation For First No unbeliever hath the materials out of which Spiritual Comfort is made which as I there told you must be some solid spiritual and eternal good as Christ and the Covenant are What do unregenerate men rejoyce in but trifles and meer vanities in a thing of nought Amos 6. 13. See how their mirth is described in Job 21. 12. They
effect of pure grace done for his own name sake Isai. 43. 25. discharging us without any satisfaction at all by us there is much grace in that and providing a surety for us every way able to pay our debt there is more grace in that 'T is the gracious act of God in and through Christ the satisfaction of Christ is the procuring cause of our remission and so God declares himself just in the remission of our sin Rom. 3 25. Gracious is the Lord and righteous Psal. 116. 5. Justice and mercy meet here and embrace each other in whom saith the Text we have remission no other price could purchase this priviledge Micah 6. 6 7. not rivers of Oyl or humane Blood And this gracious act of God discharges the pardoned soul both from guilt and punishment guilt is nothing else but the force and power that is in sin to oblige the sinner to undergo the penalty due to sin Therefore sinners are said to be guilty of Hell-fire Mat. 5. 22. Guilty of eternal judgement Mark 3. 29. to be under the judgement of God Rom. 3. 19. Remission takes away both guilt and punishment together it takes away all guilt Acts 13. 38 39. and all punishment And so much of the first thing to be opened namely what the remission of sin is Secondly Now that this remission of sin is the priviledge of Believers is most apparent for all the causes of remission are in conjunction to procure it for them The love of God which is the impulsive cause of pardon the blood of Christ which is the meritorious cause of pardon and saving faith which is the instrumental cause of pardon do all cooperate for their remission as is plain in the Text. Besides all the promises of pardon are made to them Jer. 31. 34. Micah 7. 18. and Lastly All the signs of pardon are sound in them and in them only that love God Luk. 7. 47. mercisulness to others Mat. 6. 14. a blessed calmness and peace in the Conscience Rom. 5. 1. So that it is a truth beyond controversie that all that are in Christ are in a pardoned state Secondly Next I will shew you that the Pardon of Believers 2. is the purchase of the blood of Christ nothing but the blood of Christ is a price equivalent to the remission of sin for this blood was innocent and untainted blood 1 Pet. 1. 19. the blood of a Lamb without spot This blood was precious blood blood of infinite worth and value the blood of God Acts 20. 28. it was prepared blood for this very purpose Heb. 10. 5. prepared by Gods eternal appointment prepared by Christs miraculous and extraordinary production by the operation of the Spirit prepared by his voluntary sequestration or sanctification of himself to this very use and purpose The blood of Jesus is not only innocent precious and prepared blood but it is also blood actually shed and sacrificed to the justice of God for the expiation of guilt and procurement of our discharge Isai. 53. 5. To conclude the severe justice of God could put in no exception against the blood of Christ 't is unexceptionable blood being as before was noted untainted by sin and dignified above all estimation by the person whose blood it was Justice required no less and could demand no more and this is the price at which our pardons are purchased and without which no sin could be pardoned for without shedding of blood such blood as this there is no remission Heb. 9. 22. Thirdly The last thing to be opened is That God hath 3. manifested the riches of his grace in the remission of our sins so speaks the Apostle Rom. 5. 20. Where sin abounded grace did much more abound And 1 Tim. 1. 14. The grace of our Lord viz. in the pardon of sin was exceeding abundant Which will appear if we bring our thoughts close to the matter in several particulars First From the nature of the mercy which is the richest of all mercies except Christ the purchaser of it no mercy sweeter than a pardon to a condemned sinner No pardon like Gods pardon to a man condemned at his Bar all the goodness of God is made to pass before our eyes in his pardoning acts of grace Exod. 33. 19. Secondly The very riches of grace must needs be in the pardon of sin if we consider the method in which pardons are dispensed which is as the Text speaks through his blood Herein God commends his love to us Rom. 5. 8. he commends it more than if he had pardoned sin without such a sacrifice for then he had only displayed his mercy but not caused Mercy and Justice to meet and triumph together Thirdly The riches of his grace shines forth in the peculiarity of the mercy Remission is no common favour it was never extended to the fallen Angels nor to the far greater part of the children of men but only to a little flock a small remnant of mankind Luke 12. 32. Joh. 17. 9. Fourthly The riches of grace are manifested in remission if we consider the subjects of this priviledge who are not only equally plunged into sin and misery with others by nature Eph. 2. 3. but many of the Lords pardoned ones are actually guilty of deeper-died abominations than many unpardoned ones in the civilized world are defiled with To me saith Paul the greatest of sinners one that was before a blasphemer a persecutor c. yet to me is this grace given I obtained mercy 1 Tim. 1. 15. and such were some of you but ye are justified 1 Cor. 6. 11. Yea God singles out the most base despised poor and contemptible ones among men to be the subjects of this glorious priviledge 1 Cor. 1. 26. You see your calling brethren c. Fifthly More of the riches of grace still appears if we view the latitude and extent of this act of grace Oh how innumerable are our transgressions Who can understand his errors Psal. 19. 12. Yet the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin 1 Joh. 1. 7. Small and great sins open and secret sins old and new sins all pardoned without exception O the riches of grace O the unsearchable goodness of God! With the Lord there is mercy and with him is plenteous redemption and he shall redeem Israel from all his Iniquities Psal. 130. 7 8. Sixthly and lastly The riches of Grace shine forth in the irrevocableness and perpetuity of remission as grace pardons all sins without exception so the pardons it bestows are without revocation The pardoned soul shall never come into condemnation Joh. 5. 24. As far as the East is from the West so far hath he removed our transgressions from us Psal. 103. 10. The East and West are the two opposite points of Heaven which can never come together neither shall the pardoned soul and its sins ever meet any more Thou hast cast saith Hezekiah all my sins behind thy back The penitent Believer sets his sins
before his face but the merciful God casts them all behind his back never to behold them more so as to charge them upon his pardoned people And thus you see what the pardon of sin is what the price that purchaseth pardon is and what riches of grace God manifesteth in the remission of Believers sins which were the things to be explained and opened in the Doctrinal part The improvement of the whole you will have in the following Uses Inference 1. If this be so that all Believers and none but Believers receive Inference 1. the remission of their sins through the riches of grace by the blood of Christ What a happy condition then are Believers in Those that never felt the load of sin may make light of a pardon but so cannot you that have been in the deeps of trouble and fear about it those that have been upon the rack of an accusing and condemning Conscience as David Heman and many of the Saints have been can never sufficiently value a pardon Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity Psal. 32. 1 2. or O the blessednesses and felicities of the pardoned man as the Hebrew sounds Remission cannot but appear the wonder of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mercies if we consider through what difficulties the grace of God makes way for it to our souls what strong bars the love of God breaks asunder to open our way to this priviledge for there can be no pardon without a Mediator no other Mediator but the Son of God the Son of God cannot discharge our debts but by taking them upon himself as our surety and making full payment by bearing the wrath of God for us and when all this is done there can be no actual pardon except the spirit of grace open our blind eyes break our hard hearts and draw them to Christ in the way of believing And as the mercy of remission comes to us through wonderful difficulties so it is in it self a compleat and perfect mercy God would not be at such vast expence of the riches of his grace Christ would not lay out the invaluable treasures of his precious blood to procure a cheap and common blessing for us Rejoyce then ye pardoned souls God hath done great things for you for which you have cause to be glad Inference 2. Hence it follows That interest in Christ by faith brings the Inference 2. Conscience of a Believer into a state of rest and peace Rom. 5. 1. Being justified by faith we have peace with God I say not that every Believer is presently brought into actual peace and tranquillity of Conscience there may be many fears and much trouble even in a pardoned soul but this is an undoubted truth that faith brings the pardoned soul into that condition and state where he may find perfect rest in his Conscience with respect to the guilt and danger of sin The blood of Christ sprinkles us from an evil that is an accusing condemning Conscience We are apt to fear that this or that special sin which hath most terrified and affrighted our Consciences is not forgiven but if there be riches enough in the grace of God and efficacy enough in the blood of Christ then the sins of Believers all their sins great as well as small one as well as another without limitation or exception are pardoned For let us but consider if God remits no sin to any man but with respect to the blood of Christ then all sins are pardoned as well as any one sin because the dignity and desert of that blood is infinite and as much deserves an universal pardon for all sins as the particular pardon of any even the least sin Moreover remission is an act of Gods Fatherly love in Christ and if it be so then certainly no sin of any Believer can be retained or excluded from pardon for then the same soul should be in the favour of God so far as it is pardoned and out of the favour of God so far as it is unpardoned and all this at one and the same instant of time which is a thing both repugnant to it self and to the whole stream of the Gospel To Conclude what is the design and end of remission but the saving of the pardoned soul But if any sin be retained or excluded from pardon the retaining of that sin must needs irritate and void the pardon of all other sins and so the acts of God must cross and contradict each other and the design and end of God miscarry and be lost which can never be So then we conclude faith brings the believing soul into a state of rest and peace Inference 3. Hence it also follows That no remission is to be expected by any Inference 3. soul without interest by faith in Jesus Christ no Christ no pardon no faith no Christ. Yet how apt are many poor deluded souls to expect pardon in that way where never any soul yet did or ever can meet it Some look for pardon from the absolute mercy of God without any regard to the blood of Christ or their interest therein we have sinned but God is merciful Some expect remission of sin by vertue of their own duties not Christs merits I have sinned but I will repent restore reform and God will pardon but little do such men know how they therein diminish the evil of sin undervalue the justice of God slight the blood of Christ and put an undoing cheat upon their own souls for-ever to expect pardon from absolute mercy or our own duties is to knock at the wrong dore which God hath shut up to all the world Rom. 3. 20. Whilst these two principles abide firm that the price of pardon is only in the blood of Christ and the benefit of pardon only by the application of his blood to us this must remain a sure conclusion that no remission is to be expected by any soul without interest by faith in Jesus Christ. Repentance restitution and reformation are excellent duties in their kind and in their proper places but they were never meant for saviours or satisfactions to God for sin Inference 4. If the riches of grace be thus manifested in the pardon of sin Inference 4. how vile an abuse is it of the grace of God to take the more liberty to sin because grace abounds in the pardon of it Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid Rom. 6. 1 2. Will no cheaper stuff than the grace of God serve to make a cloak for sin O vile abuse of the most excellent thing in the whole world did Christ shed his blood to expiate our guilt and dare we make that a plea to extenuate our guilt God forbid If it be intolerable ingratitude among men to requite good with evil sure that sin must want a name bad enough to express it which puts the greatest
The freedom of Believers is a comfortable freedom the Apostle comforts Christians of the lowest rank poor servants with this consideration 1 Cor. 7. 22. He that is called in the Lord being a servant is the Lords freeman q. d. Let not the meanness of your outward condition which is a state of subjection and dependance a state of poverty and contempt at all trouble you you are the Lords freemen of precious account in his eyes O 't is a comfortable liberty Sixthly and Lastly 'T is a perpetual and final freedom they that are once freed by Christ have their manumissions and final discharge from that state of bondage they were in before Sin shall never have dominion over them any more it may tempt them and trouble them but shall never more rule and govern them Acts 26. 18. And thus you see what a glorious liberty the liberty of Believers is The improvement whereof will be in the following Inferences Inference 1. How rational is the joy of Christians above the joy of all Inference 1. others in the world shall not the captive rejoycé in his recovered liberty The very Birds of the air as one observes had rather be at liberty in the woods though lean and hungry than in a golden Cage with the richest fare every creature naturally prises it none more than Believers who have felt the burthen and bondage of corruption who in the days of their first illumination and conviction have poured out many groans and tears for this mercy What was said of the captive people of God in Babylon excellently shadows forth the state of Gods people under spiritual bondage with the way and manner of their deliverance from it Zech. 9. 11. By the blood of thy Covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water Believers are delivered by the blood of Christ out of a worse pit than that of Babylon and look as the Tribes in their return from thence were overwhelmed with joy and astonishment Psal. 126. 1 2. When the Lord turned again the captivity of Sion we were like them that dream then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing they were overwhelmed with the sense of the mercy so should it be with the people of God 'T is said Luke 15. 24. when the Prodigal Son there made the embleme of a returning converting sinner was returned again to his Fathers house that there was heard musick and dancing mirth and feasting in that house The Angels in Heaven rejoice when a soul is recovered out of the power of Satan and shall not the recovered soul immediately concerned in the mercy greatly rejoyce Yea let them rejoyce in the Lord and let no earthly trouble or affliction ever have power to interrupt their joy for a moment after such a deliverance as this Inference 2. How unreasonable and wholly inexcusable is the sin of Apostasie from Jesus Christ What is it but for a delivered captive Inference 2. to put his feet again into the shackles his hands into the manacles his neck into the iron yoke from which he hath been delivered 'T is said Mat. 12. 44 45. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man he walketh through dry places seeking rest and findeth none then he saith I will return into mine house from whence I came out and when he is come he findeth it empty swept and garnished then goeth he and taketh with him seven other Spirits more wicked than himself and they enter in and dwell there and the last state of that man is worse than the first Even as a Prisoner that hath escaped and is again recovered is loaded with double irons Let the people of God be content to run any hazzard endure any difficulties in the way of Religion rather than return again into their former bondage to sin and Satan O Christian if ever God gave thee a sight and a sense of the misery and danger of thy natural state if ever thou hast felt the pangs and throes of a labouring and distressed Conscience and after all this tasted the unspeakable sweetness of the peace and rest that is in Christ thou wilt rather choose to dye ten thousand deaths than to forsake Christ and go back again into that sad condition Inference 3. How suitable and well-becoming is a free spirit in Believers to Inference 3. their state of liberty and freedom Christ hath made your condition free O let the temper and frame of your hearts be free also do all that you do for God with a spirit of freedom not by constraint but willingly Methinks Christians the new nature that is in you should stand for a command and be instead of all arguments that use to work upon the hopes and fears of other men See how all creatures work according to the principle of their natures you need not command a Mother to draw forth her breasts to a sucking Child nature it self teaches and prompts to that you need not bid the Sea ebb or flow at the stated hours O Christian why should thy heart need any other argument than its own spiritual inclination to keep it s stated times and seasons of communion with God Let none of Gods commandments be grievous to you let not thine heart need dragging and forcing to its own benefit and advantage Whatever you do for God do it cheerfully and whatever you suffer for God suffer it cheerfully it was a brave spirit which acted holy Paul I am ready saith he not only to be bound but also to dye at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus Acts 21. 13. Inference 4. Let no man wonder at the enmity and opposition of Satan to the Inference 4. preaching of the Gospel For by the Gospel it is that souls are recovered out of his power Acts 26. 18. 't is the express work of Ministers to turn men from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God Satan as one faith is a great and jealous Prince he will never endure to have liberty proclaimed by the Ministers of Christ within his dominions and indeed what is it less when the Gospel is preached in power but as it were by beat of Drum and sound of Trumpet to proclaim liberty liberty spiritual sweet and everlasting liberty to every soul that is made sensible of the bondage of corruption and cruel servitude of Satan and will now come over to Jesus Christ and oh what numbers and multitudes of prisoners have broken loose from Satan at one proclamation of Christs Acts 2. 41. but Satan owes the servants of Christ a spite for this and will be sure to pay them if ever they come within his reach persecution is the Genius of the Gospel and follows it as the shadow doth the body Inference 5. How careful should Christians be to maintain their spiritual liberty Inference 5. in all and every point thereof Stand fast saith Paul in the liberty wherewith
temper Gal. 〈◊〉 1. 23. He which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed thus a Tyger is transformed into a Lamb by the power of the word of God Secondly It makes the soul upon which it works to forgo and quit the dearest interest it hath in this world for Jesus Christ Phil. 3. 7 8 9. riches honours self righteousness dearest relations are denied and forsaken reproach poverty and death it self are willingly imbraced for Christs sake when once the efficacy of the word hath been upon the hearts of men 1 Thes. 1. 6. Those that were their companions in sin are declined renounced and cast off with abhorrence 1 Pet. 4. 3 4. In such things as these the mighty power of the word discovers it self Secondly Next let us see wherein the efficacy of the word upon the souls of men principally consisteth and we find 2. in Scripture it exerteth its power in five distinct acts upon the soul by all which it strikes at the life and kills the very heart of vain hopes For First It hath an awakening efficacy upon secure and sleepy sinners it rouzes the Conscience and brings a man to a sense and feeling apprehension Eph. 5. 13 14. the first effectual jog or touch of the word startles the drousie Conscience A poor sinner lies in his sins as Peter did in his Chains fast asleep though a Warrant were signed for his Execution the next day but the Spirit in the word awakens him as the Angel did Peter and this awakening power of the word is in order both of time and nature antecedent to all its other operations and effects Secondly The Law of God hath an enlightning efficacy upon the minds of men 't is eye-salve to the blinded eye Rev. 3. 18. a light shining in a dark place 2 Pet. 1. 19. a light shining into the very heart of man 2 Cor. 4. 6. When the word comes in power all things appear with another face the sins that were hid from our eyes and the danger which was concealed by the policy of Satan from our souls now lie clear and open before us Eph. 5. 8. Thirdly The word of God hath a convincing efficacy it sets sin in order before the soul Psal. 50. 21. as an Army is drawn up in exact order so are the sins of nature and practice the sins of youth and age even a great and terrible Army is drawn up before the eye of the Conscience the convictions of the word are clear and full 1 Cor. 14. 24 25. the very secrets of a sinners heart are made manifest his mouth is stopt his pleas are silenced his Conscience yields to the charge of guilt and equity of the sentence of the Law So that the soul stands mute and self-condemned at the Bar of Conscience it hath nothing to say why the wrath of God should not come upon it to the uttermost Rom. 3. 19. Fourthly The Law of God hath a soul-wounding an heart-cutting efficacy it pierces into the very soul and spirit of man Act. 2. 37. When they heard this they were pricked at their hearts and said unto Peter and to the rest of the Apostles Men and brethren what shall we do A dreadful sound is in the sinners ears his soul is in deep distress he knows not which way to turn for ease no Plaister but the blood of Christ can heal these wounds which the word makes no outward trouble affliction disgrace or loss ever touched the quick as the word of God doth Fifthly The word hath a heart-turning a soul converting efficacy in it 't is a regenerating as well as a convincing word 1 Pet. 1. 23. 1 Thes. 1. 9. The Law wounds the Gospel cures the Law discovers the evil that is in sin and the misery that follows sin and the Spirit of God working in fellowship with the word effectually turns the heart from sin And thus we see in what glorious acts the efficacy of the word discovers it self upon the hearts of men and all these acts lie in order to each other for until the soul be awakened it cannot be enlightned Eph. 5. 14. till it be enlightned it cannot be convinced Eph. 5. 13. Conviction being nothing else but the application of the light that shines in the mind to the Conscience of a sinner till it be convinced it cannot be wounded for sin Act. 2. 37. and until it be wounded for sin it will never be converted from sin and brought effectually to Jesus Christ and thus you see what the power of the word is Thirdly In the last place it will concern us to enquire whence the word of God hath all this power and it is 3. most certain that it is not a power inherent in it self nor derived from the instrument by which it is managed but from the Spirit of the Lord who communicates to it all that power and efficacy which it hath upon our souls First Its power is not in or from it self it works not in a Physical way as natural agents do for then the effect would alwayes follow except it were miraculously hindred but this spiritual efficacy is in the word as the healing vertue was in the waters of Bethesda John 5. 4. An Angel went down at a certain season into the Pool and troubled the water whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had It is not a power naturally inherent in it at all times but communicated to it at some special seasons how often is the word Preached and no man awaked or convinced by it Secondly The power of the word is not communicated to it by the instrument that manageth it 1 Cor. 3. 7. Neither is he that planteth any thing neither he that watereth Ministers are nothing to such an effect and purpose as this is he doth not mean that they are useless and altogether unnecessary but insufficient of themselves to produce such mighty effects it works not as it is the word of man 1 Thes. 2. 13. Ministers may say of the ordinary as Peter said of the extraordinary effects of the Spirit Acts 3. 12. Ye men of Israel why marvel ye at this or why look ye so earnestly on us as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk If the effects of the word were in the power and at the command of him that preacheth it then the blood of all the souls that perish under our Ministry must lye at our door as was formerly noted Thirdly If you say whence then hath the word all this power Our answer is it derives it all from the Spirit of God 1 Thes. 2. 13. For this cause thank we God without ceasing Literâ jubetur spiritu donaâ—…r Aug. Ep. 157. because when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us ye received it not as the word of men but as it is in truth the word of God
which effectually worketh also in you that believe 'T is a successful instrument only when it is in the hand of the Spirit without whose influence it never did nor can convince convert or save any soul. Now the Spirit of God hath a soveraignty over three things in order to the conversion of the sinner viz. 1. Over the word which works 2. Over the soul wrought upon 3. Over the time and season of working First The Spirit hath a glorious soveraignty over the word it self whose instrument it is to make it successful or not as it pleaseth him Isai. 55. 10 11. For as the rain cometh down and the snow from Heaven c. so shall my word be that goeth out of my mouth as the Clouds so the word is carried and directed by divine pleasure 't is the Lord that makes them both give down their blessings or to pass away fruitless and empty yea 't is from the Spirit that this part of the word works and not another those things upon which Ministers bestow greatest labour in their preparation and from which accordingly they have the greatest expectation these do nothing when mean time something that dropt occasionally from them like a chosen Shaft strikes the mark and doth the work Secondly The Spirit of the Lord hath a glorious soveraignty over the souls wrought upon 't is his peculiar work to take away the stony heart out of our flesh and to give us an heart of flesh Ezec. 36. 26. We may reason exhort and reprove but nothing will stick till the Lord set it on The Lord opened the heart of Lydia under Pauls ministry he opens every heart that is effectually opened to receive Christ in the word if the word can get no entrance if your hearts remain dead under it still we may say concerning such souls as Martha did concerning her Brother Lazarus Lord if thou hadst been here my Brother had not died So Lord if thou hadst been in this Sermon in this Prayer or in that counsel these souls had not remained dead under them Thirdly The Spirit hath dominion over the times and seasons of conviction and conversion therefore the day in which souls are wrought upon is called the day of his power Psal. 110. 3. that shall work at one time which had no efficacy at all at another time because this and not that was the time appointed and thus you see whence the word derives that mighty power it hath Now this word of God when it is set home by the Spirit is mighty to convince humble and break the hearts of sinners Joh. 16. 9. The Spirit when it cometh shall convince the world of sin the word signifies conviction by such clear demonstration as compelleth assent it not only convinces men in general that they are sinners but it convinceth men particularly of their own sins and the aggravations of them So in the Text sin revived that is the Lord revived his sins the very circumstances and aggravations with which they were committed and so it will be with us when the Commandment comes sins that we had forgotten committed so far back as our youth or childhood sins that lay slighted in our Consciences shall now be rouzed up as so many sleepy Lyons to affright and terrifie us for now the soul hears the voice of God in the word as Adam heard it in the cool of the day and was afraid and hides it self but all will not do for the Lord is come in the word sin is held up before the eyes of the Conscience in its dreadful aggravations and fearful consequences as committed against the holy Law clear light warnings of Conscience manifold mercies Gods long-suffering Christs precious blood many warnings of judgements the wages and demerit whereof by the verdict of a mans own Conscience is death eternal death Rom. 6. 23. Rom. 1. 32. Rom. 2. 9. thus the Commandment comes sin revives and vain hopes give up the Ghost Inference 1. Is there such a mighty power in the word then certainly the word is of divine authority there cannot be a more clear and Inference 1 satisfying proof that it is no humane invention than the common sense that all Believers have of the almighty power in which it works upon their hearts so speaks the Apostle 1. Thes. 2. 13. When ye received the word of God which ye heard of us ye received it not as the word of man but as it is in truth the word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believe Can the power of any creature the word of a meer man so convince the Conscience so terrifie the heart so discover the very secret thoughts of the soul put a man into such tremblings No no a greater than man must needs be here none but a God can so open the eyes of the blind so open the graves of the dead so quicken and enliven the Conscience that was seared so bind over the soul of a sinner to the judgement to come so change and alter the frame and temper of a mans spirit so powerfully raise refresh and comfort a drooping dying soul. Certainly the power of God is in all this and if there were no more yet this alone were sufficient to make full proof of the divine authority of the Scriptures Inference 2. Judge from hence what an invaluable mercy the preaching of Inference 2. the word is to the world 't is a blessing far above our estimation of it little do we know what a treasure God committeth to us in the Ordinances Acts 13. 25. To you is the word of this salvation sent 't is the very power of God to salvation Rom. 1. 16. and salvation is ordinarily denied to whom the preaching of the word is denied Rom. 10. 14. It 's called the word of life Phil. 2. 16. and deserves to be valued by every one of us as our life the eternal decree of Gods election is executed by it upon our souls as many as be ordained to eternal life shall believe by the preaching of it Great is the ingratitude of this generation which so slights and undervalues this invaluable treasure which is a sad presage of the most terrible judgement even the removing our Candlestick out of its place except we repent Inference 3. How sore and terrible a judgement lies upon the souls of those Inference 3. men to whom no word of God is made powerful enough to convince and awaken them Yet so stands the case with thousands who constantly sit under the preaching of the word many Arrows are shot at their Consciences but none goes home to the mark all fall short of the end the Commandment hath come unto them many thousand times by way of promulgation and ministerial inculcation but never yet came home to their souls by the spirits effectual application Oh friends you have often heard the voice of man but you never yet heard the voice of God your understandings have been instructed but your
