againe deformitie for it takes away the beauty and vigour of the soule and dejects the countenance it debaseth a man and takes away his excellencie Gen 49.4 as Iacob saith of Reuben Vnstable as water thou shalt not excell because thou wentest up to thy fathers bed Saith God to Cain Gen. 4.6 why art thou wrath and why is thy countenance fallen and the Prophet David hee confesseth Psal 32.3 4. when I kept silence my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long So againe There is no soundnesse in my flesh Psal 38.3 because of thine anger neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sinne So that sinne is a wound and a disease whether wee consider the miseries it brings on soule and body or both Therefore howsoever a sinfull person thinke himselfe a goodly person and weare his sins as ornaments about him Pride Lust and the like yet hee is a deformed loathsome person in the eyes and presence of God and when conscience is awakened sinne will bee loathsome irksome and odious unto himselfe fill him full of griefe and shame so that hee cannot endure the sight of his owne soule That all sinnes are diseases Now all sinnes whatsoever are diseases The first sinne of all sinnes which wee call hereditarie Originall sinne what is it but an hereditarie disease a leprosie which we drew from our first Parents spread over all the soule having the seeds and spawne of all sinne in it The Church of Rome makes it lesse then other sinnes as indeed Popery is ignorant both of the height of grace and of the depth of corruption for if they knew the one they would bee more capable of the other Why doe they not conceive aright of grace and of the height of it because they know not the depth of Originall sinne And indeed the true knowledge of this disease is proper onely to the child of God in the true Church none but he knowes what Originall sinne is others can dispute and talke of it but none feeles it but the child of God Now all other particular actuall sinnes 1. Sinne like a disease in regard of the cause be diseases flowing from hence so that