Consciences to this day were never throughly convinced We have mourned unto you but ye have not lamented Mat. 11. 17. Who hath believed our report and unto whom is the arm of the Lord revealed Alas we have laboured in vain we have spent our strength for nought our word returns unto us empty but O what a stupendious judgement is here Heb. 6. 7 8. The earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed receiveth blessing from God but that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned What a sore judgement and sign of Gods displeasure would you account it if your fields were cursed if you should manure dress plough and sow them but never reap the fruit of your labour the increase being still blasted And yet this were nothing compared with the blasting of the word to your souls that which is a savour of life unto life unto some becomes the savour of death unto death to others 2 Cor. 2. 16. The Lord affect our hearts with the terrible stroaks of God upon the souls of men 2d Use of Exhortation I shall conclude this point with a few words of Exhortation to three sorts of men Use 2. viz. 1. To those that never felt the power of the word 2. To those that have only felt some slight and common effects thereof 3. To those unto whose very hearts the Commandment is come in its effectual and saving power First You that never felt any power in the word at all I beg you in the name of him that made you and by all the regard 1. and value you have for those precious souls within you that now at last such Considerations as these may find place in your souls and that you will bethink your selves Consideration 1. Whose word that is that cannot gain entrance into your hearts is it not the Word of God which you despise and slight thou castest my word behind thy back Psal. 50. 17. O what an affront and provocation to God is this you despise not man but God the great and terrible God in whose hand your breath and soul is this contempt runs higher than you imagine Consid. 2. Consider that however the Word hath no power upon you the commandment cannot come home to your hearts yet it doth work and comes home with power to the hearts of others whilest you are hardened others are melted under it whilest you sleep others tremble whilest your hearts are fast locked up others are opened how can you choose but reflect with fear and trembling upon these contrary effects of the word especially when you consider that the eternal decrees both of election and reprobation are now executed upon the souls of men by the preaching of the Word Some believe and others are hardened Consid. 3. That no Judgement of God on this side hell is greater than a hard heart and stupid Conscience under the Word it were much better that the providence of God should blast thy Estate take away thy Children or destroy thy health than harden thy heart and seare thy Conscience under the Word So much as thy soul is better than thy body so much as Eternity is more valuable than time so much is this spiritual Judgement more dreadful than all temporal ones God doth not inflict a more terrible stroke than this upon any men in this world O therefore as you love your own souls and are loth to ruine them to all Eternity attend upon every opportunity that God affords you for you know not in which of them the Lord may work upon your hearts lay aside your prejudices against the Word or the weaknesses and infirmities of them that preach it for the Word works not as it is the word of man as it is thus neat and elegant but as it is the Word of God pray for the blessing of God upon the Word for except his word of blessing go forth with it it can never come home to thy soul meditate upon what you hear for without meditation it is not like to have any effectual operation upon you Search your souls by it and consider whether that be not your very case and state which it describes your very danger whereof it gives warning take heed lest after you have heard it the cares of the world choke not what you have heard and cause those budding convictions which begin to put forth to blast and wither carefully attend to all those Items and memorandums your Consciences give you under the word and conclude that the Lord is then come nigh unto you Secondly let this be matter of serious consideration and caution to all such as have only felt some slight transient 2. and ineffectual operations of the Gospel upon their souls the Lord hath come nigh some of our souls we have felt a strange power in the Ordinances sometimes terrifying and sometimes transporting our hearts but alas it proves but a morning dew or an early cloud Hos. 6. 4. we rejoice in the Word but it is but for a season Joâ—… 3. 35. Gal. 4. 14 15. they are vanishing motions and come to nothing Look as in nature there are many abortives as well as perfect Children so it is in Religion yea where the new Creature is perfectly formed in one soul there be many abortives and miscarriages and there may be three reasons assigned for it viz. First The Subtilty and deep policy of Satan who never more effectually deceives and destroys the souls of men than in such a method and by such an artifice as this for when men have once felt their Consciences terrified under the Word and their hearts at other times ravished with the joyes and comforts of it they now seem to have attained all that is necessary to conversion and constitutive of the new Creature these things look so well like the regenerating effects of the spirit that many are easily deceived by them The devil beguiles the hearts of the unwary by such false appearances for it is not every man that can distinguish betwixt the natural and spiritual motions of the affections under the word it is very frequently seen that even carnal and unrenewed hearts have their meltings and transports as well as spiritual hearts The subject-matter upon which the word treats are the weighty things of the world to come heaven and hell are very awful and affecting things and an unrenewed heart is apt to thaw and melt at them now here is the cheat of Satan to perswade a man that these must needs be spiritual affections because the objects about which they are conversant are spiritual Whereas it is certain the object of the affections may be very spiritual and heavenly and yet the workings of a mans affections about them may be in a meer natural way Secondly The dampening efficacy of the world is a true and proper cause of these
abortions and miscarriages under the Word Luke 8. 12 13 14. there are hopeful and promising beginnings and budding of affections in some persons especially in their youth but when once they come to be engaged in the world how soon are they dampt and quenched as the cares of a Family grow on so do the cares of salvation wear off 't is not as it was wont to be what shall I do to be saved how shall I get interest in Christ but what shall I eat and drink and wherewithal shall I and mine be maintained Thus earth justles out heaven and the present world drowns all thoughts of that to come Good had it been for many men they had never been engaged so deep in the world as they are their life is but a constant hurry of business and a perpetual diversion from Christ and things that are eternal Thirdly Lastly The deceitfulness and treachery of the heart which too easily gives way to the designs of Satan and suffers it self to be imposed upon by him is not the least cause why so many hopeful beginnings come to nothing and the effects of the word vanish Pride and self-love are very apt to over-value every little good and slight or undervalue every evil that is in us and so quickly choaks those convictions that begin to work in our souls But oh that such men would consider that the dying away of their convictions is that which threatens the life of their souls for ever now is the bud withered the blossome blasted and what expectation is there of fruit after this except the Lord revive them again The Lord open mens eyes to discern the danger of such things as these are Jud. ver 12. Heb. 10. 38. Yet I deny not but there are many stands and pauses in the work of conversion it seems to dye away and then revives again and revive it must or we are lost but how many are there who never recover it more This is a sore Judgement of a most terrible consequence to the souls of men 3. Thirdly In the last place Let it be a word of counsel and advice to them upon whom the word works effectually 3. and powerfully to whose hearts the commandment is come home to revive sin and kill their vain hopes and these are of two sorts 1. Embryos under the first workings of the Spirit 2. Compleat births of the Spirit regenerated souls First Embryos that are under the first workings of the Spirit in the word O let it not seem a misery or unhappiness 1. to you that the Commandment is come and sin revived and your former hopes overthrown It must be thus if ever God intend mercy for you Had you gone on in that dangerous security you were in before you had certainly been lost for ever God hath stopt you in that path that leads down to hell and none that go in there do ever return again or take hold of the paths of life O 't is better to weep tremble and be distressed now than to mourn without hope for ever let it not trouble you that sin hath found you out you could never have found out the remedy in Christ if you had not found out the disease and danger by the coming of the commandment And I beseech you carefully to observe whether the effects and operations of the word upon your hearts be deeper and more powerful than they are found to be in such souls as miscarry under it the Commandment comes to them and shews them this or that more gross and startling sin doth it come to you and shew you not only this or that particular sin but all the evils of your heart and life the corruption of your natures as well as the transgressions of your lives if so it promises well and looks hopefully and comfortably to you The commandment comes to others and startles them with the fears of damnation for their sin it puts them into a grievous fright at hell and the everlasting burnings but doth it come to thee and discover the infinite evil that is in thy sin as it is committed against the great holy righteous and good God and so melts thy heart into tears for the wrong that thou hast done him as well as the danger into which thou hast brought thy self This is a hopeful work and may encourage thee It comes to others and greatly shakes but never destroyes and razes the foundation of their vain hopes if it so revive sin as to kill all vain hopes in thee and shut thee up to Christ as thy only door of hope fear not these troubles will prove the greatest mercies that ever befell thee in this world if thus they work and continue to work upon thy soul. Secondly Others there are upon whom the Word hath 2. had its full effect as to Conversion O bless God for ever for this mercy you cannot sufficiently value it God hath not only made it a convincing and wounding but a converting and healing word to your souls he hath not only revived your sins and killed your vain hopes but begotten you again to a lively hope see that you be thankful for this mercy How many have sate under the same word but never felt such effects of it As Christ said in another case There were many Widows in Israel in the time of Elijah but unto none of them was the Prophet sent save unto Sarepia a City of Sidon to a certain Widow there Luke 4. 46. So I may say in this case there were many souls in the same Congregation at the same time but unto none of them was the word sent with a Commission to convince and save but such a one as thy self one as improbable to be wrought upon as any soul there O let this beget thankfulness in your souls and let it make you love the word as long as you live I will never forget thy precepts for by them thou hast quickened me Psal. 119. 93. But above all I beseech you make it appear that the Commandment hath come home to your hearts with power to convince you of the evil of sin by your tenderness and care to shun it as long as you live If ever you have seen the face of sin in the glass of the Law of God if your hearts have been humbled and broken for it in the dayes of your trouble and distress certainly you will choose the worst affliction rather than sin it would be the greatest folly in the world to return again to iniquity Psal. 85. 8. you that have seen so much of the evil that is in it and the danger that follows it you that have had such inward terrours and fears of Spirit about it when that terrible representation was made you will be loth to feel those gripes and distresses of Conscience again for the best enjoyment in this world Blessed be God if any word have been brought home to our hearts which hath been instrumental to bring us
destroy the usefulness of humane teachings Subordinata non pugnant the teachings of men are made effectual by the teachings of the Spirit and the Spirit in his teachings will use and honour the Ministry of man Thirdly But to speak positively the teachings of God are nothing else but that spiritual and heavenly light by which the Spirit of God shineth into the hearts of men to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ as the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 4. 6. and though this be the proper work of the Spirit yet it is called the teachings of the Father because the Spirit who enlightens us is commissionated and sent by the Father so to do Joh. 14. 26. Now these teachings of the Spirit of God consist in two things viz. In his 1. Sanctifying impressions 2. Gracious assistances First In his Sanctifying impressions or regenerating works upon the soul by vertue whereof it receives marvellous light and insight in spiritual things and that not only as illumination is the first act of the spirit in our conversion Col. 3. 10. but as his whole work of sanctification is Illuminative and instructive to the converted soul 1 Joh. 2. 27. the anointing which you have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any man teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you the meaning is that Sanctification gives the soul experience of those Mysterious things which are contained in the Scriptures and that experienâ—… the most excellent key to unlock and open those deep Scripture Mysteries no knowledge is so distinct so clear so sweet as that which the heart communicates to the head Joh. 7. 17. if any man do his will he shall know the doctrine a man that never read the nature of love in books of Philosophy nor the transports and ecstasies thereof in History may yet truly describe and express it by the sensible motions of that passion in his own soul yea he that hath felt much better understands than he that hath only read or heard O what a light doth spiritual sense and experience cast upon a great part of the Scriptures for indeed sanctification is the very copy or transcript of the Word of God upon the heart of man Jer. 31. 33. I will write my Law in their heart so that the Scriptures and the experiences of believers by this means answer to each other as the lines and letters in the Press answer to the impressions made upon the paper or the figures in the wax to the engravings in the Seal When a Sanctified man reads David's Psalms or Pauls Epistles how is he surprised with wonder to find the very workings of his own heart so exactly decyphered and fully expressed there Oh saith he this is my very case these holy men speak what my very heart hath felt Secondly The Spirit of God teacheth us as by his sanctifying impressions so by his gracious assistances which he gives us pro re nata as our need requires Matth. 10. 19. it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak Joh. 14. 26. he shall bring all things to your remembrance he assisteth both the understanding in due apprehensions of truth and the heart in the spiritual improvements of truth and so much briefly of the first particular Secondly In the next place we are to enquire what those special truths are which believers hear and learn of the father 2. when they come to Christ. And there are divers great and necessary truths wherein the Spirit enlightens men in that day I cannot say they are all taught every believer in the same degree and order but it is certain they are taught of God such lessons as these are which they never so understood before Lesson 1. First They are taught of God that there is abundantly more evil in their sinful natures and actions than ever they discerned or understood before the Spirit when he cometh shall convince the world of sin John 16. 8 9. Men have a general notion of sin before so had Paul when a Pharisee but how vastly different were his apprehensions of sin from all that ever he had in his natural state when God brought home the Commandment to his very heart There is a threefold knowledge of Sin viz. Traditional discursive and intuitive The First is in the more rude and illiterate multitude The Second in more rational and knowing men The Third is only found in those that are enlightned and taught of God and there is as great a difference betwixt this intuitive knowledge of sin whereby God makes a soul to discern the nature and evil of it in a spiritual light and the two former as there is betwixt the sight of a painted Lyon upon the wall and the sight of a living Lyon that meets us roaring in the way The intuitive sight of sin is another thing than men imagine it to be 't is such a sight as wounds a man to the very heart Acts 2. 37. for God doth not only shew a man this or that particular sin but in the day of conviction he sets all his sins in order before him Psal. 50. 21. yea the Lord shews him the sinfulness of his nature as well as practice Conviction diggs to the root shews and layes open that original corruption from whence the innumerable evils of the life do spring Jam. 1. 14 15. and which is yet more the Lord shews the man whom he is bringing to Christ the sinful and miserable state which he is in by reason of both Joh. 16. 9. and now all excuses pleas and defences of sin are gone he shews them how their iniquities have exceeded Job 36. 8 9. exceeded in number and in aggravation of sinfulness exceeding many and exceeding vile no such sinner in the world as I can such sins as mine be pardoned the greatness of God greatens my sin the holiness of God makes it beyond measure vile the goodness of God puts unconceivable weight into my guilt O can there be mercy with God for such a wretch as I if there be then there will not be a greater example of the riches of free grace in all the world than I am thus God teacheth the evil of sin Lesson 2. Secondly God teacheth the soul whom he is bringing to Christ what that wrath and misery is which hangs over it in the threatnings because of sin Scripture threatnings were formerly slighted now the soul trembles at them they once apprehended themselves safe enough Isa. 28. 15. Psal. 50. 21. they thought because they heard no more of their sins after the Commission of them that therefore they should never hear more that the effect had been as transient a thing as the act of sin was or if trouble must follow sin they should speed no worse than others the generality of the world being in the same case and beside they hoped to find God more merciful than sowre and precise preachers
represented him but when a light from God enters into the soul to discover the nature of God and of sin then it sees that whatever wrath is treasured up for sinners in the dreadful threatnings of the Law is but the just demerit of sin the recompence that is meet the wages of sin is death Rom. 6. ult the penal evil of damnation is but equal to the moral evil of sin So that in the whole Ocean of Gods eternal wrath there is not one drop of injustice yea the soul doth not only see the Justice of God in its eternal damnation but the wonderful mercy of God in the suspension thereof so long O what is it that hath withheld God from damning me all this while how is it that I am not in hell Now do the fears and awful apprehensions of eternity seize the soul and the worst of sensitive creatures is supposed to be in a better condition than such a soul never do men tremble at the threatnings of God nor rightly apprehend the danger of their condition until sin and wrath and the wages of sin be discovered to them by a light from heaven Lesson 3. Thirdly God teaches the soul whom he brings to Christ that deliverance from sin and wrath to come is the greatest and most important business it hath to do in this world Acts 16. 30. what must I do to be saved q. d. O direct me to some effectual way if there be any to secure my poor wretched soul from the wrath of God Sin and the wrath that follows it are things that swallow up the souls and drink up the very spirit of men their thoughts never conversed with things of more confessed truth and awful solemnity these things float not upon their fancies as matters of meer speculation but settle upon their hearts day and night as the deepest concernment in all the world they now know much better than any meer Scholar the deep sense of that Text Matth. 16. 26. what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul Five things shew how weighty the thoughts and cares of salvation are upon their hearts First Their continual thoughtfulness and solicitude about these things if earthly affairs divert them for a while yet they are still returning again to this solemn business Secondly Their careful redeeming of time and saving the very moments thereof to employ about this work those that were prodigal of hours and dayes before look upon every moment of time as a precious and valuable thing now Thirdly Their fears and tremblings lest they should miscarry and come short at last shew how much their hearts are set upon this work Fourthly Their inquisitiveness and readiness to embrace all the help and assistance that they can get from others evidently discovers this to be their great design Fifthly and Lastly The little notice they take of all other troubles and afflictions tells you their hearts are taken up about greater things This is the third Lesson they are taught of God Lesson 4. Fourthly The Lord teaches the soul that is coming to Christ that though it be their duty to strive to the uttermost for salvation yet all strivings in their own strength are insufficient to obtain it This work is quite above the power of nature 't is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy the soul is brought to a full Conviction of this by the discovery of the heinous nature of sin and of the rigour and severity of the Law of God no repentance nor reformation can possibly amount unto a just satisfaction nor are they within the compass and power of our will It was a saying that Dr. Hill often used to his friends speaking about the power of mans will he would lay his hand upon his breast and say every man hath something here to confute the Arminian doctrine this fully takes off the soul from all expectations of deliverance that way it cannot but strive that is its duty but to expect deliverance as the purchase of its own strivings that would be its sin Lesson 5. Fifthly The soul that is coming to Christ by faith is taught of God that though the case it is in be sad yet it is not desperate and remediless there is a door of hope a way of escape for poor sinners how black and fearful soever their own thoughts and apprehensions are There is usually at this time a dawning light of hope in the soul that is under the fathers teachings and this commonly arises from the general and indefinite incouragements and promises of the Gospel which though they do not presently secure the soul from danger yet they prop and mightily support it against despair for though they be not certain that deliverance shall be the event of their trouble yet the possibilities and much more the probabilities of deliverance are a great stay to the sinking soul the troubled soul cannot but acknowledge it self to be in a far better case than the damned are whose hopes are perished from the Lord and a death-pang of despair hath seised their Consciences and herein the merciful and compassionate nature of God is eminently discovered in haftening to open the door of hope almost as soon as the evil of sin is opened it was not long after Adams eyes were opened to see his misery that God opened Christ his remedy in that first promise Gen. 3. 15. and the same method of grace is still continued to his Elect off-spring Gal. 3. 21 22. Rom. 3. 21 22. these supporting hopes the Lord sees necessary to encourage industry in the use of means 't is hope that sets all the world awork if all hope were cut off every soul would sit down in a sullen despair yielding it self for hell Lesson 6. The Lord teaches those that come to Christ that there is a fulness of saving power in him whereby any soul that duely receives him may be perfectly delivered from all its sin and misery Heb. 7. 25. Col. 1. 19. Mat. 28. 18. this is a great and necessary point for every Believer to learn and hear from the Father for unless the soul be satisfied of the fulness of Christs saving power it will never move forward towards him and herein also the goodness of God is most sweetly and seasonably manifested for at this time 't is the great design of Satan to fill the soul with despairing thoughts of a pardon but all those black and heart-sinking thoughts vanish before the discovery of Christs alsufficiency Now the sin-sick soul saith with that woman Mat. 9. 21. If I may but touch the hem of his Garment I shall be healed how deep soever the guilt and stain of sin be yet the soul which acknowledges the infinite dignity of the blood of Christ the offering of it up to God in our room and Gods declared satisfaction in it must
needs be satisfied that Christ is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him which is the sixth Lesson Believers are taught of God Lesson 7. Every man that cometh to Christ is taught of God that it can never reap any benefit by the blood of Christ except he have union with the person of Christ 1 Joh. 5. 12. Eph. 4. 16. Time was when men fondly thought nothing was necessary to their salvation but the death of Christ but now the Lord shews them that their union with Christ by faith is as necessary in the place of an applying cause as the death of Christ is in the place of a meritorious cause the purchase of salvation is an act of Christ without us whilst we are yet sinners the application thereof is by a work wrought within us when we are believers Col. 1. 27. In the purchase all the elect are redeemed together by way of price In the application they are actually redeemed man by man by way of power Look as the sin of the first Adam could never hurt us unless he had been our head by way of generation so the righteousness of Christ can never benefit us unless he be our head in the way of regeneration In teaching this Lesson the Lord in mercy unteaches and blots out that dangerous principle by which the greatest part of the Christianized world do perish viz. that the death of Christ is in it self effectual to salvation though a man be never regenerated or united unto him by saving faith Lesson 8. God teaches the soul whom he is bringing to Christ that whatsoever is necessary to be wrought in us or done by us in order to our union with Christ is to be obtained from him in the way of prayer Ezek. 36. 37. And it is observable that the soul no sooner comes under the effectual teachings of God but the spirit of prayer begins to breath in it Acts 9. 8. behold he prayeth those that were taught to pray by men before are now taught of the Lord to pray to pray did I say yea and to pray fervently too as men concerned for their eternal happiness to pray not only with others but to pour out their souls before the Lord in secret for their hearts are as bottles full of new wine which must vent or break Now the soul returns upon its God often in the same day now it can express its burthens and wants in words and groans which the spirit teacheth they pray and will not give over praying till Christ come with compleat salvation Lesson 9. Ninthly All that come to Christ â—…e taught of God to abandon their former wayes and companions in sin as ever they expect to be received unto mercy Isai. 55. 7. 2 Cor. 5. 17. Sins that were profitable and pleasant as the right hand and right eye must now be cut off Companions in sin who were once the delight of their lives must now be cast off Christ saith to the soul concerning these as he said in another case John 18. 8. if therefore ye seek me let these go their way and the soul saith unto Christ as it is Psalm 119. 115. depart from me ye evil doers for I will keep the Commandments of my God and now pleasant sins and companions in sin become the very burthen and shame of a mans soul objects of delight are become objects of pity and compassion no endearments no union of blood no earthly interests whatsoever are found strong enough to hold the soul any longer from Christ nothing but the effectual teachings of God is found sufficient to dissolve such bonds of iniquity as these Lesson 10. Tenthly All that come unto Christ are taught of God that there is such a beauty and excellency in the wayes and people of God as is not to be matcht in the whole world Psal. 16. 3. When the eyes of strangers to Christ begin to be opened and enlightned in his knowledge you may see what a change of judgement is wrought in them with respect to the people of God and towards them especially whom God hath any way made instrumental for the good of their souls Cant. 5. 9. they then called the spouse of Christ the fairest among women the convincing holiness of the Bride then began to enamour and affect them with a desire of nearer conjunction and communion we will seek him with thee with thee that hast so charged us that hast taken so much pains for the good of our souls now and never before the righteous appeareth more excellent than his Neighbour Change of heart is always accompanied with change of judgement with respect to the people of God thus the Jaylor Act. 16. 33. washed the Apostles stripes to whom he had been so cruel before The godly now seem to be the glory of the places where they live and the glory of any place seems to be darkned by their removal As one said of holy Mr. Barrington Methinks the Town is not at home when Mr. Barrington is out of Town they esteem it a choice mercy to be in their company and acquaintance Zech. 8. 23. we will go with you for we have heard that God is with you no people like the people of God now as one said when he heard of two faithful friends utinam tertius essem O that I might make the third Whatever vile or low thoughts they had of the people of God before to be sure now they are the excellent of the earth in whom is all their delight the holiness of the Saints might have some interest in their Consciences before but they never had such an interest in their estimations and affections till this Lesson was taught them by the Father Lesson 11. Eleventhly All that come to Christ are taught of God that whatever difficulties they apprehend in Religion yet they must not upon pain of damnation be discouraged thereby or return back again to sin Luke 9. 62. No man having put his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God plowing work is hard work a strong and steady hand is required for it he that plows must keep on and make no balks of the hardest and toughest ground he meets with Religion also is the running of a Race 1 Cor. 9. 24. there is no standing still much less turning back if ever we hope to win the prize The Devil indeed labours every way to discourage and daunt the soul by representing the insuperable difficulties of Religion to it and young beginners are but too apt to be discouraged and fall under despondency but the teachings of the Father are encouraging teachings they are carried on from strength to strength against all the oppositions they meet from without them and the many discouragements they find within them to this conclusion they are brought by the teaching of God we must have Christ we must get a pardon we must strive for salvation let the difficulties troubles and sufferings in
prepared for application First The impossibility of coming to Christ without the teachings of the Father will appear from the power of sin which hath so strong an holdfast upon the hearts and affections of all unregenerate men that no humane arguments or perswasions whatsoever can divorce or separate them for First sin is connatural with the soul 't is born and bred with a man Psal. 51. 5. Isa. 48. 8. It is as natural for fallen man to sin as it is to breath Secondly The power of sin hath been strengthening it self from the beginning by a long continued Custom which gives it the force of a second nature and makes regeneration and mortification naturally impossible Jer. 15. 23. Can the Aethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots Then may he also do good that is accustomed to do evil Thirdly Sin is the delight of the sinner it is a sport to a fool to do mischief Prov. 10. 23. Carnal men have no other pleasure in this world but what arises from their Lusts to cut off their corruptions by mortification were at once to deprive them of all the pleasure of their lives Fourthly sin being connatural customary and delightful doth therefore bewitch their affections and inchant their hearts to that degree of madness and fascination that they rather choose damnation by God than separation from sin their hearts are fully set in them to do evil Eccles. 8. 11. they rush into sin as the horse rusheth into the battle Jer. 8. 6. And now what think you can separate a man from his beloved Lust except the powerful and effectual teachings of God Nothing but a light from heaven can rectifie and reduce the inchanted mind no power but that of God can change and alter the sinful bent and inclination of the will 't is a task above all Creature power Secondly The impossibility of coming to Christ without the Fathers teachings evidently appears from the indisposedness of man the subject of this change the natural man receives not the things which are of God 1 Cor. 2. 14. Three things must be wrought upon man before ever he can come to Christ his blind understanding must be enlightned his hard and rocky heart must be broken and melted his stiff fixed and obstinate will must be conquered and subdued but all these are the effects of a supernatural power The illumination of the mind is the peculiar work of God 2. Cor. 4. 6. Rev. 3. 17. Eph. 5. 8. The breaking and melting of the heart is the Lords own work 't is he that giveth repentance Acts 5. 31. 'T is the Lord that takes away the heart of stone and giveth an heart of flesh Ezek. 36. 26. 't is he that poureth out the spirit of contrition upon man Zech. 12. 10. The changing of the natural bent and inclination of the will is the Lords sole prerogative Phil. 2. 13. all these things are effectually done in the soul of man when God teacheth it and never till then Thirdly The nature of faith by which we come to Christ plainly shows the impossibility of coming without the Fathers teaching Everything in faith is supernatural the implantation of the habit of faith is so Eph. 2. 8. 't is not of our selves but the gift of God 't is not an habit acquired by industry but infused by grace Phil. 1. 29. The light of faith by which spiritual things are discerned is supernatural Heb. 11. 1. 27. It seeth things that are invisible The adventures of faith are supernatural for against hope a man believeth in hope giving glory to God Rom. 4. 18. By faith a man goeth unto Christ against all the dictates and discouragements of natural sense and reason The self-denyal of faith is supernatural the cutting off of the right hand and plucking out of right eye sins must needs be so Matth. 5. 29. The Victories and conquests of faith do all speak it to be supernatural it overcomes the strongest oppositions from without Heb. 11. 33 34. it subdueth and purgeth the most obstinate and deep rooted corruptions within Acts 15. 9. it overcometh all the blandishments and charming allurements of the bewitching world 1 Joh. 5. 4. all which considered how evident is the conclusion that none can come to Christ without the Fathers teachings The uses follow 1. Use for Information Use 1. Inference 1. How notoriously false and absurdis that doctrin which asserteth the possibility of believing without the efficacy of supernatural grace Inference 1. The desire of self-sufficiency was the ruin of Adam and the conceit of self-sufficiency is the ruin of multitudes of his posterity This doctrine is not only contradictory to the current stream of Scripture Phil. 2. 13. 1 Joh. 1. 13. with many other Scriptures but it is also contradictory to the common sense and experience of believers yet the pride of nature will strive to maintain what Scripture and experience plainly contradict and overthrow Infer 2. Hence we may also inform our selves how it cometh to pass that many rational wise and learned men miss Christ whilst Inference 2. mean time the simple and illiterate even babes in natural knowledge obtain interest in him and salvation by him The reason hereof is plainly given us by Christ in Mat. 13. 11. To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven but to them it is not given 't is the droppings and dews of divine teaching upon one and not upon another that dryeth up the green tree and maketh the dry tree to flourish Many natural men have very fine brains searching wits solid judgements nimble fancies tenacious memories they can search out the mysteries of nature solve the Phaenomena satisfie the enquiries of the most curious they can measure the earth discover the motions of the heavens but after all take up their place in Hell When in the mean time the Statutes of the Lord by the help of his teachings make wise the simple Psal. 19. 17. 'T is no matter how dull and incapable the Scholar be if God undertake to be the teacher I remember Austin speaks of one who was commonly reputed a fool and yet he could not but judge him to be truly godly and that by two signs of grace which appeared in him one was his seriousness when he heard any discourses of Christ the other was his indignation manifested against sin it was truly said by those two Cardinals who riding to the Council of Constance overheard a poor shepherd in the fields with tears bewailing his sin surgunt indocti rapient coelum the unlearned will rise and take heaven whilest we with all our learning shall descend into Hell Infer 3. This also informs us of the true reason of the strange and various successes of the Gospel upon the souls of men here we see why Inference 3. the ministry of one man becomes fruitful and anothers barren Yea why the labours of the same man prosper exceedingly at one time and not at
and the validity of our claim to Jesus Christ. In pursuance of which design I shall first lay down some general rules and then propose some particular tryals First I shall lay down some general rules for the due information of our minds in this point upon which so great a weight hangs Rule 1. Though the Spirit of God be given to us and worketh in us yet he worketh not as a natural and necessary but as a free and arbitrary agent he neither assists nor sanctifies as the fire burneth ad ultimum sui posse as much as he can assist or sanctifie but as much as he pleaseth Dividing to every man severally as he will 1 Cor. 12. 11. bestowing greater measures of gifts and graces upon some than upon others and assisting the same person more at one season than another and all this variety of operation floweth from his own good pleasure his grace is his own he may give it as he pleaseth Rule 2. There is a great difference in the manner of the spirits working before and after the work of regeneration whilest we are unregenerate he works upon us as upon dead Creatures that work not at all with him and what motion there is in our souls is a counter-motion to the spirit but after regeneration it is not so he then works upon a complying and willing mind we work and he assists Rom. 8. 26. our conscience witnesseth and he beareth witness with it Rom. 8. 16. It is therefore an Errour of dangerous consequence to think that sanctified persons are not bound to stir or strive in the way of duty without a sensible impulse or preventing motion of the spirit Isa. 64. 7. Rule 3. Though the Spirit of God be given to believers and workâ—…th in them yet believers themselves may do or omit such things as may obsâ—…ruct the working and obscure the very being of the spirit of God in them ita nos tractat ut à nobis tractatur he dealeth with us in his evidencing and comforting work as we deal with him in point of tenderness and obedience to his dictates there is a grieving yea there is a quenching of the Spirit by the lusts and corruptions of those hearts in which he dwelleth and though he will not forsake his habitation as a spirit of sanctification yet he may for a time desert it as a spirit of consolation Psal. 51. 11. Rule 4. Those things which discover the indwelling of the Spirit in believers are not so much the matter of their duties or substance of their actions as the more secret springs holy aims and spiritual manner of their doing or performing of them 't is not so much the matter of a prayer the neat and orderly expressions in which it is uttered as the inward sense and spiritual design of the soul 't is not the choice of elegant words whereby our conceptions are cloathed or the copiousness of the matter with which we are furnished for even a poor stammering tongue and broken language may have more of the spirit of God in it This made Luther say he saw more excellency in the duty of a plain rustick Christian than in all the Triumphs of Casar and Alexander the beauty and excellency of spiritual duties is an inward hidden thing Rule 5. All the motions and operations of the spirit are alwayes harmonical and suitable to the written word Isa. 8. 20. To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them The Scriptures are by the inspiration of the spirit therefore his inspirations into the hearts of believers must either substantially agree with the Scriptures or the inspirations of the spirit be self-repugnant and contradictory to one another It is very observable that the works of grace wrought by the spirit in the hearts of believers are represented to us in Scripture as a transcript or copy of the written word Jer. 31. 33. I will write my Law in their hearts Now as a true copy answers the original word for word letter for letter point for point so do the works of the spirit in our souls harmonize with the dictates of the spirit in the Scriptures whatsoever motion therefore shall be found repugnant thereunto must not be fathered upon the spirit of God but laid at the door of its proper parents the spirit of errour and corrupt nature Rule 6. Although the works of the spirit in all sanctified persons do substantially agree both with the written word and with one another as ten thousand copies penned from one original must needs agree within themselves yet as to the manner of infusion and operation there are found many circumstantial differences the spirit of God doth not hold one and the same method of working upon all hearts the work of grace is introduced into some souls with more terrour and trouble for sin than it is in others he wrought upon Paul one way upon Lydia in another way he holds some much longer under terrours and troubles than he doth others inveterate and more prophane sinners find stronger troubles for sin and are held longer under them than those are into whose hearts grace is more early and insensibly infused by the spirits blessing upon religious education but as these have less trouble than the others at first so commonly they have less clearness and more doubts and fears about the work of the spirit afterwards Rule 7. There is a great difference found betwixt the sanctifying and the comforting influences of the spirit upon believers in respect of constancy and permanency his sanctifying influences abide for ever in the soul they never depart but his comforting influences come and go and abide not long upon the hearts of believers Sanctification belongs to the being of a Christian Consolation only to his well being the first therefore is fixed and abiding the later various and inconstant Sanctification brings us to Heaven hereafter consolation brings Heaven into us here our safety lyes in the former our cheerfulness only in the latter There are times and seasons in the lives of believers wherein the spirit of God doth more signally and eminently seal their spirits and ravish their hearts with Joy Rara hora brevis mora sapit quidem suavissime sed gustatur rarissime Bern. unspeakable but what Bernard speaketh is certainly true in the experience of Christians It is a sweet hour and it is but an hour a thing of short continuance the relish of it is exceeding sweet but it is not often that Christians taste it And so much may suffice for the general rules about the in-being and workings of the spirit in believers for the better information of our understandings and prevention of mistakes in this matter I shall next according to promise lay down the particular marks and tryals by which we may discern whether God hath given us his spirit or no by which grown Christians when they are in a due composed
frame may by the assistance of the spirit of God for which therefore they are bound to pray discern his indwelling and working in themselves Evidence 1. In whomsoever the spirit of Christ is a spirit of sanctification to that man or woman he hath been more or less a spirit of conviction and humiliation this is the order which the spirit constantly observes in adult or grown converts Joh. 16. 8 9. and when he is come he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of Judgement of sin because they believed not on me This you see is the method he observes all the world over he shall reprove or convince the world of sin Conviction of sin hath the same respect unto sanctification as the blossoms of trees have to the fruits that follow them a blossom is but fructus imperfectus ordinabilis an imperfect fruit in it self and in order to a more perfect and noble fruit where there are no blossoms we can expect no fruit and where we see no convictions of sin we can expect no conversion to Christ. Hath then the spirit of God been a spirit of conviction to thee hath he more particularly convinced thee of sin because thou hast not believed on him i. e. hath he shewn thee thy sin and misery as an Unbeliever not only terrified and affrighted thy conscience with this or that more notorious act of sin but sully convinced thee of the state of sin that thou art in by reason of thy unbelief which holding thee from Christ must needs also hold thee under the guilt of all thy other sins This gives at least a strong probability that God hath given thee his spirit especially when this conviction remains day and night upon thy soul so that nothing but Christ can give it rest and consequently the great inquisition of thy soul is after Christ and none but Christ. Evidence 2. As the spirit of God hath been a convincing so he is a quickening spirit to all those to whom he is given Rom. 8. 2. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sin and death he is the spirit of life i. e. the principle of spiritual life in the souls whom he inhabiteth for uniting them to Christ he unites them to the fountain of life and this spiritual life in believers manifests it self as the natural life doth in vital actions and operations When the spirit of God comes into the soul of a man that was dead and senseless under sin O saith he now I begin to feel the weight and load of sin Rom. 7. 24. now I begin to hunger and thirst after Christ and his Ordinances 1 Pet. 2. 2. now I begin to breath after God in spiritual prayer Acts 9. 11. Spiritual life hath its spiritual senses and suitable operations O think upon this you that cannot feel any burthen in sin you that have no hungerings or thirstings after Christ how can the spirit of God be in you I do not deny but there may at some times be much deadness and senselesness upon the hearts of Christians but this is their disease not their nature it is but at some times not alwayes and when it is so with them they are burthened with it and complain oâ—… it as their greatest affliction in this world their spirits are not easie and at rest in such a condition as yours are their spirit is as a bone out of joint an Arm dislocated which cannot move any way without pain Evidence 3. Those to whom God giveth his spirit have a tender sympathy with all the interest and concernments of Christ this must needs be so if the same spirit which is in Christ dwelleth also in thy heart if thou be a partaker of his spirit then what he loves thou lovest and what he hateth thou hatest this is a very plain case even in nature it self we find that the many members of the same natural body being animated by one and the same spirit of life whether one member suffer all the members suffer with it or one member be honoured all the members rejoice with it now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular 1 Cor. 12. 26 27. For look as Christ the head of that body is touched with a tender sense and feeling of the miseries and troubles of his people he is persecuted when they are persecuted Acts 9. 4. so they that have the spirit of Christ in them cannot be without a deep and tender sense of the reproach and dishonours that are done to Christ this is as it were a sword in their bones Psal. 42. 3. If his publick worship cease the assemblies of his people scattered it cannot but go to the hearts of all in whom the spirit of Christ is they will be sorrowful for the solemn assemblies the reproach of them will be a burthen Zeph. 3. 18. Those that have the spirit of Christ do not more earnestly long after any one thing in this world than the advancement of Christs interest by conversion and reformation in the Kingdoms of the earth Psal. 45. 3 4. Paul could rejoice that Christ was Preached though his own afflictions were increased Phil. 1. 16. 18. and John could rejoice that Christ encreased though he himself decreased yet therein was his joy fulfilled Joh. 3. 29. so certainly the concernments of Christ must and will touch that heart which is the habitation of his spirit I cannot deny but even a good Baruch may be under a temptation to seek great things for himself and be too much swallowed up in his own concernments when God is plucking up and breaking down Jer. 45. 4 5. but this is only the influence of a temptation the true temper and spirit of a believer inclines him to sorrow and mourning when things are in this sad posture Ezech. 9. 4. Go through the midst of the City through the midst of Jerusalem and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof O Reader lay thine hand upon thine heart is it thus with thee dost thou sympathize with the affairs and concernments of Christ in the world or carest thou not which way things go with the people of God and Gospel of Christ so long as thine own affairs prosper and all things are well with thee Evidence 4. Where ever the spirit of God dwelleth he doth in some degree mortifie and subdue the evils and corruptions of the soul in which he resides this spirit lusteth against the flesh Gal. 5. 17. and believers through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body Rom. 8. 13. this is one special part of his sanctifying work I do not say he so kills and subdues sin in believers as that it shall never trouble or defile them any more no no that freedom belongs to the perfect state in heaven but its dominion is taken away though its
life be prolonged for a season it lives in believers still but not upon the provision they willingly make to fulfil the Lust of it Rom. 13. ult The design of every true believer is co incident with the design of the spirit to destroy and mortifie corruption they long for the extirpation of it and are daily in the use of all sanctified means and instruments to subdue and destroy it the workings of their corruptions are the afflictions of their souls Rom. 7. 24. O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death and there is no one thing that sweetens the thoughts of death to believers except the sight and full enjoyment of God more than their expected deliverance from sin doth Evidence 5. Where ever the spirit of God dwelleth in the way of sanctification in all such he is the spirit of prayer and supplication Rom. 8. 26. Likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the spirit it self maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered where ever he is poured out as the spirit of grace he is also poured out as the spirit of supplication Zech. 12. 10. his praying and his sanctifying influences are undivided There is a threefold assistance that the spirit gives unto sanctified persons in prayer he helps them before they pray by setting an edge upon their defires and affections he helps them in prayer by supplying matters of request to them teaching them what they should ask of God he assisteth them in the manner of prayer supplying to them suitable affections and helping them to be sincere in all their desires to God 't is he that humbles the pride of their hearts dissolves and breaks the hardness of their hearts out of dcadness makes them lively out of weakness makes them strong he assisteth the spirits of believers after prayer helping them to faith and patience to believe and wait for the returns and answers of their prayers O Reader reflect upon thy duties consider what spirituality sincerity humility broken-heartedness and melting affections after God are to be found in thy duties is it so with thee or dost thou shuffle over thy duties as an interruption to thy business and pleasures are they an ungrateful task imposed upon thee by God and thy own conscience are there no hungerings and thirstings after God in thy soul or if there be any pleasure arising to thee out of prayer is it not from the ostentation of thy gifts if it be so reflect sadly upon the carnal state of thy heart these things do not speak the spirit of grace and supplication to be given thee Evidence 6. Where ever the spirit of Grace inhabits there is an heavenly spiritual frame of mind accompanying and evidencing the indwelling of the spirit Rom. 8. 5 6. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit for to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace by the mind understand the musings reasonings yea and the cares fears delights and pleasures of the soul which follow the workings and meditations of the mind as these are so are we if these be ordinarily and habitually taken up and exercised about earthly things then is the frame and state of the man carnal and earthly the workings of every creature follow the being and nature of it if God Christ Heaven and the world to come engage the thoughts and affections of the soul the temper of such a soul is spiritual and the spirit of God dwelleth there this is the life of the regenerate Phil. 3. 20. our conversation is in Heaven and such a frame of heart is life and peace a serene placid and most comfortable life no pleasure upon earth no gratifications of the senses do relish and savour as spiritual things do Consider therefore which way thy heart ordinarily works especially in thy Solitudes and hours of retirement these things will be a great evidence for or against thy soul. David could say how precious are thy thoughts unto me O God! how great is the summ of them if I should count them they are more in number than the sand when I awake I am still with thee Psal. 139. 17 18. Yet it must be acknowledged for the relief of weaker Christians that there is great odds and variety found in this matter among the people of God for the strength steadiness and constancy of a spiritual mind results from the depth and improvement of sanctification the more grace still the more evenness spirituality and constancy there is in the motions of the heart after God The minds of weak Christians are more easily entangled in earthly vanities and more frequently diverted by inward corruptions yet still there is a spiritual pondus inclination and bent of their hearts towards God and the vanity and corruption which hinders their communion with him is their greatest grief and burthen under which they groan in this world Evidence 7. Those to whom the spirit of grace is given they are led by the spirit Rom. 8. 14. As many as are led by the spirit of God they are the Sons of God sanctified souls give themselves up to the government and conduct of the spirit they obey his voice beg his direction follow his motions deny the solicitations of the flesh and blood in obedience to him Gal. 1. 16. and they that do so they are the sons of God 't is the office of the spirit to guide us into all truth and 't is our great duty to follow his guidance Hence it is that in all enterprizes and undertakements the people of God so earnestly beg direction and counsel from him Lead me O Lord in thy righteousness saith David make thy way straight before my face Psal. 8. 5. they dare not in doubtful cases lean to their own understandings yea in points of duty and in points of sin they dare not neglect the one or commit the other against the convictions and perswasions of their own consciences though troubles and sufferings be unavoidable in that path of duty when they have ballanced duties with sufferings in their most serious thoughts the conclusion and result will still be it is better to obey God than man the dictates of the spirit rather than the counsels of flesh and blood But before I leave this point I reckon my self a debtor unto weak Christians and shall endeavour to give satisfaction to some special doubts and fears with which their minds are ordinarily entangled in this matter for it is a very plain case that many souls have the presence and sanctification of the spirit without the evidence and comfort thereof Divers things are found in believers which are as so many fountains of fears and doubts to them And First I greatly doubt the spirit of God is not in me Obj. 1. saith
a poor Christian because of the great darkness and ignorance which clouds my soul for I read 1 Joh. 2. 27. that he enlightneth the soul which he inhabiteth the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any man teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things c. but alas my understanding is weak and cloudy I have need to learn of the meanest of Gods people this only I know that I know nothing as I ought to know Two things are to be respected in spiritual knowledge Sol. viz. the quantity and the efficacy thereof your condition doth not so much depend upon the measures of knowledge for haply you are under many natural disadvantages and want those helps and means of increasing knowledge which others plentifully enjoy it may be you have wanted the helps of education or have been incumbred by the necessities and cares of the world which have allowed you but little leasure for the improvement of your minds but if that which you do know be turned into practice and obedience Col. 1. 9 10. if it have influence upon your hearts and transform your affections into a spiritual frame and temper 2 Cor. 3. 17 18. if your ignorance humble you and drive you to God daily for the increase of knowledge one drop of such knowledge of Christ and your selves as this is more worth than a Sea of humane moral unsanctified and speculative knowledge though you know but little yet that little being sanctified is of great value though you know but little time was when ye knew nothing of Jesus Christ or the state of your own souls In a word though you know but little that little you do know will be still encreasing like the morning light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day Prov. 4. 18. If thou knowest so much as brings thee to Christ thou shalt shortly be where thy knowledge shall be as the light at noon day I sometime find my heart raised and my affections melted Obj. 2. in duties but I doubt it is but in a natural way and not from the spirit of God could I be assured those motions of my heart were from the spirit of grace and not meerly a natural thing it would be singular comfort and satisfaction to me First Consider whether this be not the ground of your Sol. fear and doubting because you are fain to take pains in the way of meditation prayer and other duties to bring your hearts to sense and savour the things of God whereas it may be you expect your spiritual enlargements and comforts should flow in upon you spontaneously and drop from heaven immediately of their own accord without any pains or industry of yours here may be and probably is a great mistake in this matter for the spirit of God works in the natural method wherein affections use to be raised and makes use of such duties as meditation and prayer as instruments to do that work by Ezech. 36. 37. So David was forced to reason with and chide his own heart Psal. 42. 5. thy comfort and enlargement may nevertheless be the fruit of the spirit because God makes it spring up and grow upon thy duties Secondly Take this as a sure rule whatsoever rises from self alwayes aimes at and terminates in self this stream cannot be carryed higher than the fountain if therefore thy aim and end in striving for affections and enlargements in duty be only to win applause from men and appear to be what in reality thou art not this indeed is the fruit of nature and a very corrupt and hypocritical nature too but if thy heart be not melted or desire to be melted in the sense of the evil of sin in order to the farther mortification of it and under the apprehensions of the free grace and mercy of God in the pardon of sin in order to the engaging of thy soul more firmly to him if these or such like be thy ends and designs or be promoted and furthered by thine enlargements and spiritual comforts never reject them as the meer fruits of nature a carnal root cannot bring forth such fruits as these Upon the Contrary Spiritual deadness and indisposedness Obj. 3. to duties and to those especially which are more secret spiritual and self-denying than others is the ground upon which many thousand souls who are yet truly gracious do doubt the indwelling of the spirit in them O saith such a soul if the spirit of God be in me Why is it thus Could my heart be so dead so backward and averse to spiritual duties no no these things would be my meat and my drink the delights and pleasures of my life First These things indeed are very sad and argue thy Sol. heart to be out of frame as the body is when it cannot relish the most desireable meats or drinks but the question will be how thy soul behaves it self in such a condition Qui bonâ—…m vult malum non vult is studium retinet plaâ—…di deo quamvis illectus concupiscentiâ malâ nonnunquam ex infirmitate illud committat quod deo displicet Davenant as this is whether this be easie or burthensome to be born by thee and if thou complain under it as a burthen then what pains thou takest to ease thy self and get rid of it Secondly Know also that there is a great difference betwixt spiritual death and spiritual deadness the former is the state of the unregenerate the latter is the disease and complaint of many thousand regenerate souls If David had not felt it as well as thee he would never have cryed out nine times in the compass of one Psalm Quicken me quicken me Besides Thirdly Though it be often it is not alwayes so with thee there are seasons wherein the Lord breaks in upon thy heart enlarges thy affections and sets thy soul at liberty to which times thou wilt do well to have an eye in these dark and cloudy dayes But the Spirit of God is a comforter as well as a sanctifier Obj. 4. he doth not only enable men to believe but after they believe he also seals them Eph. 1. 13. but I walk in darkness and am a stranger to the sealing and comforting work of the spirit how therefore can I imagine the spirit of God should dwell in me who go from day to day in the bitterness of my soul mourning as without the Sun There is a twofold sealing and a twofold comfort the Sol. spirit sealeth both objectively in the work of sanctification and formally in giving clear evidence of that work thou mayest be sealed in the first whilest thou art not yet sealed in the second sense if so thy condition is safe although it be at present uncomfortable And as to comfort that also is of two sorts viz. seminal or actual in the root or in the fruit light is sown for the righteous Psal.
97. 11. though the harvest to reap and gather in that Joy and Comfort be not yet come and there are many other wayes beside that of joy and comfort whereby the indwelling of the spirit may evidence it self in thy soul if he do not enable thee to rejoyce yet if he enable thee sincerely to mourn for sin if he do not enlarge thy heart in Comfort yet if he humble and purge thy heart by sorrows if he deny thee the assurance of faith and yet give thee the dependance of faith thou hast no reason to call in question or deny the indwelling of the spirit in thee for that cause But the Apostle saith they that walk in the spirit do not fulfil Obj. 5. the Lusts of the flesh Gal. 5. 16. but I find my self entangled and frequently overcome by them therefore I doubt the spirit of God is not in me 'T is possible the ground of your doubting may be your Sol. mistake of the true sense and meaning of that Scripture it is not the Apostles meaning in that place that sin in believers doth not work tempt and oftentimes overcome and captivate them for then he would contradict himself in Rom. 7. 23. where he thus complains but I see another Law in my members warring against the Law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the Law of sin which is in my members but two things are meant by that expression you shall not fulfil the Lusts of the flesh First That the principle of grace will give cheque to sin in its first motions and cause it to miscarry in the womb like an untimely birth before it comes to its full maturity it shall never be able to gain the full consent of the will as it doth in the unregenerate Secondly if notwithstanding all the opposition grace makes to hinder the birth or commission of it it do yet prevail and break forth into act yet such acts of sin as they are not committed without regret so they are followed with shame sorrow and true repentance and those very surprizals and captivities of sin at one time are made cautions and warnings to prevent it at another time if it be so with thee thou dost not fulfill the Lusts of the flesh And now Reader upon the whole if upon examination of thy heart by these rules the Lord shall help thee to discern the saving work of his spirit upon thy soul and thereby thine interest in Christ what a happy man or woman art thou what pleasure will arise to thy soul from such a discovery Look upon the frame of thine heart absolutely as it is in it self at present or comparatively with what once it was and others still are and thou wilt find enough to transport and melt thy heart within thee certainly this is the most glorious piece of Workmanship that ever God wrought in the world upon any man Eph. 2. 10. the spirit of God is come down from heaven and hath hallowed thy soul to be a Temple for himself to dwell in as he hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people 2 Cor. 7. 16. Moreover this gift of the spirit is a sure pledge and earnest of thy future glory time was when there was no such work upon thy soul and considering the frame and temper of it the total aversation strong opposition and rooted enmity that was in it it is the wonder of wonders that ever such a work as this should be wrought upon such an heart as thine that ever the spirit of God whose nature is pure and perfect holiness should choose such an unclean polluted abominable heart to frame an habitation for himself there to dwell in to say of thy soul now his spiritual Temple as he once said of the material Temple at Jerusalem Psal. 132. 13 14. The Lord hath chosen it he hath desired it for his habitation this is my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have desired it O what hath God done for thy soul Think Reader and think again are there not many thousands in the world of more ingenuous sweet and amiable disposition than thy self whom yet the spirit of God passeth by and leaveth them as Tabernacles for Satâ—… to dwell in such a one thou lately wast and hadst still remained if God had not wrought for thee beyond all the expectation and desires of thine own heart O bless God that you have received not the spirit of the world but the spirit which is of God that ye might know the things which are freely given unto you of God The Twenty fifth SERMON Sermon 25. 2 COR. 5. 17. Text. Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a New Creature Of the nature and necessity of the New Creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new YOU have seen one tryal of an interest in Christ in our last discourse namely by the donation of the Spirit we have here another Tryal of the same matter from one of the greatest and most noble effects of the Spirit upon our souls namely his work of renovation or new creation if any man be in Christ he is a new Creature The Apostles scope in the immediate context is to disswade Christians from a carnal sinful partiality in their respects to men not to dispense them after the manner of the world according to the external differences but the real internal worth and excellency that is in men This the Apostle presses by two arguments one drawn from the end of Christs death verse 15. which was to take us off from those selfish designs and carnal ends by which the world is swayed Secondly from the new spirit by which believers are acted they that are in Christ are to judge and measure all things by a new rule if any man be in Christ he is a new Creature old things are passed away q. d. we have done with that low selfish spirit of the world which was wholly governed by Carnal interest we are now to judge by a new rule to be acted from a new principle aim at a new and more noble end behold all things are become new In these words we have three general parts to be distinctly considered viz. 1. The great question to be determined if any man be in Christ. 2. The Rule by which it may be determined viz. he is a new Creature 3. This general rule more particularly explained old things are passed away behold all things are become new First We have here the great question to be determined Whether a man be in Christ a question upon the determination 1. whereof we must stand or fall for ever by being in Christ the Apostle doth not here mean the general profession of Christianity which gives a man the reputation of an interest in him but by being in Christ he means an interest in him by vital union with his
the world a wondring at them 1 Pet. 4. 4. Wherein they think it strange that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Obstupescent ut ad rei inusitatae spectaculum Beza Ils se trouvent tous nouveaux comme en 〈◊〉 autre monde you run not with them to the same excess of riot speaking evil of you they think it strange the word signifies to stand at gaze as the hen doth which hath brooded and hatched Partridge Eggs when she seeth the Chickens which she hath brought forth take the wing and fly away from her thus do the men of the world stand amazed to see their old companions in sin whose language once was vain and earthly it may be prophane and filthy now to be praying speaking of God Heaven and things spiritual having no more to do with them as to sin except by way of reprehension and admonition this amazes the world and makes them look with a strange admiring eye upon the people of God Thirdly In the next place let us enquire into the properties 3. and qualities of this new creature and shew you as we are able what they are yet Reader expect not here an exact and accurate account of that which is so great a mystery for if questions may be moved about a silly fly which may puzzle the greatest Philosopher to resolve them how much more may we conceive this great and marvellous work of God the most mysterious and admirable of all his works to surmount the understandings of the most illuminated Christians O how little do we know of the nature properties and operations of this new Creature so far as God hath revealed it to our weak understandings we may speak of it And First The Scripture speaks of it as a thing of great difficulty to be conceived by man Joh. 3. 8. The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth so is every one that is born of the spirit The original of winds is a question of great difficulty in Philosophy we hear the voice of the wind feel its mighty force and behold its strange effects but neither know whence it comes or whither it goes ask a man Do you hear the wind blow yes do you feel it blow yes very sensibly do you see the effects of it rending and overturning the trees yes very plainly but can you describe its nature or declare its original no that is a mystery which I do not understand why fo Just so it is with him that is born of the spirit the holy spirit of God whose nature and operations we understand but little of comes from heaven quickens and influences our souls beats down and mortifies our lusts by his almighty power these effects of the spirit in us we experimentally feel and sensibly discern but how the spirit of God first entred into and quickned our souls and produced this new creature in them we understand little more of it than how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with Child Eccles. 11. 5. Therefore is the life of the new creature called a hidden life Col. 3. 3. the nature of that life is not only hidden totally from all carnal men but in a very great measure it is an hidden and unknown life unto spiritual men though themselves be the subjects of it Secondly But though this life of the new Creature be a great mystery and secret in some respects yet so far as it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…ppears unto us the new creature is the most 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lovely creature that ever God made for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 himself is upon it the new man is created 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 24. as the picture is drawn after the man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God himself delineated by the spirit that admirable Artist upon the soul of man holiness is the beauty and glory of God and in holiness the new creature is created after Gods own image Col. 3. 10. the regenerate soul hereby becomes holy 1 Joh. 3. 3. not essentially holy as God is nor yet efficiently holy for the regenerate soul can neither make it self nor others holy but the life of the new creature may be said to resemble the life of God in this that as God lives to himself so the new creature wholly lives to God as God loves holiness and hates the contrary so doth the new creature 't is in these things formed after the image of him that created it when God creates this creature in the soul of man we are said then to be partakers of the divine nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. so that there can be nothing communicated unto men which beautifies and adorns their souls as this new creation doth men do not resemble God as they are noble and as they are rich but as they are holy no gift no endowment of nature imbelishes the soul as this new creature doth an awful Majesty sits upon the brow of the new creature commanding the greatest and worst of men to do homage to it Mark 6. 20. yea such is the beauty of the new creature that Christ its Author is also its admirer Cant. 4. 9. Thou hast ravished mine heart with one of thine eyes Thirdly This New Creature is created in man upon the highest design that ever any work of God was wrought the end of its creation and infusion is high and noble Salvation to the soul in which it is wrought this is both the finis operis and the finis operantis it is the design both of the work and of the workman that wrought it when we receive the end of our faith we receive the salvation of our souls Salvation is the end faith as death is the end of sin so life eternal is the end of grace The new creature doth by the instinct and steady direction of its own nature take its course as directly to God and to heaven the place of his full enjoyment as the Rivers do to the Ocean it declares it self to be made for God by its restless workings after him and as salvation is the end of the new creature so it is the express design and end of him that created it 2 Cor. 5. 5. Now he that hath wrought us for the self same thing is God by this workmanship of his upon our souls he is now polishing preparing and making them meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light Col. 1. 12. Fourthly The new Creation is the most necessary work that ever God wrought upon the soul of man the eternal well-being of his soul depends upon it and without it no man shall see God Heb. 12. 14. and Joh. 1. 3 5. Except ye be regenerate and born again ye cannot see the Kingdom of God can you be saved without Christ you know you cannot can you have interest in Christ without the new creature my Text expressly tells you it can never be for if any man
stranger to regeneration all the while John 3. 10. Secondly That many strong convictions and troubles for 2. sin may be found where the new creature is never formed Conviction indeed is an antecedent unto and preparative for the new creature as the blossomes of the tree are to the fruit that follows them but as fruit doth not always follow where those blossoms and flowers appear so neither doth the new creature follow all convictions and troubles for sin Conviction is a common work of the Spirit both upon the elect and reprobates but the new creature is formed only in Gods elect Convictions may be blasted and vanish away and the man that was under troubles for sin may return again with the dog to his vomit and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire 2 Pet. 2. 22. but the new creature never perishes nor can consist with such a return unto sin Thirdly That excellent gifts and abilities fitting men for service in the Church of God may be where the new creature 3. is not for these are promiscuously despensed by the Spirit both to the regenerate and ungenerate Mat. 7. 22. Many will say unto me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name Gifts are attainable by study prayer and preaching are reduced to an art but regeneration is wholly supernatural Sin in dominion is consistent with excellent gifts but wholly incompatible with the new creature In a word these things are so different in nature from the new creature that they oft times prove the greatest barrs and obstacles in the world to the regenerating work of the spirit Let no man therefore trust to things whereby multitudes deceive and destroy their own souls Reader it may cost thee many an aking head to obtain gifts but thou wilt finde an aking heart for sin if ever God make thee a new creature Fourthly Be convinced that multitudes of religious duties may be performed by men in whom the new creature was never formed Though all new creatures perform the duties of religion yet all that perform the duties of religion are not new creatures regeneration is not the only root from which the duties of religion spring Isa. 58. 2. Yet they seek me dayly and delight to know my ways as a nation that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinance of their God they ask of me the ordinances of justice they take delight in approaching to God These are but weak and slippery foundations for men to build their confidence and hopes upon 3d. Use for Examination Next therefore let me perswade every man to try the state of his own heart in this matter and closely consider and weigh Use 3. this great question Am I really and indeed a new creature or am I an old creature still in the new creatures dress and habit Some light may be given for the discovery hereof from the considerations of The 1. Antecedents of the new Creation 2. Concomitants 3. Consequents First weigh and consider well the Antecedents of the new creature have those things past upon your souls which ordinarily make way for the new creature in whomsoever the Lord forms it First hath the Lord opened the eyes of your understanding in the knowledge of sin and of Christ hath he shewed you both your disease and remedy by a new light shining from heaven into your souls Thus the Lord doth whereever he forms the new creature Acts 26. 18. Secondly hath he brought home the word with mighty power and efficacy upon your hearts to convince and humble them this is the method in which the new creature is produced Rom. 7. 9. 1 Thes. 1. 5. Thirdly have these convictions overturned your vain confidences and brought you to a great pinch and inward distress of soul making you to cry what shall we doe to be saved These are the ways of the spirit in the formation of the new creature Acts 16. 29. Acts 2. 37. If no such antecedent works of the spirit have passed upon your hearts you have no ground for your confidence that the new creature is formed in you Secondly Consider the concomitant frames and workings of spirit which ordinarily attend the production of the new creature and judge impartially betwixt God and your own souls whether they have been the very frames and workings of your hearts First have your vain spirits been composed to the greatest seriousness and most solemn consideration of things eternal as the hearts of all those are whom God regenerates When the Lord is about this great work upon the soul of man whatever vanity levity and sinful jollity was there before it is banished from the heart at this time for now heaven and hell life and death are before a mans eyes and these are the most awful and solemn things that ever our thoughts conversed with in this world now a man of the most airy and pleasant constitution when brought to the sight and sense of those things saith of laughter it is mad and of mirth what doth it Eccles. 2. 2. Secondly A lowly meek and humble frame of heart accompanies the new Creation the soul is weary and heavy laden Matth. 11. 28. convictions of sin have plucked down the pride and loftiness of the spirit of man emptied him of his vain conceits those that were of lofty proud and blustring humours before are meekened and brought down to the very dust now it is with them to speak allusively as it was with Jerusalem that lofty City Isa. 29. 1. 4. Wo to Ariel to Ariel the City where David dwelt thou shalt be brought down and shalt speak out of the ground and thy speech shall be low out of the dust Ariel signifies the Lyon of God so Jerusalem in her prosperity was other Cities trembled at her voice but when God brought her down by humbling Judgements then she whispered out of the dust so it is in this case Thirdly Alonging thirsting frame of spirit accompanies the new creation the desires of the soul are ardent after Christ never did the hireling long for the shadow as the weary soul doth for Christ and rest in him if no such frames have accompanied that which you take for your new birth you have the greatest reason in the world to suspect your selves under a cheat Thirdly Weigh well the effects and consequents of the new creature and consider whether such fruits as these are found in your hearts and lives First Whereever the new creature is formed there a mans course and conversation is changed Eph. 4. 22. That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind the new creature cannot but blush and be ashamed of the old Creatures conversation Rom. 6. 21. Secondly The new Creature continually opposes and conflicts with the motions of sin in the heart Gal. 5. 17. The spirit lusteth against the flesh grace can no more
incorporate with sin than oyle with water contraries cannot consist in the same subject longer than they are fighting with each other if there be no conflict with sin in thy soul or if that conflict be only betwixt the conscience and affections light in the one strugling with lust in the other thou wantest that fruit which should evidence thee to be a new creature Thirdly The mind and affections of the new Creature are set upon heavenly and spiritual things Col. 3. 1 2. Ephes. 4. 23. Rom. 8. 5. if therefore thy heart and affections be habitually earthly and wholly intent upon things below driving eagerly after the world as the great business and end of thy life deceive not thy self this is not the fruit of the New Creature nor consistent with it Fourthly The new Creature is a praying Creature living by its daily Communion with God which is its livelyhood and subsistence Zech. 12. 10. Acts 9. 11. If therefore thou be a prayerless soul or if in all thy prayers thou art a stranger to Communion with God if there be no brokenness of heart for sin in thy confessions no melting affections for Christ and holiness in thy supplications surely Satan doth but baffle and delude thy over-credulous soul in perswading thee that thou art a new Creature Fifthly The new Creature is restless after falls into sin until it have recovered peace and pardon it cannot endure it self in a state of defilement and pollution Psal. 51. 8 9 10 11 12. It is with the conscience of a new Creature under sin as it is with the eye when any thing offends it it cannot leave twinkling and watering till it have wept it out and in the very same restless state it is under the hiding of Gods face and divine withdrawments Cant. 5. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. If therefore thou canst sin and sin again without such a burthensome sense of sin or restlesness or solicitude how to recover purity and peace with the light of Gods countenance shining as in dayes past upon thy soul delude not thy self thou hast not the signs of a new Creature in thee 4th Use for Exhortation If the new Creation be a sound evidence of our interest in Christ then hence let me perswade all that are in Christ to Use 4. evidence themselves to be so by walking as it becomes new Creatures The new Creature is born from above all its tendencies are Heaven-ward accordingly â—…et your affections on things that are above and let your conversation be in Heaven if you live earthly and sensual lives as others do you must cross your new Creature therein and can those acts be pleasant unto you which are done with so much regret wherein you must put a force upon your own spirits and offer a kind of violence to your own hearts Earthly delights and sorrows are suitable enough to the unregenerate and sensual men of the world but exceedingly contrary unto that spirit by which you are renovated If ever you will act becoming the principles and nature of new Creatures then seek earthly things with submission enjoy them with fear and caution resign them with cheerfulness and readiness and thus let your moderation be known unto all men Phil. 4. 5. Let your hearts daily meditate and your tongues discourse about heavenly things be exceeding tender of sin strict and punctual in every duty and hereby convince the world that you are men and women of another spirit 5th Use for Consolation Let every new creature be chearful and thankful if God have renewed your natures and thus altered the frame and Use 5. temper of your hearts he hath bestowed the richest mercy upon you that Heaven or Earth affords this is a work of greatest rarity a new creature may be called one among a thousand 't is also an everlasting work never to be destroyed as all other natural works of God how excellent soever must be 't is a work carried on by almighty power through unspeakable difficulties and mighty oppositions Eph. 1. 12. the exceeding greatness of Gods power goes forth to produce it and indeed no less is required to enlighten the blind mind break the rocky heart and bow the stubborn will of man and the same almighty power which at first created it is necessary to be continued every moment to preserve and continue it 1 Pet. 1. 5. the new creature is a mercy which draws a train of innumerable and invaluable mercies after it Eph. 2. 13 14. 1 Cor. 3. 22. when God hath given us a new nature then he dignifies us with a new name Rev. 2. 17. brings us into a new Covenant Jer. 31. 33. begets us again to a new hope 1 Pet. 1. 3. intitles us to a new inheritance Joh. 1. 12 13. 't is the new creature which through Christ makes our persons and duties acceptable with God Gal. 6. 15. In a word it is the wonderful work of God of which we may say this is the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eyes there are unsearchable wonders in its generation in its operation and in its preservation Let all therefore whom the Lord hath thus renewed fall down at the feet of God in an humble admiration of the unsearchable riches of free grace and never open their mouths to complain under any adverse or bitter providences of God The Twenty seventh SERMON Sermon 27. GAL. 5. 24. Text. And they that are Christs have crucified the flesh Of the nature principle and necessity of Mortification with the affections and lusts TWo great Tryals of our interest in Christ are finished we now proceed to a third namely the mortification of sin they that are Christs have crucified the flesh The scope of the Apostle in this context is to heal the unchristian breaches among the Galatians prevailing by the instigation of Satan to the breach of brotherly love to cure this he urges four weighty arguments First From the great Commandment to love one another upon which the whole Law i. e. all the duties of the second Table do depend vers 14. Secondly He powerfully disswades them from the consideration of the sad events of their bitter contests calumnies and detractions viz. mutual ruine and destruction vers 15. Thirdly He disswades them from the consideration of the contrariety of these practices unto the Spirit of God by whom they all profess themselves to be governed from vers 17 to the 23. Fourthly He powerfully disswades them from these animosities from the inconsistency of these or any other lusts of the flesh with an interest in Christ they that be Christs have crucified the flesh c. q. d. you all profess your selves to be members of Christ to be followers of him but how incongruous are these practices to such a profession Is this the fruit of the Dove-like-spirit of Christ Are these the fruits of your faith and professed mortification Shall the sheep of Christ â—…narl and fight like rabid and
profession this was what the Apostle complained of Phil. 3. 18. for many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the Cross of Christ men cannot study to put a greater dishonour and reproach upon Christ than by making his name and profession a cloak and cover to their filthy lusts Thirdly The necessity of crucifying the flesh appears from the method of Salvation as it is stated in the Gospel God every where requires the practice of mortification under pain of damnation Mat. 18. 8. Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee cut them off and cast them from thee it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire the Gospel legitimates no hopes of salvation but such as are accompanied with serious endeavours of mortification 1 John 3. 3. Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure 't was one special end of Christs coming into the world to save his people from their sins Mat. 1. 21. nor will he be a Saviour unto any who remain under the dominion of their own lusts Fourthly The whole stream and current of the Gospel put us under the necessity of mortification Gospel precepts have respect unto this Col. 3. 5. mortifie your members therefore which are upon the earth 1 Pet. 1. 15. be ye holy for I am holy Gospel presidents have respect unto this Heb. 12. 1. wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us c. Gospel threatnings are written for this end and do all press mortification in a thundring dialect Rom. 8. 13. If ye live after the flesh ye shall dye Rom. 1. 18. The wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men the promises of the Gospel are written designedly to promote it 2 Cor. 7. 1. Having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God but in vain are all these precepts presidents threatnings and promises written in the Scripture except mortification be the daily study and practice of professors Fifthly Mortification is the very scope and aim of our regeneration and the infusion of the principles of grace if we live in the Spirit let us walk in the Spirit Gal. 5. 25. in vain were the habits of grace planted if the fruits of holiness and mortification be not produced yea mortification is not only the design and aim but it is a special part even the one half of our sanctification Sixthly If mortification be not the daily practice and endeavour of Believers then the way to Heaven no way answers to Christs description of it in the Gospel he tells us Mat. 7. 13 14. Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be that go in thereat because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it well then either Christ must be mistaken in the account he gave of the way to glory or else all unmortified persons are out of the way for what makes the way of salvation narrow but the difficulties and severities of mortification Seventhly In a word he that denies the necessity of mortification confounds all discriminating marks betwixt Saints and Sinners pulls down the Pale of distinction and lets the world into the Church and the Church into the World 't is a great design of the Gospel to preserve the boundaries betwixt the one and the other Rom. 2. 7 8. Rom. 8. 1 4 5 6 13. but if men may be Christians without mortification we may as well go into the Taverns Ale-houses or Brothel-houses among the roaring or sottish crew of sinners and say here be those that are redeemed by the blood of Christ here be his Disciples and Followers as go to seek them in the purest Churches or most strictly religious families by all which the necessity of mortification unto all that are in Christ is abundantly evidenced Fourthly In the next place we are to enquire into the true principle of mortification 't is true there are many ways attempted 4. by men for the mortification of sin and many rules laid down to guide men in that great work some of which are very tristing and impertinent things such are those prescribed by popish votaries but I shall lay down this as a sure conclusion that the sanctifying spirit is the only effectual principle of mortification and without him no resolutions vows abstinencies castigations of the body or any other external endeavours can ever avail to the mortification of one sin the moral Heathens have prescribed may pretty rules and helps for the suppression of vice Aristides Seneca and Cato were renowned among them upon this account but yet as Lactantius well observes moral Philosophie did rather abscondere vitia quam abscindere hide it rather than kill it formal Christians have also gone far in the reformation of their lives but could never attain true mortification formality pares off the excrescences of vice but never kills the root of it it usually recovers it self again and their souls like a body not well purged relapse into a worse condition than before Mat. 12. 43 44. 2 Pet. 2. 20. This work of mortification is peculiar to the spirit of God Rom. 8. 13. Gal. 5. 17. and the spirit becomes a principle of mortification in Believers two ways namely 1. By the implantation of contrary habits 2. By assisting those implanted habits in all the times of need First The spirit of God implants habits of a contrary nature which are destructive to sin and are purgative of corruption 1. 1 John 5. 4. Acts 15. 9. Grace is to corruption what water is to fire betwixt which there is both a formal and effective opposition a contrariety both in nature and operation Gal. 5. 17. There is a threefold remarkable advantage given us by grace for the destruction and mortification of sin For First Grace gives the mind and heart of man a contrary bent and inclination by reason whereof spiritual and heavenly things become connatural to the regenerate soul Rom. 7. 22. For I delight in the Law of God after the inner man sanctification is in the soul as a living spring running with a kind of central force Heaven-ward John 4. 14. Secondly Holy principles destroy the interest that sin once had in the love and delight of the soul the sanctified soul cannot take pleasure in sin or find delight in that which grieves God as it was wont to do but that which was the object of delight hereby becomes the object of grief and hatred Rom. 7. 15. What I hate that I do Thirdly From both these follow a third
advantage for the mortification of sin in as much as sin being contrary to the new nature and the object of grief and hatred cannot possibly be committed without reluctancy and very sensible regret of mind and actions done with regret are neither done frequently nor easily The case of a regenerate soul under the surprizals and particular victories of temptation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cùm ita quis capitur ut nequeat luctari nec se capienti obsistere Sclat being like that of a captive in war who marches not with delight but by constraint among his enemies So the Apostle expresseth himself Rom. 7. 23. But I see another law in my members warring against the Law of my mind and bringing me into captivity unto the law of sin which is in my members thus the spirit of God promotes the design of mortification by the implantation of contrary habits Secondly By assisting those gracious habits in all the times 2. of need which he doth many ways sometimes notably awakening and rouzing grace out of the dull and sleepy habit and drawing forth the activity and power of it into actual and successful resistances of temptations as Gen. 39. 9. How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God Holy fear awakens first and raises all the powers of grace in the soul to make a vigorous resistance of temptation the spirit also strengthens weak grace in the soul 2 Cor. 12. 9. My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness and by reason of grace thus implanted and thus assisted he that is born of God keepeth himself and the wicked one toucheth him not Fifthly The last query to be satisfied is how mortification of sin solidly evinceth the souls interest in Christ and this it 5. doth divers ways affording the mortified soul many sound evidences thereof As Evidence 1. Whatsoever evidences the indwelling of the holy spirit of God in us must needs be evidential of a saving interest in Christ as hath been fully proved before but the mortification of sin doth plainly evidence the indwelling of the spirit of God for as we proved but now it can proceed from no other principle there is as strong and inseparable a connection betwixt mortification and the spirit as betwixt the effect and its proper cause and the self-same connection betwixt the inbeing of the spirit and union with Christ. So that to reason from mortification to the inhabitation of the spirit and from the inhabitation of the spirit to our union with Christ is a strong scriptural way of reasoning Evidence 2. That which proves a soul to be under the Covenant of Grace evidently proves its interest in Christ for Christ is the head of that Covenant and none but sound Believers are under the blessings and promises of it but mortification of sin is a sound evidence of the souls being under the Covenant of Grace as is plain from those words of the Apostle Rom. 6. 12 13 14. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that ye should obey it in the lust thereof neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin but yield your selves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God sor sin shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the Law but under Grace where the Apostle presseth Believers unto mortification by this incouragement that it will be a good evidence unto them of a new Covenant interest for all legal duties and endeavours can never mortifie sin 't is the spirit in the new Covenant which produces this whoever therefore hath his corruptions mortified hath his interest in the Covenant and consequently in Christ so far cleared unto him Evidence 3. That which is the fruit and evidence of saving faith must needs be a good evidence of our interest in Christ but mortifiâ—… 〈◊〉 sin is the fruit and evidence of saving faith Acts 15. 9. Purifying their hearts by faith 1 John 5. 4. This is the victory whereby we overcome the world even our faith faith overcomes both the allurements of the world upon one hand and the terrors of the world upon the other hand by mortifying the heart and affections to all earthly things a mortified heart is not easily taken with the ensnaring pleasures of the world or much moved with the disgraces losses and sufferings it meets with from the world and so the strength and force of its temptations is broken and the mortified soul becomes victorious over it and all this by the instrumentality of faith Evidence 4. In a word there is an intimate and indissoluble connection betwixt the mortification of sin and the life of grace Rom. 6. 11. Reckon your selves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ and the life of Christ must needs involve a saving interest in Christ by all which is fully proved what was asserted in the observation from this Text. The Application follows in the next Sermon The Twenty eighth SERMON Sermon 28. GAL. 5. 24. And they that are Christs have crucified the flesh Text. with the affections and lusts From hence our Observation was DOCT. THat a saving interest in Christ may be regularly and Doct. strongly inferred and concluded from the mortification of the flesh with its affections and lusts Having opened the nature and necessity of mortification in the former Sermon and shewn how regularly a 〈◊〉 â—…interest in Christ may be concluded from it we now proceed to apply the whole By way of 1. Information 2. Exhortation 3. Direction 4. Examination 5. Consolation 1st Use for Information Use 1. Inference 1. If they that be Christs have crucified the flesh then the life Inference 1. of Christians is no idle or easie life the corruptions of his heart continually fill his hands with work with work of the most difficult nature sin-crucifying work which the Scripture calls the cutting off the right hand and plucking out of the right eye sin-crucifying work is hard work and it is constant work throughout the life of a Christian there is no time or place freed from this conflict every occasion stirs corruption and every stirring of corruption calls for mortification corruptions work in our very best duties Rom. 7. 23. and put the Christian upon mortifying labours The world and the Devil are great enemies and fountains of many temptations to Believers but not like the corruptions of our own hearts they only tempt objectively and externally but this tempts internally and therefore much more dangerous they only tempt at times and seasons this continually at all times and seasons beside what ever Satan or the world attempts upon us would be altogether ineffectual were it not for our own corruptions John 14. 30. So that the corruptions of our own hearts as they give us most danger so they must give us more labour our life
that God would follow it with his blessing God kills thy comforts out of no other design but to kill thy corruptions with them Wants are ordained to kill wantonness poverty is appointed to kill pride reproaches are permitted to pull down ambition Happy is the man who understands approves and heartily sets in with the design of God in such afflicting providences 8. Rule Bend the strength of your duties and endeavours against Rule 8. your proper and special sin 'T is in vain to lop off branches whilst this root of bitterness remains untouched This was Davids practice Psal. 18. 23. I was also upright before him and I kept my self from mine iniquity We observe in natural men that one faculty is more vigorous than another We find in nature that our soil suits with this seed rather than another and every believer may find his nature and constitution inclining him to one sin rather than another As graces so corruptions excel one another even in the regenerate The power of special corruptions arises from our constitutions education company custom callings and such like occasions But from whencesoever it comes this is the sin that most endangers us most easily besets us and according to the progress of mortification in that fin we may safely estimate the degrees of mortification in other sins strike therefore at the life and root of your own iniquity 9. Rule Study the nature and great importance of those things Rule 9. which are to be won or lost according to the success and issue of this conflict your life is as a race eternal glory is the prize grace and corruption are the antagonists and according as either finally prevails eternal life is won or lost 1 Cor. 9. 24. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all but one receiveth the prize So run that ye may obtain This consideration will make mortification appear the most rational and necessary thing to you in the whole world Shall I lose heaven for indulging the flesh and humouring a wanton appetite God forbid I keep under my body saith Paul and bring it into subjection lest that by any means when I have preached to others I my self should be a cast-away 1 Cor. 9. 28. 10. Rule Accustom your thoughts to such meditations as are proper Rule 10. to mortifie sin in your affections else all endeavours to mortifie it will be but faint and languid To this purpose I shall recommend the following Meditations as proper means to destroy the interest of sin 1. Meditation Consider the evil that is in sin and how terrible the appearances Meditat. 1. of God will one day be against those that obey it in the lust thereof Rom. 1. 18. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men 1 Thes. 1. 7 8 9. The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power Let your thoughts dwell much upon the consideration of the fruits and consequences of sin It showes its fairest side to you in the hour of temptation O but consider how it will look upon you in the day of affliction Numb 22. 23. In that day your sin will find you out think what its aspect will be in a dying hour 1 Cor. 15. 56. The sting of death is sin Think what the frightful remembrances of it will be at the bar of Judgment when Satan shall accuse conscience shall upbraid God shall condemn and everlasting burnings shall avenge the evil of it such thoughts as these are mortifying thoughts 2. Meditation Think what it cost the Lord Jesus Christ to expiate the guilt Meditat. 2. of sin by suffering the wrath of the great and terrible God for it in our room the meditations of a crucified Christ are very crucifying meditations unto sin Gal. 6. 14. He suffered unspeakable things for sin it was Divine wrath which lay upon his soul for it that wrath of which the prophet saith Nah. 1. 5 6. The mountains quake at him and the hills melt who can stand before his indignation and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger his fury is poured out like fire and the rocks are thrown down by him It was the unmixed and unallayed wrath poured out in the fulness of it even to the last drop and shall we be so easily drawn to the Commission of those sins which put Christ under such sufferings O do but read such scriptures as these Luke 22. 44. Mat. 26. 36 37. Mark 14. 33. And see what a plight sin put the Lord of glory into how the wrath of God put him into a sore amazement a bloody sweat and made his soul heavy even unto death 3. Med. Consider what a grief and wound the sins of believers are Med. 3. to the spirit of God Eph. 4. 30. Ezek. 16. 43. Isa. 63. 10. Oh how it vexes frets and grieves the holy Spirit of God! Nothing is more contrary to his nature Oh do not that abominable thing which I hate saith the Lord Jer. 44. 4. Nothing obstructs and crosses the sanctifying design of the Spirit as sin doth defacing and spoiling the most rare and admirable workmanship that ever God wrought in this world violating all the engagements laid upon us by the love of the Father by the death of his Son by the operations of his Spirit in all his illuminations convictions compunctions renovation preservation obsignation and manifold consolations Lay this meditation upon thy heart believer and say sicne rependis Dost thou thus requite the Lord O my ungrateful heart for all his goodness is this the fruit of his temporal spiritual common and peculiar mercies which are without number 4. Med. Consider with your selves that no real good either of profit Med. 4. or pleasure can result from sin you can have no pleasure in it whatever others may have it being against your new nature and as for that brutish pleasure and evanid joy which others have in sin it can be but for a moment for either they must repent or not repent if they do repent the pleasure of sin will be turned into the gall of Asps here if they do not repent it will terminate in everlasting howlings hereafter that 's a smart question Rom. 6. 21. What fruit had ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed for the end of those things is death You that are believers must never expect any pleasure in sin for you can neither commit it without regret nor reflect upon it without shame and confusion Expect no better consequents of sin than the woundings of conscience and dismal cloudings of the face of God that is all the profit of sin O let these things sink into your heart 5.
Med. Consider what the damned suffer for those sins which the devil now tempteth you to commit it hath deprived them of all Med. 5. good all outward good Luke 16. 25. all spiritual good Mat. 25. 41. and of all hope of enjoying any good for ever And as it hath deprived them of all good so it hath remedilesly plunged them into all positive misery Misery from without the wrath of God being come upon them to the uttermost and misery from within for their worm dieth not Mark 9. 44. The memory of things past the sense of things present and the fearful expectations of things to come are the nibblings and bitings of the worm of conscience at every bite whereof damned souls give a dreadful shriek crying out O the worm the worm Would any man that is not forsaken by reason run the hazard of those eternal miseries for the brutish pleasures of a moment 6. Med. Bethink your selves what inexcusable hypocrisie it will be in Med. 6. you to indulge your selves in the private satisfaction of your lusts under a contrary profession of Religion You are a people that profess holiness and professedly own your selves to be under the Government and Dominion of Christ and must the worthy Name of Christ be only used to cloak and cover your lusts and corruptions which are so hateful to him God forbid You daily pray against sin you confess it to God you bewail it you pour out supplications for pardoning and preventing grace are you in jest or earnest in these solemn duties of Religion Certainly if all those duties produce no mortification you do but flatter God with your lips and put a dreadful cheat upon your own souls Nay do you not frequently censure and condemn those things in others and dare you allow them in your selves What horrid hypocrisie is this Christians are dead to sin Rom. 6. 2. Dâ—…ad to it by profession dead to it by obligation dead to it by relation to Christ who died for it and how shall they that are so many ways dead to sin live any longer therein O think not that God hates sin the less in you because you are his people nay Ipsa delicta peccata fidelium odio sunt displicent Deo sed odio simplici non redundanti in personam Davenant in Col. 1. 10. that very consideration aggravates it the more Amos 3. 2. 7. Med. Consider with your selves what hard things some Christians have chosen to endure and suffer rather than they would defile Med. 7. themselves with guilt and shall every small temptation insnare and take your souls Read over the Eleventh Chapter to the Hebrews and see what the saints have endured to escape sin no torments were so terrible to them as the displeasure of God and woundings of conscience and did God oblige them more by his grace and favour than he hath obliged you O Christians how can you that have found such mercies mercies as free pardons as full as ever any souls found show less care less fear less tenderness of grieving God than others have done Certainly if you did see sin with the same eyes they saw it you would hate it as deeply watch against it as carefully and resist it as vigorously as any of the Saints have done before you 8. Med. Consider with your selves what sweet pleasure rational Med. 8. and solid comfort is to be found in the mortification of sin 'T is not the fulfilling of your lusts can give you the thousandth part of that comfort and contentment that the resistance of them and victory over them will give you Who can express the comfort that is to be found in the chearing testimony of an acquitting and absolving conscience 2 Cor. 1. 12. Remember what satisfaction and peace it was to Hezekiah upon his supposed death-bed when he turned to the wall and said Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight Isa. 38. 3. 4. Use for Examination In the next place this point naturally puts us upon the Examination and trial of our own hearts whether we Use 4. who so confidently claim a special interest in Christ have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts and because two sorts of persons will be concerned in this Triall viz. the weaker and the stronger Christians I shall therefore lay down two sorts of Evidences of Mortification one respecting the sincerity and truth the other respecting the strength and progress of that work in confirmed and grown Christians and both excluding false pretenders First There are some things that are Evidential of the truth and sincerity of Mortification even in the weakest Christians as First True tenderness of conscience in all known sins one as well as another is a good sign sin hath lost its Dominion in the soul O 't is a special mercy to have a heart that shall smite and reprove us for those things that others make nothing of to check and admonish us for our secret sins which can never turn to our reproach among men this is a good sign that we hate sin as sin however through the weakness of the flesh we may be ensnared by it Rom. 7. 15. What I hate that I do Secondly The sincere and earnest desires of our souls to God in prayer for heart-purging and sin-mortifying grace is a good sign our souls have no love for sin Canst thou say poor believer in the truth of thy heart that if God would give thee thy choice it would please thee better to have sin cast out than to have the world cast in that thy heart is not so earnest with God for daily bread as it is for heart-purging grace this is a comfortable evidence that sin is nayled to the Cross of Christ. Thirdly do you make conscience of guarding against the occasions of sin Do you keep a daily watch over your hearts and senses according to 1 John 5. 18. Job 31. 1. This speaks a true design and purpose of Mortification also Fourthly do you rejoyce and bless God from your hearts when the providence of God orders any means for the prevention of sin Thus did David 1 Sam. 25. 33. And David said to Abigail Blessed be the Lord God of Israel which sent thee this day to meet me and blessed be thy advice and blessed be thou which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood and from avenging my self with my own hand Fifthly In a word though the thoughts of death may be terrible in themselves yet if the expectation and hope of your deliverance from sin thereby do sweeten the thoughts of it to your souls it will turn unto you for a testimony that you are not the servants and friends of sin And so much briefly of the first sort of Evidences Secondly There are other signs of a more deep and through Mortification of sin in more
tyranny of Satan to be dead to the world nevertheless see how they are overcome by their own lusts And much after the same rate Salvian brings in the wicked of his time stumbling at the looseness of professors and saying Where is that Catholick Law which they believe where are the examples of piety and chastity which they have learned c. O Christians draw not the guilt of other mens eternal ruine upon your souls Thirdly In a word answer the ends of God in your sanctification and providential dispose in the world this way by the holiness and harmlesness of your lives many may be won to Christ. 1 Pet. 3. 1. What the heathens said of moral vertue which they called verticordia turn-heart that if it were but visible to mortal eyes all men would be enamoured upon it will be much more true of Religion when you shall represent the beauty of it in your conversations Pattern 7. The humility and lowliness of Christ is propounded by himself as a pattern for his peoples imitation Mat. 11. 29. Learn of me for I am meek and lowly He could abase and empty himself of all his glory Phil. 2. 5 6 7. He could stoop to the meanest office even to wash the disciples feet We read but of one triumph in all the life of Christ upon earth when he rode to Jerusalem the people strewing branches in the way and the very children in the streets of Jerusalem crying Hosanna to the Son of David Hosanna in the highest and yet with what lowliness and humility was it performed by Christ Mat. 21. 5. Behold thy King cometh unto thee meek and lowly The humility of Christ appeared in every thing he spake or did Humility discovered it self in his language Psal. 22. 6. I am a worâ—… and no man In his actions not refusing the meanest office Joh. 13. 14. In his condescensions to the worst of men upon which ground they called him a friend of Publicans and sinners Mat. 11. 19. But especially and above all in stooping down from all his glory to a state of deepest contempt for the glory of God and oursalvation Christians here is your pattern look to your meek and humble Saviour and tread in his steps be you clothed with humility 1 Pet. 5. 5. Whoever are ambitious to be the worlds great ones let it be enough for you to be Christs little ones Convince the world that since you knew God and your selves your pride hath been dying from that day Shew your humility in your habits 1 Pet. 3. 3. 1 Tim. 2. 9 10. In your company not contemning the meanest and poorest that fear the Lord Psal. 15. 4. Rom. 12. 16. In your language that dialect befits your lips Eph. 3. 8. less than the least of all Saints but especially in the low value and humble thoughts you have of your selves 1 Tim. 1. 15. And to press this I beseech you to consider First From how vile a root pride springs Ignorance of God and of your selves gives rise and being to this sin they that know God will be humble Isa. 6. 5. and they that know themselves cannot be proud Rom. 7. 9. Secondly Consider the mischievous effects it produces it estrangeth the soul from God Psal. 138. 6. it provokes God to lay you low Job 40. 11 12. it goes before destruction and a dreadful fall Prov. 10. 18. Thirdly As it is a great sin so it is a bad sign Hab. 2. 4. Behold his heart which is lifted up is not upright in him Fourthly how unsuitable it is to the sense you have and the complaints you make of your own corruptions and spiritual wants and above all how contrary it is to your pattern and example did Christ speak act or think as you do O learn humility from Jesus Christ it will make you precious in the eyes of God Isa. 57. 15. Pattern 8. The Contentation of Christ in a low and mean condition in the world is an excellent pattern for his peoples imitation His lot in this world fell upon a condition of deepest poverty and contempt yet how well was he satisfied and contented with it hear him expressing himself about it Psal. 16. 6. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places yea I have a goodly heritage The contentation of his heart with a suffering condition evidenced it self in his silence under the greatest sufferings Isa. 53. 7. He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before the shearers is dumb so he openeth not his mouth O that in this also the poorest Christians would imitate their Saviour and learn to manage an afflicted condition with a contented spirit let there be no murmurs complaints or foolish charges of God heard from you whatever straits and troubles he bring you into For First The meanest and most afflicted Christian is owner of many rich invaluable mercies Eph. 1. 3. 1. Cor. 3. ult Is sin pardoned and God reconciled then never open your mouths any more Ezek. 16. 63. Secondly You have many precious promises that God will not forsake you in your straits Heb. 13. 5. Isa. 41. 17. and your whole life hath been a life of experiences of the faithfulness of God in his promises Which of you cannot say with the Church Lam. 3. 23. His mercies are new every morning and great is his faithfulness Thirdly How useful and beneficial are all your afflictions to you they purge your sins prevent your temptations wean you from the world and turn to your salvation and how unreasonable then must your discontentedness at them be Fourthly The time of your relief and full deliverance from all your troubles is at hand the time is but short that you shall have any concernment about these things 1 Cor. 7. 29. If the candle of your earthly comfort be blown out yet remember it is but a little while to the break of day and then there will be no need of candles Besides Fifthly Your lot falls by Divine direction upon you and as bad as it is it is much easier and sweeter than the condition of Christ in this world was Yet he was contented and why cannot you O that we could learn contentment from Christ in every condition And thus I have laid before you some excellent patterns in the life of Christ for your Imitation The Thirtieth SERMON Sermon 30. 1 JOHN 2. 6. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so Text. to walk even as he walked THese words having been resolved into their parts and the sense opened in the former Sermon The observation was this DOCT. That every man is bound to the imitation of Christ under penalty of forfeiting his claim to Christ. Doct. In prosecution of this point we have already shewn what the imitation of Christ imports and what the imitable excellencies in the life of Christ are it now remains that I show you in the next
and obedience here 3. Motive The Conformity of your lives to Christ your pattern is Motive 3. your highest excellency in this world the measure of your grace is to be estimated by this rule The excellency of every creature rises higher and higher according as it approaches still nearer and nearer to its original the more you resemble Christ in grace the more illustrious and resplendent will your conversations be in true spiritual glory 4. Motive So far as you imitate Christ in your lives and no farther you will be beneficial to the world in which you live So far Motive 4. as God helps you to follow Christ you will be helpful to bring others to Christ or build them up in Christ for all men are forbidden by the Gospel to follow you one step farther than you follow Christ 1 Cor. 11. 1. and when you have finished your course in this world the remembrance of your ways will be no further sweet to others than they are ways of holiness and obedience to Christ 1 Cor. 4. 17. If you walk according to the course of this world the world will not be the better for your walking 5. Motive To walk as Christ walked is a walk only worthy of a Christian this is to walk worthy of the Lord 1 Thes. 2. 12. Col. 1. Motive 5. 10. by worthiness the Apostle doth not mean meritoriousness but comeliness or that decorum which befits a Christian as when a man walks suitably to his place and calling in the world we say he acts like himself So when you walk after Dignitatis vocabulum in scripturis non semper denotat exactam proportionem aequalitatis rei ad rem sed quandam convenieâ—…tiam decentiam quae tollit repugnantiam Davenant in Col. p. 52. Christs pattern you then act like your selves like men of your character and profession This is consonant to your vocation Eph. 4. 1. I beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called This walking suits with your obligation 2 Cor. 5. 15. For it is to live unto him who died for us This walking only suits with your designation Eph. 2. 10. For you are created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained we should walk in them In a word such walking as this and such only becomes your expectation 2 Pet. 3. 14. wherefore beloved seeing that you look for such things be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless 6. Motive How comfortable will the close of your life be at death if you have walked after Christs pattern and example in this Motive 6. world A comfortable death is ordinarily the close of a holy life Psal. 37. 37. Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace A loose careless life puts many terrible stings into death As worms in the body are bred of the putrefaction there so the worm of conscience is bred of the moral putrefaction or corruption that is in our natures and conversations O then be prevailed with by all these considerations to imitate Christ in the whole course and compass of your coversations 3d. Use for Consolation Lastly I would leave a few words of support and comfort to such as sincerely study and endeavour according to the tendency Use 3. of their new nature to follow Christs example but being weak in grace and meeting with strong temptations are frequently carried beside the holy purposes and designs of their honest meaning hearts to the great grief and discouragement of their souls They heartily wish and aim at holiness and say with David Psal. 119. 5. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes They follow after exactness in holiness as Paul did Phil. 3. 12. If by any means they might attain it But finding how short they come in all things of the rule and pattern they mourn as he did Rom. 7. 24. O wretched maâ—… that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Well well if this be thy case be not discouraged but hearken to a few words of support and comfort with which I shall close this point 1. Support Such defects in obedience make no flaw in your Justification For your Justification is not built upon your obedience 1. Support but upon Christs Rom. 3. 24. and how incompleat and defective soever you be in your selves yet at the same instant you are compleat in him which is the head of all principality and power Col. 2. 10. Wo to Abraham Moses David Paul and the most eminent Saints that ever lived if their Justification and acceptation with God had depended upon the perfection and compleatness of their own obedience 2. Support Your deep troubles for the defectiveness of your obedience doth not argue you to be less but more sanctified than those 2. Support who make no such complaints for this proves you to be better acquainted with your own hearts than others are to have a deeper hatred of sin than others have and to love God with a more fervent love than others do the most eminent Saints have made the bitterest complaints upon this account Psal. 65. 3. Rom. 7. 23 24. 3. Support The Lord makes excellent uses even of your infirmities and failings to do you good and makes them turn to your unexpected 3. Support advantage For by these defects he hides pride from your eyes he beats you off from self-dependance he makes you to admire the riches of free grace he makes you to long more ardently for heaven and entertain the sweeter thoughts of death and doth not the Lord then make blessed fruits to spring up to you from such a bitter root O the blessed Chymistry of heaven to extract such mercies out of such miseries 4. Support Your bewailed infirmities do not break the bond of the 4. Support everlasting Covenant The bond of the Covenant holds firm notwithstanding your defects and weaknesses Jer. 32. 40. Iniquities prevail against me saith David yet in the same breath he adds as for our transgressions thou shalt purge them away Psal. 65. 3. He 's still thy God thy Father for all this 5. Support Though the defects of your obedience are grievous to God yet your deep sorrows for them are well-pleasing in his eyes 5. Support Psal. 51. 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise Ephraim was never a more pleasant child to his father than when he moaned himself and smote upon his thigh as thou dost Jer. 31. 20. Your sins grieve him but your sorrows please him 6. Support Though God have left many defects to humble you yet he hath given many things to comfort you This is a 6. Support comfort that the desire of thy soul is to God and to the remembrance of his name This is a comfort that thy sins are not
thy delight as once they were but thy shame and sorrow This is a comfort that thy case is not singular but more or less the same complaints and sorrows are found in all gracious souls through the world and to say all in one word This is the comfort above all comforts that the time is at hand in which all thâ—…se defects infirmities and failings shall be done away 1 Cor. 13. 10. When that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away For ever blessed be God for Jesus Christ. And thus I have finished the third general Use of Examination whereby every man is to try his interest in Christ and discern whether ever Christ hath been effectually applied to his soul. That which remains is a Use of Lamentation Wherein the miserable and most wretched state of all those to whom Jesus Christ is not effectually applied will be yet more particularly discovered and bewailed The Thirty first SERMON Sernâ—… EPHES. 5. 14. Wherefore he saith Awake thou that sleepest and rise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light Text. Of the state of Spiritual Death and the misery thereof THis Scripture represents unto us the miserable and lamentable state of the unregenerate as being under the power of spiritual death which is the cause and in-let of all other miseries From hence therefore I shall make the first discovery of the woful and wretched state of them that apply not Jesus Christ to their own souls The scope of the Apostle in this Context is to press believers to a circumspect and holy life to walk as children of light This exhortation is laid down in ver 8. and pressed by diverse arguments in the following verses First from the tendency of holy principles unto holy fruits and practices ver 9 10. Secondly from the convincing efficacy of practical godliness upon the consciences of the wicked ver 11 12 13. It awes and convinces their consciences Thirdly from the co incidence of such a conversation with the great design and drift of the scriptures which is to awaken men by regeneration out of that spiritual sleep or rather death which sin hath cast them into And this is the Argument of the Text Wherefore he saith Awake thou that sleepest c. There is some difficulty in the reference of these words Some think it refers to Isa. 26. 19. Awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust Others to Isa. 60. 1. Arise shine for thy light is come c. But most probably the words neither refer to this or that particularly but to the drift and scope of the whole Scriptures which were inspired and written upon this great design to awaken and quicken souls out of the state of spiritual death And in them we are to consider these three things more distinctly and particularly 1. The miserable state of the unregenerate they are asleep and dead 2. Their duty which is to awake and stand up from the dead 3. The power enabling them thereunto Christ shall give thee light First The miserable state of the unregenerate represented under the Notions of sleep and death both expressions intending 1. one and the same thing though with some variety of Notion The Christless and unregenerate world is in a deep sleep a spirit of slumber senselesness and security is fallen upon them though they lie exposed immediately to eternal wrath and misery ready to drop into hell every moment Just as a man that is fast asleep in a house on fire and whilst the consuming flames are round about him his fancy is sporting it self in some pleasant dream this is a very lively resemblance of the unregenerate soul. But yet he that sleeps hath the principle of life entire in him though his senses be bound and the actions of life suspended by sleep Lest therefore we should think it is only so with the unregenerate the expression is designedly varied and those that were said to be asleep are positively affirmed to be dead on purpose to inform us that it is not a simple suspension of the acts and exercise but a total privation of the principle of spiritual life which is the misery of the unregenerate Secondly We have here the duty of the unregenerate which is to awake out of sleep and arise from the dead This is their great 2. concernment no duty in the world is of greater necessity and importance to them Strive saith Christ to enter in at the strait gate Luke 13. 24. And the order of these duties is very natural First awake then arise Startling and rousing convictions make way for spiritual life till God awake us by convictions of our misery we will never be perswaded to arise and move towards Christ for remedy and safety Thirdly But you will say if unregenerate men be dead men to what purpose is it to perswade them to arise and stand up 3. The very exhortation supposes some power or ability in the Quamvis verba videntur velle primum excitari surgere deinde illuminari tamen intelligendum est vi lucis Christi excitari eum surgere Roll. in Loc. unregenerate else in vain are they commanded to arise This difficulty is solved in this very Text though the duty be ours yet the power is Gods God commands that in his word which only his grace can perform Christ shall give thee light Popish Commentators would build the power of free will upon this Scripture by a very weak argument drawn from the order wherein these things are here expressed which is but a weak foundation to build upon for it is very usual in Scripture to put the effect before and the cause after as it is here so in Isa. 26. 19. Awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust But I will not here intangle my discourse with that controversie that which I aim at is plain in the words viz. DOCT. That all Christless souls are under the power of Spiritual death Doct. they are in the state of the dead Multitudes of testimonies are given in Scripture to this truth Eph. 2. 1 5. You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins Col. 2. 13. And you being dead in your sint and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickened together with him with many other places of the same importance But the method in which I shall discourse this point will be this First I will shew you in what sence Christless and unregenerate men are said to be dead Secondly what the state of spiritual death is Thirdly how it appears that all unregenerate men are in this sad state And then apply it First In what sense are Christless and unregenerate men 1. said to be dead men To open this we must know there is a threefold death viz. Death 1. Natural 2. Spiritual 3. Eternal Natural death is nothing else but the privation of the principle of natural life or the separation of
the soul from the body James 2. 26. The body without the spirit is dead Spiritual death is the privation of the principle of spiritual life or the want and absence of the quickening spirit of God in the foul the soul is the life of the body and Christ is the life of the soul the absence of the foul is death to the body and the absence or want of Christ is death to the soul. Eternal death is the separation both of body and soul from God which is the misery of the damned Now Christless and unregenerate men are not dead in the first sense they are naturally alive though they are dead while they live Nor are they yet dead in the last sense eternally separated from God by an irrevocable sentence as the damned are but they are dead in the second sense they are spiritually dead whilst they are naturally alive and this spiritual death is the fore-runner of eternal death Now spiritual death is put in scripture in opposition to a two-fold spiritual life Viz. 1. The life of Justification 2. The life of Sanctification Spiritual death in opposition to the life of Justification is nothing else but the guilt of sin bringing us under the sentence of death Spiritual death in opposition to the life of sanctification is the pollution or dominion of sin In both these fen ses unregenerate men are dead men but it is the last which I am properly concerned to speak to in this place and therefore Secondly Let us briefly consider what this spiritual death is which as before was hinted is the absence of the quickening 2. spirit of Christ from the soul of any man That soul is a dead soul into which the spirit of Christ is not infused in the work of regeneration and all its works are dead works as they are called Heb. 9. 14. For look how it is with the damned they live they have sense and motion and an immortality in all these yet because they are eternally separated from God the life which they live deserves not the name of life but is every where in scripture stiled death So the unregenerate they are naturally alive they eat and drink they buy and sell they talk and laugh they rejoyce in the creatures and many of them spend their days in pleasures and then go down to the grave This is the life they live but yet the scripture rather calls it death than life because though they live yet it is without God in the world Eph. 2. 12. Though they live yet it is a life alienated from the life of God Eph. 4. 18. And therefore while they remain naturally alive they are in scripture said to remain in death 1 John 3. 14. and to be dead while they live 1 Tim. 5. 6. And there is great reason why a Christless and unregenerate state should be represented in scripture under the notion of death for there is nothing in nature which more aptly represents that miserable state of the soul than natural death doth The dead see and discern nothing and the natural man perceiveth not the things that are of God The dead have no beauty or desirableness in them Bury my dead said Abraham out of my sight neither is there any spiritual loveliness in the unregenerate True it is some of them have sweet natural qualities and moral excellencies which are taking things but these are as so many flowers decking and adorning a dead corpse The dead are Objects of pity and great lamentation men use to mourn for the dead Eccles. 12. 5. Man goeth to his long home and the mourners go about the streets But unregenerate and Christless souls are much more the Objects of pity and lamentation How are all the people of God especially those that are naturally related to them concerned to mourn over them and for them as Abraham did for Ishmael Gen. 17. 18. O that Ishmael might live before thee Upon these and many other accounts the state of unregeneracy is represented to us in the notion of death Thirdly And that this is the state of all Christless and unsanctified persons will undeniably appear two ways 3. 1. The causes of spiritual life have not wrought upon them 2. The effects and signs of spiritual life do not appear in them and therefore they are in the state and under the power of spiritual death First The causes of spiritual life have not wrought upon them There are two causes of spiritual life 1. Principal and internal 2. Subordinate and external The principal internal cause of spiritual life is the regenerating spirit of Christ Rom. 8. 2. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death 'T is the spirit as a regenerating spirit that unites us with Christ in whom all spiritual life originally is John 5. 25 26. Verily I say unto you that the hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live for as the father hath life in himself so hath he given to the son to have life in himself As all the members of the natural body receive animation sense and motion by their Union with their natural head so all believers the members of Christ receive spiritual life and animation by their Union with Christ their mystical head Eph. 4. 15 16. Except we come to him and be united with him in the way of faith we can have no life in us John 5. 40. Ye will not come unto me that ye may have life Now the spirit of God hath yet exerted no regenerating quickening influences nor begotten any special saving faith in natural unsanctified men whatever he hath done for them in the way of natural or spiritual common gifts yet he hath not quickened them with the life of Christ. And as for the subordinate external means of life viz. the preaching of the Gospel which is the instrument of the spirit in this glorious work and is therefore called the word of life Phil. 2. 16. this word hath not yet been made a regenerating quickening word to their souls Possibly it hath enlightned them and convinced them it hath wrought upon their minds in the way of common illumination and upon their consciences in the way of conviction but not upon their hearts and wills by way of effectual conversion To this day the Lord hath not given them an heart opening it self in the way of faith to receive Jesus Christ. Secondly The effects and signs of spiritual life do not appear in them for First They have no feeling or sense of misery and danger I mean no such sense as throwly awakens them to apply Christ their remedy That spiritual judgment lies upon them Isa. 6. 9 10. And he said go and tell this people Hear ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not make the heart of this people fat and their ears heavy and
shut their eyes Secondly They have no spiritual motions towards Christ or after things that are spiritual all the Arguments in the world cannot perswade their wills to move one step towards Christ in the way of faith John 5. 40. Ye will not come unto me Were there a principle of spiritual life in their souls they would move Christ-ward and heaven-ward John 4. 14. it would be in them a well of water springing up into eternal life The natural tendency of the spiritual life is upward Thirdly The unregenerate have no appetite unto spiritual food they savour not things that are spiritual they can go from week to week and from year to year all their life time without any communion betwixt God and their souls and feel no need of it nor any hungerings nor thirstings after it which could never be iâ—… a principle of spiritual life were in them for then they would esteem the words of Gods mouth more than their necessary food Job 30. 12. Fourthly They have no heat or spiritual warmth in their affections to God and things above their hearts are as cold as a stone to spiritual Objects They are heated indeed by their lusts and affections to the world and the things of the world But O how cold and dead are they towards Jesus Christ and spiritual excellencies Fifthly They breathe not spiritually therefore they live not spiritually were there a spiritual principle of life in them their souls would breath after God in spiritual prayer Acts 9. 11. Behold he prayeth The lips of the unregenerate may move in prayer but their hearts and desires do not breath and pant after God Sixthly They have no cares or fears for self-preservation which is always the effect of life the poorest fly or silliest worm will shun danger the wrath of God hangs over them in the threatnings but they tremble not at it Hell is but a little before them they are upon the very precipice of eternal ruine yet will use no means to avoid it How plain therefore is this sad case which I have undertaken here to demonstrate viz that Christless and unregenerate souls are dead souls The uses follow Inference 1. If all Christless and unregenerate souls be dead souls then how Inference 1. little pleasure can Christians take in the society of the unregenerate Certainly 't is no pleasure for the living to converse among the dead It was a cruel torment invented by Mezentius the Tyrant to tie a dead and living man together The pleasure â—…t solent vitia alibi connata in propinqua membra perniciem Juam efflare sic improborum vitia in eos derivantur qui cum illis vitae babent consuetudinem Tertul. advers Valentin of society arises from the harmony of spirits and the hopes of mutual enjoyment in the world to come neither of which can sweeten the society of the godly with the wicked in this world 'T is true there is a necessary civil converse which we must have with the ungodly here or else as the Apostle speaks we must go out of the world There are also duties of relation which must be faithfully and tenderly paid even to the unregenerate But certainly where we have our free election we shall be much wanting both to our duty and comfort if we make not the people of God our chosen companions Excellently to this purpose speaks a Modern Author Art thou a godly master when thou takest a servant into thine house choose for God as well as thy self A godly Gurnals Christian armour part 2. p. 256. servant is a greater blessing than we think on he can work and set God on work also for his masters good Gen. 24. 12. O Lord God of my master Abraham I pray thee send me good speed this day and show kindness unto my master and sure he did his master as much service by his prayer as by his prudence in that journey Holy David observed while he was at Sauls Court the mischief of having wicked and ungodly servants for with such was that unhappy King so compassed that David compares his Court to the prophane and barbarous heathens among whom there was scarce more wickedness to be found Psal. 120. 6. Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesheck that I dwell in the Tents of Kedar i. e. among those who were as prodigiously wicked as any there and no doubt but this made this gracious man in his banishment before he came to the Crown having seen the evil of a disordered house to resolve what he would do when God should make him the head of such a Royal family Psal. 101. 7. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house he that selleth lies shall not tarry in my sight Art thou godly show thy self so in the choice of husband or wife I am sure if some and those godly also could bring no other testimonial for their godliness than the care they have taken in this particular it might justly be called into question both by themselves and others There is no one thing that gracious persons even those recorded in scripture as well as others have shewn their weakness yea given offence and scandal more in than in this particular The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair Gen. 6. 2. One would have thought the sons of God should have looked for grace in the heart rather than beauty in the face but we see even they sometimes turn in at the fairest sign without much enquiring what grace is to be found dwelling within Look to the rule O Christian if thou wilt keep the power of holiness That is clear as a sun beam written in the scripture be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers 2 Cor. 6. 14. Inference 2. How great and wholly supernatural marvellous and wonderful is Inference 2. that change which regeneration makes upon the souls of men It is a change from death to life Luke 15. 24. This my son was dead and is alive again Regeneration is life from the dead The most excellent life from the most terrible death 'T is the life of God reinspired into a soul alienated from it by the power of sin Eph. 4. 18. There are two stupendious changes made upon the souls of men which justly challenges highest admiration viz. That 1. From sin to grace 2. From grace to glory The change from grace to glory is acknowledged by all and that justly to be a wonderful change for God to take a poor creature out of the society of sinful men yea from under the burden of many sinful infirmities which made him groan from day to day in this world and in a moment to make him a compleat and perfect soul shining in the beauties of holiness and filling him as a vessel of glory with the unspeakable and unconceivable joyes of his presence to turn his groanings into triumphs his sighings into songs of praise This I say is marvellous and yet the former
which there is no cure but Christ lifted up in the Gospel as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness ver 14. Neither doth Christ cure any but those that believingly apply him to their own souls The result and conclusion of all you have in my Text He that believeth in him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already c. In this clause which I have pitched upon we find these three parts 1. The sin threatned viz. unbelief 2. The punishment inflicted viz. Condemnation 3. The immediate relation of the one to the other he is condemned already First Let us take into consideration the sin which is here threatned viz. unbelief The neglecting or refusing of an 1. exalted and offered Jesus Unbelief is twofold viz. Negative or Positive Negative unbelief is the sin of the heathens who never had the Gospel among them nor the offers of Christ made to them these cannot believe on him of whom they have not heard Positive unbelief is the sin of men and women under the Gospel to whom Christ is actually opened and offered by the preaching of the Gospel but they make light of it neglect the great salvation receive not Christ into their hearts nor consent to the severe and self denying terms upon which he is offered This is the sin threatned Secondly The punishment inflicted and that is condemnation 2. a word of deep and dreadful signification appearing in this Text as the hand-writing upon the plaister of the wall unto Belteshazzar Dan. 5. 5. A word whose deep sense and Emphasis is fully understood in hell Condemnation is the Judgment or Sentence of God condemning a man to bear the punishment of his eternal wrath for sin the most terrible of all sentences Thirdly The immediate relation or respect this punishment 3. hath to that sin of unbelief The unbeliever is condemned already i. e. he is virtually condemned by the law of God His mittimus is already made for hell he is condemned as a sinner by the breach oâ—… the first Covenant but that condemnation had never â—…n his ruine except it had been ratified by the sentence of God condemning him as an unbeliever for slighting and rejecting the grace offered in the second Covenant So that the unbeliever is already virtually condemned by both as he is a sinner and as he is an unbeliever as he hath transgressed the law and as he hath refused the gospel as he hath contracted sin the mortal disease and refused Christ the only effectual remedy He is virtually condemned now and will be sententially condemned in the Judgment of the great day Unbelief is his great sin and condemnation is his great misery Hence the observation will be this DOCT. That all unbelievers are presently and immediately under the Doct. just and dreadful sentence of Gods Condemnation John 12. 48. He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him the word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day John 3. 36. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Three things are to be opened in the Doctrinal part of this point 1. What unbelief or the not receiving of Jesus Christ is 2. What condemnation the punishment of this sin is 3. Why this punishment unavoidably follows that sin First What the sin of unbelief or not receiving Christ is By unbelief we are not here to understand the reliques or remains 1. of that sin in the people of God which is mixed with their imperfect faith for there is some unbelief still mingled with faith in the best hearts He that can say Lord I believe hath cause enough to cry out with tears help thou my unbelief However this doth not bring the soul under condemnation or into the state of wrath The word condemns this unbelief in them but doth not condemn their persons for this unbelief But the unbelief here spoken of is the neglecting or refusing to take Christ upon the terms of the Gospel and so is exclusive of the saving act or effects of faith First It is exclusive of the saving act of faith which as hath been already declared is the due receiving of Christ offered in the Gospel consenting to take him upon his own terms This the unbeliever will by no means be perswaded to do He will be perswaded to accept the promises of Christ but not to accept the person of Christ he is willing to accept Christ in part a divided Christ but not to accept Christ entirely in all his offices He will accept the righteousness of Christ in conjunction with his own righteousness but he will not accept the righteousness of Christ as the sole matter of his Justification exclusive of his own righteousness he is willing to wear the Crown of Christ but cannot be perswaded to bear the cross of Christ. Thus Christ and unbelievers part upon terms God will come down no lower and the unbeliever will come up no higher God will not alter his terms and the unbeliever will not alter his resolution and so Christ is refused Salvation neglected and in effect the unbeliever chooseth rather to be damned than to comply with the severe terms of self-denial mortification and bearing the cross of Christ. Thus it excludes the saving act of faith Secondly It is exclusive of the saving fruits and effects of faith Faith produces love to God but the unbeliever doth not truly love him But I know you saith Christ to unbelievers that the love of God is not in you John 5. 42. Faith purifies the heart of a believer but the hearts of unbelievers are full of all impurity The believer overcomes the world the world overcomes the unbeliever Faith makes the Cross of Christ sweet and easie to the believer Unbelief makes Christ because of the Cross bitter and distastful to the unbeliever Thus unbelief excludes both the saving act and fruits of faith and consequently bars the soul from the saving benefits and priviledges of faith viz. Justification and peace with God Secondly Next let us consider the punishment of this sin which is condemnation Condemnation in the general is the 2. sentence of a Judge awarding a mulct or penalty to be inflicted upon the guilty person There is a twofold Condemnation 1. Respectu culpâ—… in respect of the fault 2. Respectu poenae in respect of the punishment First Condemnation with respect to the fault is the casting of the person as guilty of the crime charged upon him Condemnation with respect to the punishment is the sentencing of the convicted offender to undergo such a punishment for such a fault to bear a penal for a moral evil This forensick word Condemnation is here applied unto the case of a guilty sinner cast at the bar of God where the fact is clearly proved and the punishment righteously awarded Thou art an unbeliever for this sin thou shalt die eternally
men to avoid this they were willing to be ignorant An enlightned Conscience gives an interruption also unto men in their sinful courses and pleasures they cannot sin at so easie a rate in the light as they did in darkness and this made them hate the light as a very troublesom thing to them Thus you see what was the sin and what the punishment and what the cause of both DOCT. That the greater and clearer the light is under which the impenitent and unregenerate do live in this world by so much greater Doct. and heavier will their condemnation and misery be in the world to come Mat. 11. 21 22. Wo unto thee Chorazin woe unto thee Bethsaida for is the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes but I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgement than for you Two things require explication in the doctrinal part of this point viz. 1. How light puts a deeper guilt and aggravation into sin 2. Why sin so aggravated makes men liable to greater condemnation First We will enquire into the grounds and reasons why greater and clearer light greatens and aggravates proportionably 2. the sins that are committed under it and it will appear that it doth so upon divers accounts First All light especially Evangelical-light is a great preservative from sin and an excellent means to prevent it 't is the property of light to inform the judgement and rectifie the mistakes and errors of it and thereby to give check to the affections in the pursuit of sinful designs and courses 't is a plain case that many men would never do as they do if their understandings were better informed 1 Cor. 2. 8. Which none of the Princes of this world knew for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory It was want of light and better information which drew them under that horrid and unparallel'd guilt Our Saviour also supposes in the place before cited that if Tyre and Sidon had enjoyed the same light and means of grace that Chorazin and Bethsaida did they would never have been so sinful as they were light discovers danger and thereby overaws and stops men from proceeding farther in those paths and courses that will run them into it Secondly sinning under and against the light supposes and involves in it a greater contempt and despight of Gods authority than sinning in ignorance and darkness doth every man that breaks the law of God doth not in the same degree despise and slight the authority of the Law maker but when a man hath light to discover the evil and danger of what he doth and yet will dare to do it what is this but the treading of Gods authority under foot the casting of his word behind our backs Wilfull sinning is a despightful sinning against God Heb. 10. 26. it argues a low and vile esteem of the law of God which is reverent and holy and by so much the more it maketh sin to be exceeding sinful Thirdly Sinning under and against the light admits not of those excuses and pleas to extenuate the offence which sins of pure ignorance do Those that live without the sound of the Gospel may say Lord we never heard of Christ and the great redemption wrought by him if we had we would never have lived and acted as we did and therefore Christ saith Joh. 15. 22. If I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had sin but now they have no cloak for their sin The meaning is that if the Gospel-light had not shined among them their sin had not been of that deep guilt that now it is for now it is so foul and heinous by reason of the light under and against which it is committed that they have no pretence or excuse to extenuate or mitigate it Fourthly Evangelical light is a very rich favour and mercy of God to men one of the choicest gifts bestowed upon the Nations of the world and therefore it 's said Psal. 147. 19 20. He sheweth his word unto Jacob his statutes and his judgements unto Israel he hath not dealt so with any nation and as for his judgements they have not known them Other Nations have Corn and Wine Gold and Silver abundance of earthly delights and pleasures but they have not a beam of heavenly light shining upon them We may account this mercy small but God who is best able to value the worth of it accounts it great Hos. 8. 12. I have written unto them the great things of my Law Christ reckoned Capernaum to be exalted unto Heaven by the Ministry of the Gospel in that place Now the greater the mercy is which the light of truth brings with it by so much the more horrid and heinous must the abusing and despising of it be Fifthly Sinning against the light argues a love to sin as sin to naked sin without any disguise or covert It is nothing so bad for a man to sin through a mistake of judgement when he thinks that to be lawful which is indeed sinful he doth not now close with sin as sin but he either closes with it as his duty or at least his liberty 'T is hard for Satan to perswade many men to embrace a naked sin and therefore he cloaths it in the habit of a duty or liberty and thereby deceives and draws men to the commission of it But if a man have light shining into his Conscience and convincing him that the way he is in is the way of sin quite contrary to the revealed will of God stripping the sin naked before the eye of his Conscience so that he hath no covert or excuse and yet will persist in it this I say argues a soul to be in love with sin as sin Now as for a man to love grace as grace is a solid argument to prove the truth of his grace so on the contrary for a man to love sin as sin doth not only argue him to be in the state of sin but to be in the forefront and among the highest rank of sinners Sixthly The greater and clearer the light is under and against which men continue in sin the more must the Consciences of such sinners be supposed to be wasted and violated by such a way of sinning for this is a sure rule that the Maxima violatio conscientiâ—… est maximum peccatâ—…m greatest violation of Conscience is the greatest sin Conscience is a noble and tender part of the soul of man it is in the soul as the eye in the body very sensible of the least injury and a wound in the Conscience is like a blow in the eye but nothing gives a greater blow to Conscience nothing so much wastes it and destroys it as sins against the light do this puts a plain force upon the Conscience and gives a
great must that darkness be for now the blind lead the blind and both fall into the ditch The blind judgement misguides the blind affections and both fall into hell O what a sad thing is it that the Devil should lead that that leads thee That he should sit at the helm and steer thy course to damnation The blinding of this noble faculty precipitates the soul into the most dangerous courses persecution by this means seems to be true zeal for God John 16. 2. They that persecute you shall think that they do God service Paul once thought verily with himself that he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth Acts 26. 9. i. e. He thought he had pleased God when he was imprisoning and persecuting his people as many do at this day it will make a man to sin conscientiously which is a very dangerous way of sinning and difficult to be reclaimed Secondly it is a dreadful Judgement if we consider the Object about which the understanding is blinded which is Jesus Christ and Union with him Regeneration and the nature and necessity thereof For this blindness is not universal but respective and particular A man may have abundance of light and knowledge in things natural and moral but spiritual things are hiâ—…den from his eyes Yea a man may know spiritual things in a natural way which increaseth his blindness but he cannot discern them spiritually this is a sore judgement and greatly to be bewailed Thou hast hid these things said Christ from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes Mat. 11. 25. Learned and knowing men are ignorant of those things which very babes in Christ understand They are prudent in the management of earthly affairs but to save their own souls they have no knowledge They are able with Berengarius to dispute De omni scibili of every thing investigable by the light of nature yea to open the scripture solidly and defend the doctrines and truths of Christ against his adversaries successfully and yet blinded in the greatmystery of regeneration Blindness in part saith the Apostle is happened unto Israel and that indeed was the principal part of knowledg viz. the knowledge of Jesus Christ and him crucified we see farther than they The literal knowledge of Christ shines clearly in our understandings We are only blinded about those things which should give us saving interest in him about the effectual application of Christ to our own souls Thirdly The dreadful nature of this spiritual blindness farther appears from the consideration of the season in which it befalls men which is the very time of Gods patience and the only opportunity they have for salvation after these opportunities are over their eyes will be opened to see their misery but alas too late too late Upon this account Christ shed those tears over Jerusalem Luke 19. 42. O that thou hadst known at least in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes Now the season of grace is past and gone opportunities are the golden spots of time and there is much time in a short opportunity as there are many pieces of silver in one piece of gold Time signifies nothing when opportunities are gone to be blinded in the very season of salvation is the Judgement of all Judgements the greatest misery incident to man to have our eyes opened when the seasons of salvation are past is but an aggravation of misery There is a twofold opening of mens eyes to see their danger Viz. 1. Graciously to prevent danger 2. Judicially to aggravate misery They whose eyes are not opened graciously in this world to see their disease and remedy in Christ shall have their eyes opened judicially in the world to come to see their disease without any remedy If God open them now it is by way of prevention if they be not opened until then it will produce desperation Fourthly The horrible nature of this Judgement farther appears from the exceeding difficulty of curing it especially in men of excellent natural indowments and accomplishments Joh. 9. 40 41. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words and said unto him Are we blind also Jesus said unto them If ye were blind ye should have no sin but now ye say we see therefore your sin remaineth q. d. The pride and conceitedness of your hearts adds obstinacy and incurableness to your blindness these are the blind people that have eyes Isa. 43. 8. in seeing they see not The conviction of such men is next to an impossibility Fifthly The design and end of this blindness under the Gospel is most dreadful so saith my Text the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them Answerable whereunto are those words Isa. 6. 10. Make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy and Ira est Dei non intelligere delicta ne sequatur poenitentia Cyp. Ep. 3. Percussi sunt animi caecitane ut nec intelligant delicta nec plangant indignantis Dei major haec est ira Cypr. de lapsis shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert and be healed So that it is plain this blinding is a praeludium to damnation as the covering of Hamans face was to his destruction When the Lord hath no purpose of grace and mercy to a mans soul then to bring about the damnation of that man by a righteous permission many occasions of blindness befal him which Satan improves effectually unto his eternal ruine among which fatal occasions blind guides and scandalous professors are none of the least they shall be fitted with Ministers suitable to their humours who shall speak smooth things if a man walk in the Spirit and falshood i. e. by an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the spirit of falshood do lie saying I will prophesie to thee of wine and strong drink he shall even be the prophet of this people and the slips and falls of professors shall do the Devil not a little service in this his fatal design Mat. 18. 7. Wo to the world because of offences This shall blind them and harden them to purpose Thus you see what a dreadful Judgement this is a stroak of God upon the soul which cuts off all the present comforts of Christ and Religion from it takes away the bridle of restraint from sin and makes way for the final ruine of the soul. A far greater Judgement it is than the greatest calamity or affliction which can befal us in this world If our names suffer by the greatest reproaches our bodies by the most painful diseases our estates by the greatest losses if God strike every comfort we have in this world dead by affliction all this is nothing compared with
this blinding Judgement of God upon the soul. For they may come from the tender love of God to us Heb. 12. 6. But this is the effect of his wrath they may cleanse sin Isa. 27. 9. but this increases it they often prove occasions of conversion Job 36. 8 9. but this is the great obstruction to it In a word they only wound the flesh and that with a curable wound but this stabs the soul and that with a mortal wound 1st Use of Information Use 1. Inference 1. If this be the case of the unbelieving world to be so blinded by the God of the world how little should we value the censures and Inference 1. slanders of the blind world Certainly they should move no other affection but pity in our souls If their eyes were opened their mouths would be shut they would never traduce Religion and the sincere professors of it as they do if Satan had not blinded their minds they speak evil of the things they know not their reproaches which they let fly so freely are but so many arrows shot by the blind mans bow which only stick in our clothes and can do us no hurt except we thrust them onward by our own discontent to the wounding of our spirits I could almost be proud upon it said Luther that I have got an ill name Superbus fio quod video nomen pessimum mihi crescere Luther Gratias ago Deo meo quod dig nâ—…s sum quem mundus oderit Hieronymus among the worst men Beware Christians that you give them no occasion to blaspheme the name of your God and then never trouble your selves however they use your names If they tread it in the dirt now God as one speaks will take it up wash off all that dirt and deliver it you again clear and shining Should such men speak well of us we might justly suspect our selves of some iniquity which administers to them the occasion of it Inference 2. How absurd and dangerous must it be for Christians to follow Inference 2. the examples of the blind world Let the blind follow the blind but let not those whom God hath enlightned do so Christians never let those lead you who are led blindfolded by the Devil themselves The holiness and heavenliness of Christians was wont to set the world a wondering that they would not run with them into the same excess of riot 1 Pet. 4. 4. But sure since God hath opened your eyes and shewed you the dangerous courses they walk in it would be the greatest wonder of all if you should be the companions of such men and tread in the steps of their examples Christian as humble and lowly thoughts as thou hast of thy self yet I would have thee understand thy self to be too good to be the associate of such men Discamus sanctam superbiam sciamus nos esse illis meliores If they will walk with you in the way of duty and holiness let them come and welcome receive them with both arms and be glad of their company but beware you walk not in their paths lest they be a snare unto you Did they see the end of their way they would never walk in it themselves why then will you walk with them who do see it Inference 3. If this be so let Christians be exact and circumspect in their walking lest they lay a stumbling block in the way of the blind Inference 3. 'T is a great sin to do so in a proper sense Lev. 19. 14. Thou shalt not put a stumbling block before the blind And a far greater to do it in a Metaphorical sense Rom. 14. 13. 'T is the express will of God that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brothers way 'T is an argument of little regard to the honour of Christ or the souls of men so to do O professours look to your steps The Devil desires to make use of you for such purposes The sins of thousands of others who make no profession of godliness will never so fit his purpose for the blinding of those mens eyes as the least slip or failing of yours will do 'T is the living bird that makes the best stale to draw others into the net the grossest wickedness of prophane sinners passeth away in silence but all the neighbourhood shall ring with your miscarriages A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain and a corrupt spring Prov. 25. 26. The scandalous falls of good men are like a bag of poison cast by Satan into the Spring from whence the whole town is supplied with water You little know what mischies you do and how many blind sinners may fall into hell by your occasion Inference 4. How dangerous a thing is zeal in a wicked man 'T is a sharp sword in a blind mans hand or like high mettle in a blind Inference 4. horse how much hath the Church of God suffered upon this account and doth suffer at this day The world hath ever been full of such blind and blustering zeal which like a hurry-cane overturns all that stands in its way yea as we noted before it makes a man a kind of conscientious persecutor I confess it is better for the persecutor himself to do it ignorantly because ignorance leaves him in a capacity for mercy and sets him a degree lower than the malicious enlightned persecutor 1 Tim. 1. 13. Else it were the dreadful case described in Heb. 10. But yet as it is John 16. 2. these are the fierce and dreadful enemies of the Church of God Such a man was Paul a devout persecutour and such persecution God afterward suffered to befal himself Acts 13. 50. But the Jews stirred up the devont and honourable women and the chief men of the City and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them out of their coasts An erroneous conscience binds as well as an informed conscience and where ever God gives such men opportunity to vent the spleen and rage of their hearts upon his people they will be sure to do it to purpose With other men Gamaliels counsel may have some influence and they may be afraid lest they be found fighters against God but blind zeal spurrs on and saith as Jehu did Come see my zeal for the Lord of hosts O blind sinners be sure of your Mark before you discharge your arrows If you shoot at a wicked man as you suppose him and God finds one of his dear children wounded or destroyed what account will you give of that fact to God when you shall come before his Judgement seat 2d Use of Exhortation This point is very improveable by way of Exhortation Use. 2. Both 1. Unto those who are blinded by the God of this world 2. To those that are enlightned in the knowledge of Christ by the true God First To those who are still blinded by the God of this world to whom the
man This is that which is justly called the great mystery of Godliness 1 Tim. 3. 16. That mystery which the Prophets enquired diligently after yea which the Angels desire to look into 1 Pet. 1. 10 12. In this glorious mystery of Redemption thaâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 manifold wisdom of God or that wisdom which hath such curious and admirable variety in it is illustriously displayed Eph. 4. 10. Yea the contrivement of our Redemption this way is the most glorious display of Divine Love that ever was made or can be made in this world to the children of men for so the Apostle will be understood when he saith Rom. 3. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God hath set forth or presented his love to man in the most taking manner in a way that commends it beyond all compare to the acceptation of men This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners 1 Tim. 1. 15. It might be justly expected that when this glorious mystery should come to be published by the Gospel in the ears of sinners all eyes should be withdrawn from all other objects and fixed with admiration upon Christ all hearts should be ravished with these glad tidings and every man pressing to Christ with greatest zeal and diligence But behold instead thereof Secondly The desperate wickedness of the world in rejecting the only remedy prepared for them This was long since foretold by the Prophet Isaiah 53. 3. He is despised and rejected of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces from him he was despised 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 desitio virorum Nil habit infoelix paupertas durius in se quam quod ridiculos homines facit Juver and we esteemed him not His poor and mean appearance which should endear him beyond all considerations to the souls of men since it was for their sakes that he emptied himself of all his glory yet this lays him under contempt he is looked on as the very offcast of men when his own love to man had emptied him of all his riches the wickedness of men loaded him with contempt and as it was prophesied of him so it was and at this day is sadly verified all the world over For First The Pagan world hath no knowledge of him they are lost in darkness God hath suffered them to walk in their own ways Acts 14. 16. Secondly The Mahumetans which overspread so great a part of the world reject him and instead os the blessed Gospel which they hiss out with abhorrence embrace the blasphemous and ridiculous Alcoran which they confidently affirm to have come down srom God immediately in that laylatto Hanzili as they call it the night of demission calling all Christians Cafirouna i. e. infidels Thirdly The Jews reject him with abhorrence and spit at his very name and being blindfolded by the Devil they call Jesus Anathema 1 Cor. 12. 3. And in a blind zeal for Moses blaspheme him as an Impostor He came to his own and his own received him not John 1. 11. Fourthly The far greater part of the Christianized world reject him those that are called after his name will not 〈◊〉 nomen 〈◊〉 non 〈◊〉 viâ—… 〈◊〉 quâ—… 〈◊〉 est quam praevaricatiâ—… divini nominis Cyp. de Zelo. submit to his Government The Nobles of the world think themselves dishonoured by submitting their necks to his yoke The Sensualists of the world will not deny their lusts or forsake their pleasures for all the treasures of righteousness life and peace which his blood hath purchased The worldlings of the earth prefer the dirt and dung of the world before him and few there be among them that profess Christianity who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity The only reason why they are called Christians is because by the advantagious cast of providence they were born and educated in a nation where Christianity is professed and established by the laws of the Countrey and if the wind should turn and the publick Authority think fit to establish another Religion they can shift their sayls and steer a contrary Course But now Reader let me tell thee that if ever God send forth those two grim Sergeants his Law and thine own conscience to arrest thee for thy sins if thou find thy self dragging away by them towards that prison from whence none return that are once clapt up therein and that in this unspeakable distress Jesus Christ manifest himself to thy soul and open thy heart to receive him and become thy surety with God pay all thy debts and cancel all thy obligations Thou wilt love him at another rate than others do his blood will run deeper in thine eyes than it doth in the shallow apprehensions of the world he will be altogether lovely and thou wilt account all things but dung and dross in comparison of the excellency of Jesus Christ thy Lord. To work thy heart to this frame these things are written which the Lord prosper upon thy soul by the blessing of his good Spirit upon them Blessed be God for Jesus Christ. FINIS An Alphabetical Table of the principal points insisted on in this Treatise A. ABortives Spiritual whence they are pag. 369 Absurdity of Believers sins p. 39 Accounts of our time kept in Heaven p. 57 Accusations of Conscience what they are p. 186 Acts of the Spirit sixfold in Conversion p. 197 Acceptation with God what it is p. 311 Acceptation with God what it includes ibid. Acceptance none without Christ. p. 320 Activity for the world what it speaks p. 352 Activity of Christ our pattern p. 507 Adventures of Faith how great p. 82 83 Advocate none like Christ in five respects p. 256 Affections how bewitcht by sin p. 394 Ambassadors of Christ their dignity p. 48 Application what it imports p. 5 6 Application of Christ the end of Ordinances p. 7 Application of Christ of equal latitude with Gods election and Christs death p. 9 Apologies cut off from Gospel-despisers p. 57 Approbation of Christ implied in faith p. 119 Aâ—…ointing how it teacheth p. 139 Alsufficiency of Christ for all our wants p. 196 Altogether lovely Christ only so p. 250 Apostasie an inexcusable sin p. 332. Annihilation better than damnation p. 444 Arminians sense of Justification rejected p. 132 Assent implyed in saving Faith p. 117 Assent three degrees thereof ibid. Assent how discovered to be true p. 140 Aversion from God how discovered p. 84 Awakening out of security how great a mercy it is to the souls of men p. 356 B. BAcksliding an inexcusable sin p. 213. Benefits of Christ how conveyed to us p. 13. Believers more than know themselves so p. 138 Believers why uncomfortable p. 139 Believing the immediate duty of weary souls p. 204 Believers advancement how great p. 281 Boldness of Saints in Prayer p. 313 Blood of Christ its dignity p. 301 Beauty of holiness very great
p. 385 Believers their general assembly p. 338 Believers undergo two changes p. 335 Believers have Christ for their Altar p. 316 Believers should have a free spirit p. 332 Believers in what manner brought to God p. 338 Bodies of sinners how smitten by death p. 536 Blindness of mind what it is p. 569 Blindness-spiritual what it includes p. 571 Blindness-spiritual what it excludes p. 570 Blindness of mind evidenced six ways p. 574 Blinding artifices of Satan what ibid. Burdensom nature of sin opened p. 185 Burden of sin why it must be felt p. 191 C. CAre of Christians over Christs honour p. 28â—… Carnal relations admonished p. 85 Charity to Saints strongly urged p. 37 38 Causes of spiritual life twofold p. 532 Christ transcendent in holiness p. 500 Christians no troublers of the world p. 476 Christ outbids all other offerers p. 74 Christ the mercy of mercies p. 234 Christ eight things in him attractive p. 154 Christ communicates all blessings to us p. 172 Christ makes hast in extremity p. 191 Christs burden exceeding heavy p. 185 Christ the only Physician p. 217 Christ qualified as foretold p. 240 Christ comprehensive of all that 's lovely p. 250. Christ an incomparable friend p. 257 Christ the desire of all Nations and how p. 264 Christ the Lord of Glory p. 277 Christs glory twofold p. 278 Christ the only comfort of Saints p. 290 Christ should be precious to Saints p. 319 Christians why void of comfort p. 293 Circumspection how necessary p. 588 Civility no evidence of grace p. 449 Companions in sin to be abandoned p. 384 Communion with Christ twofold p. 166 Communion with Christ in what it consists p. 167 Communion with Christ a great mysterie p. 173 Communion with Christ admirable p. 174 Communion with Saints how pleasant p. 179 Compassion due to the distressed p. 186 Coming to Christ what it includes p. 193 Communion with God kills sin p. 484 Conviction precedaneous to faith p. 147 Contentation of Christ in a low estate p. 513 Condemnation twofold p. 542 Content pressed upon Converts p. 23 Conversion introductive to all mercies p. 19 Condescension of God in the Gospel p. 50 Conversion how illustrated p. 76 Consent included in faith p. 120 Consolation what it is p. 288 Consolation three kinds thereof ibid. Consolation three ingredienâ—…s thereof p. 289 Contempts of the world contemned p. 318 Conviction the first work of the Spirit p. 414 Congruity of divine drawings with the will of man p. 72 Concomitants of faith what they are p. 150 Conversion its stupendious effects p. 86 Conscience the offices thereof p. 186 Conscience benummed how sad p. 189 Complaints to men fruitless ibid. Confidence without ground what p. 349. Converts exhorted to praise p. 371 Corruption of nature discovered p. 8â—… D. DAmned their dreadful state opened p. 187 Danger of refusing Christ. p. 156 Damnation how aggravated p. 354 Danger of false confidence ibid. Death and deadness how differenced p. 422 Degrees of faith the least precious p. 142 Despair in our selves necessary p. 147 Despair not of carnal relations p. 87 Death how made sweet p. 43 Death on what account dreadful p. 189 Death of Christ its design and end p. 336 Deliverance from sin what a mercy p. 380 Decrees of God how executed p. 409 Delight in God eminent in Christ. p. 509 Death spiritual what it is p. 530 Dignity of Saints whence inferred p. 36 Discourses of Heaven sweet in the way p. 343 Difficulty of faith discovered p. 137 Diseases of the soul what they are p. 217 Directions about faith six p. 159 Directions to inflame desires p. 273 Discouragements in godliness unreasonable p. 387 Divine authority of Scriptures p. 364 Dominion of sin cured by Christ. p. 219 Dominion of sin destroyed in Saints p. 327 Dominion of sin wherein it consists p. 461 Drawings of God what they are p. 71 Drawings of God opened five ways p. 73 Duties no evidences of grace p. 450 Desires after Christ examined p. 270 Desires after Christ include blessings ibid. Dejections of Saints groundless p. 344 E. EFficacy of the Gospel how great p. 358 Efficacy of preaching whence it is p. 55 End of the new Creature twofold p. 435 English preaching its encomium p. 560 Embryo's spiritual what they are p. 370 Enjoyment of God mans chief good p. 337 Enemies to souls who are so p. 355 Engagements to obedience what p. 561 Engage not sin in our own strength p. 486 Esteem nothing lovely but Christ. p. 259 Eyes opened two ways p. 585 Evidences of spiritual death p. 531 Evidences of persons unreconciled p. 61 Evidences of carnal security p. 350 Evidences of the power of the word p. 359 Evidences of the Spirit in us p. 415 Evidences of mortification p. 469 492 Extent of Christs Kingdom large p. 265 Expectations of wrath terrible p. 187 Examples motives to faith p. 198 Expectation implied in faith p. 195 Experiences of others relieving p. 190 Examples useful in mortification p. 491 Examples of the world not to be imitated p. 587 F. FAith its subject act and enemies p. 79 Faith considered two ways p. 128 Faith whether in two faculties p. 120 Faith its encomium above other graces p. 129 Faith justifies not as a work p. 132 Faith justifies as an applying instrument p. 133. Faith precious in the least degree p. 144 Faith of Papists an absurd faith p. 145 Faith its Antecedents Concomitants and Consequents p. 146 Faith is not the souls rest p. 207 Faith how great a mercy to men p. 546 Faith its instrumentality in mortification p. 483 Fall of Adam how aggravated p. 51 False joy the only joy of carnal men p. 350 False joy twofold p. 351 Fears of death how cured p. 209 Fellowship with Christ our dignity p. 163. Fellowship with Christ not natural p. 171 Fellowship of Saints advantageous p. 478 Filth of sin what and how removed p. 208 Folly of self-righteousness p. 226 Following Christ the Saints duty p. 344 Free-grace and full satisfaction consistent p. 53. Freedom from the rigour of the Law p. 326 Freedom from guilt what a priviledge ibid. Freedom from the first Covenant p. 409 Frustration of the Gospel how p. 354 Fulness of Christs saving power p. 383 G. GEnerality of men in the way to Hell p. 3â—…6 Gifts of the Spirit twofold p. 407 Gifts no evidences of Grace p. 450 Glory of the Saints will be very great p. 282 Gospels strange success whence is is p. 396 Gospel an invaluable mercy p. 365 Gospel why so unsuccessful p. 355 Gospel Embassy what it implies p. 47 48 Gospel why ineffectual to men p. 87 Gospels scope to bring men to believe p. 131 Gospel its power to awaken men p. 360 Gospel its enlightning efficacy ibid. Gospel its wounding power p. 361 Gospel how it turns the heart ibid. Gospel its power not in it self p. 362 Gospel efficacy not in the instrument ibid. Gospel in every part presses mortification p. 466 Gospel
boundaries must be preserved p. 467 Grace the riches of it in remission p. 302 Grace the vile abuse of it taxed p. 306 Grieving the Spirit the sin of Believers p. 411 Guilt incurred in times of tentation p. 560 Guilt only relieved by blood of Christ. p. 208 H. HAbits of Grace inspired not acquired p. 96 Habitude of faith to Gospel terms p. 121 Happy estate of pardoned souls p. 303 Happiness of Saints above all men p. 338 Harmony of the Spirits motions p. 412 Habits of grace how assisted p. 469 Hell torments how aggravated p. 187 Heart its deceitfulness opened p. 369 Heavenly mindedness what it infers p. 418 Heaven no Heaven to the unregenerate p. 440 Heavenly mindedness connotes grace p. 453 Honour of religion on what it depends p. 482 Hour of death by what sweetned p. 483 Holiness of Christ our pattern p. 501 Holiness of Christ sixfold p. 502 Humility of Christ exemplary p. 512 Hypocrisie wherein it lies p. 490 Hypocrites are twice dead p. 536 Husband none like Christ. p. 255 I. IGnorance the cause of security p. 351 Ignorance twofold p. 420 Immortality the priviledge of grace p. 37 Impossibility of coming without drawing p. 70 Imputed righteousness vindicated p. 130 Illumination antecedent to faith p. 147 Implantation into Christ necessary p. 461 Impossibility of salvation to some p. 395 Inoffensive life of Christ. p. 511 Joy of Saints a rational joy p. 331 Inexcusableness of Christ-despisers p. 19 Infusion of spiritual life instantaneous p. 101 Inability of nature to produce grace p. 105 Inheritance of Saints how secured p. 178 Interest in Christ how evinced p. 180 Invitations of Christ to weary souls p. 198 Inherence of sin when and how cured p. 220 Inferiour things should not satisfie Saints p. 243 Interest in Christ the ground of peace p. 204 Inward troubles infest the best hearts p. 325 Inability to return to God discovered p. 337 Influence of Christs death into our glory p. 340 Ineffectualness of the word a sore judgement p. 365 Indisposedness of man to come to Christ. p. 394 Incongruity of carnal ways to Saints p. 448 Instrumentality for service whence p. 480 Insupportableness of affliction to some p. 482 Imitation of Christ how necessary p. 497 Imitation of Christ what it compriseth ibid. Improve Christ to your own rest p. 214 Justification evidenced by sanctification p. 500 Justice unsatisfied bars Heaven p. 337 K. KEep the evil of sin in your eye p. 488 Keep the sufferings of Christ before you ibid. Keep the sufferings of the damned before you p. 490 Knowledge of spiritual things twofold p. 139 Knowledge of interest a ground of peace p. 289 Knowledge spiritual excellent p. 397 Knowledge of the creatures vanity p. 485 Knowledge aggravates sin three ways p. 557 Knowledge secures none from Hell p. 559 Knowledge improved against Knowledge p. 579 L. LAw its efficacy on the Conscience p. 185 Lamentations for the unregenerate p. 537 Learned men why Christless p. 395 Leadings of the Spirit what p. 419 Lessons twelve taught by God p. 378 Life spiritual what it is p. 95 Life spiritual its excellency p. 96 Life spiritual still growing p. 98 Life spiritual in all the faculties p. 100 Life Natural Political Theological p. 108 Life of Believers how comfortable p. 296 Liberty purchased by Christ p. 323 Liberty of six sorts p. 328 Liberty of Believers wonderful p. 329 Liberty of Believers its properties p. 330 Liberty must be maintained p. 333 Liberty a motive to come to Christ p. 334 Loveliness of Christ in all respects p. 255 Longing to be with Christ its ground p. 285 Love of Christ wonderful p. 280 Loveliness of creatures derivative p. 250 Lovely nothing is so in opposition to Christ p. 251 M. MAnner of the Spirits work various p. 413 Marks of right inward troubles p. 191 Marks of saving faith p. 149 Marks of the new creature p. 451 Matter of duty no evidence of grace p. 412 Means of mortification p. 462 Mediums of communion with Christ p. 172 Mediocrity in outwards eligible p. 477 Meeting of Saints in Heaven joyful p. 339 Meltings in duty twofold p. 421 Memory of sins past how revived p. 185 Method of cure a restraint from sin p. 225 Mercy to be under Christs cure p. 227 Mercies of two sorts p. 233 Mercy Christ is the mercy of mercy evidenced in twelve respects p. 23â—… Mercies derive their sweetness 〈◊〉 and durableness from Christ p. 215 Mercy not to be expected out of Christ p. 241 Ministry removed a sore judgement p. 49 Ministers obliged to faithfulness ibid. Ministers unduely treated p. 58 Ministers must mind their own estates p. 59 Mirth of unregenerate groundless p. 548 Mind influenced by God p. 392 Mortification painful work p. 463 Motions of sin in the best Saints p. 325 Motives to faith p. 153 Motives ten to inflame desires p. 272 Motives six to come to Christ p. 307 Mortification proves interest in Christ p. 458 Mortification what it imports p. 459 Mortification why called crucifying p. 463 Mortification the method of salvation p. 466 Mortification requires affliction p. 474 Motives to imitate Christ p. 521 Mysterious way of regeneration p. 99 N. NAtures pride in what discovered p. 81 Natures current cross to Christ p. 80 Natural and spiritual affections hâ—… they may be distinguished p. 421 National rejection of Christ dangerâ—… p. 268 Necessity of divine teachings p. 390 Necessity of mortification p. 465 Necessity of the new Creature p. 439 New creature consists in two things p. 405 New creature proves interest in Christ p. 429 New creature why grace is so called ibid. New creation in what it resembles the old opened in many respects p. 430 New Christians are so in three respects p. 432 New creature exceeding beautiful p. 434 New creature its designation p. 4â—…5 New creature immortal and how so p. 497 New creature its heavenly tendency p. 437 New creature its activity p. 438 New creature in whom undiscernible p. 447 Number of real Christians small p. 475 O. OBedience the end of spiritual life p. 101 Obedience whence its excellency p. 102 Obedience of Christ our pattern p. 504 Obedience to the law as our rule p. 324 Object formal of faith what it is p. 118 Obstacles to glory how removed p. 340 Object of faith must be determinate p. 194 Objections against believing answered p. 200 Occasions not to be given to corruption p. 474 Occasions of sin must be cut off p. 485 Offers of Christ what they include p. 155 Offer of Christ intire and compleat p. 122 Offer of Christ in what manner p. 123 Offices of Christ how suitable p. 253 Opinions about faith divers p. 132 Opposition of Satan to the Gospel why p. 333 Operations of the Gospel various p. 360 Opposition of flesh and spirit what p. 424 Opposition to sin twofold p. 468 Opinions justly rejected p. 477 Ornaments of nature what and how to be denied for Christ p. 81 Ordinances why to
be attended p. 89 Outward troubles how cured p. 222 Oyl of gladness what it notes p. 164 P. PArdon of sin how sweet p. 188 Papists how they still Conscience p. 203 Pauses made in Conversion p. 77 Penance no act of mortification p. 460 Peace two sorts worse than trouble p. 190 Pleas for converting souls p. 21 22 Pleasures of the spiritual life p. 97 Pleasure of sin cost dear p. 186 Physitian noue like Christ p. 223 Pledge of glory what is so p. 410 Pleasure none in carnal men p. 534 Policy of Satan in what discovered p. 283 Powers of the soul twofold p. 405 Power of sin gradually weakened p. 462 Propositions about applying Christ p. 6 7 8 Persecutors warned of danger p. 42 Presumption falsely pretended p. 200 Presumption a general sin p. 350 Prayer how prevalent p. 314 Prayers of Saints desirable p. 316 Prayer evidential of the Spirit p. 417 Prayerless persons unregenerate p. 453 Probabilities of mercy incourage p. 388 Proper sins to be especially eyed p. 487 Principles of mortification what p. 467 Promises of temporals how secured p. 246 Practical nature of Gods teaching p. 399 Purity of Conscience how needful p. 484 Purposes accepted by God p. 315 Q. QUalifications of Ministers p. 63 Qualities of the new creature p. 434 Quickning of two sorts p. 94 Quickning the Spirits work in order to union with Christ p. 93 Quickning a supernatural work p. 103 Quietness of men what it argues p. 353 R. REconciliation with God what p. 51 Reconciliation wonderful p. 52 Readiness in God to grant prayer p. 313 Receiving Christ the vital act p. 115 Receiving Christ what it improts p. 116 Remission the Saints priviledge p. 299 Remission what it is p. 300 Remission none without Christ p. 305 Reconciled persons their duties p. 66 Renovation of nature p. 430 Regenerate their duties p. 445 Religion precise and strict p. 499 Religion falâ—…y charged p. 518 Represent Christ as he is p. 260 Respect due to Ministers and why p. 48 Reluctance of nature how cured p. 76 Rest coming by faith sweet p. 203 Rest of Believers present and how p. 207 Righteousness connected with holiness p. 16 Riches of Christ how great p. 178 Right to glory Christs purchase p. 341 Rome shall feel the force of prayer p. 317 Rods of affliction the Saints lot p. 325 Rules of two sorts p. 498 Rules to discern the spirit in us p. 411 Rule no man a rule to others p. 498 S. SAints have real communion with Christ p. 165 Saints honourable on what account p. 175 Satans great design opened p. 211 Satisfaction none short of glory p. 342 Satans power destroyed and how p. 327 Satans policy wherein seen p. 368 Selfishness an odious sin p. 176 Secrets of God opened to Saints p. 314 Skill bred by experience what p. 193 Signs of divine teaching p. 398 Sins evil not seen at first p. 378 Sin is long a dying in the best p. 464 Sin yields neither profit nor pleasure p. 489 Sin against the Spirit mistaken p. 200 Sins of Believers most piercing p. 319 Sound of the Gospel sweet p. 202 Sorrows of the soul not quickly over p. 206 Souls of great value p. 341 Small things accepted by God p. 314 Small remnant in Christ p. 447 Spiritual sickness a mercy p. 201 Spirits threefold power in conversion p. 363 Spirit taken two ways p. 406 Spirit the bond of union p. 408 Spirit works arbitrarily in us p. 411 Spirit works variously in men ibid. Sting of death pluckt out by Christ p. 328 Striving ineffectual when so p. 381 Stability the result of mortification p. 481 Success of the word to be waited for p. 110 Supports under defects of obedience p. 524 Supports under spiritual troubles what and whence they are p. 189 190 Sufferings for Christ honourable p. 281 Sweetness of Religion in application p. 11 Sympathy a mark of the Spirit p. 41â—… Symptoms of a desperate state p. 227 T. TEmptations not removed here p. 325 Terms on which Christ is offered p. 122 Teachings of God twofold p. 377 Teachings of God necessary p. 375 Teaching of God not opposed to mans p. 376 Teachings of God infallible p. 390 Teaching of God clear ibid. Teachings of God permanent p. 391 Teachings of God harmonical p. 399 Tenderness of Conscience p. 492 Time of conversion in the hand of the Spirit p. 364 Time of Christs incarnation exactly agreeable to the promises p. 240 Things past present and to come ours p. 209 Thoughts of death how sweetned p. 342 Troubles of Conscience great p. 188 Troubles for sin wean the heart p. 191 Troubles for sin prevent falls p. 192 Troubles for sin make Christ sweet ibid. Troubles for sin tryed p. 191 Trials of our union with Christ. p. 43 Trials of spiritual life p. 111 V. VExing the Spirit p. 489 Visions not to be expected p. 376 Unition supposed to union p. 94 Union with Christ how illustrated p. 26 Union with Christ no fancy p. 28 Union with Christ what it is not p. 30 Union mystical what it is p. 32 Union ingages to godliness p. 44 Union the ground of acceptation p. 315 Union fundamental to benefits p. 383 Unregenerate in a sad state p. 〈◊〉 110 Unbelief unreasonable p. 17 Unreconciled exhorted p. 65 Unbelief the damning sin p. 136 Unbelief the root of ingratitude p. 212 Unworthiness no bar to faith p. 245 Unbelievers their sad estate p. 294 Unbelievers under condemnation p. 541 Unbelief the evil thereof p. 543 Voluntary motions of souls to Christ p. 194 Voyce of God never heard by some p. 400 Upbraidings of Conscience what p. 187 Usefulness of the Law is great p. 204 W. WAnts relieved by union with Christ p. 40 Wants of Saints provided for p. 176 Want of outwards quietly born p. 244 Wants not to be feared p. 318 Willingness to dye what it signifies in carnal men p. 353 Will how allured by God p. 393 Workings of the word when slight p. 368 World its damping efficacy p. 369 Work of grace supernatural p. 445 Work of new creatures what p. 4â—…4 Wonderful preservation of grace p. 438 Wrath due to sin how great p. 379 Z. ZEal in wicked men dangerous Zeal improved against Zeal p. 580 FINIS This Author hath writ the several Books following A Saint indeed the great work of a Christian opened and pressed from Prov. 4. 23. a seasonable Discourse for recovery of decayed godliness A Touch-stone of Sincerity or signs of Grace and symptoms of Hypocrisie being the Second Part of the Saint Indeed Husbandry Spiritualized or the Heavenly use of Earthly things The Seamans Compass spiritually improved The Seamans Companion wherein the mysteries of Divine Providence relating to Seamen are opened the sins and dangers discovered their duties pressed their several troubles and burdens opened and profitably applied Divine Conduct or the Mystery of Providence its Being and Efficacy asserted and vindicated all the methods of Providence in our course of life opened with directions how to apply and improve them A Token for Mourners or Boundaries for Sorrow on death of Friends The Fountain of life opened or a display of Christ in his Essential and Mediatorial Glory wherein the impetration of our redemption by Christ is unfolded as it was begun carried on and finished These following Books lately Printed HEavenly and Earthly mindedness in two Parts with an Appendix about laying hold on Eternal Life The Life and Death of Mr. John Row of Credditon in Devon Emanuel or the love of Christ explicated and applied in his incarnation being made under the Law and his satisfaction in 31 Sermons all three by Mr. John Row Minister of Gods word Christs power over bodily diseases by Edward Lawrance now Minister of the Gospel in London The Saints nearness to God by Richard Vines Minister of the Gospel Of Idolatry a Discourse in which is endeavoured a declaration of its distinction from superstition by Tho. Tenison Dr. in Divinity and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty FINIS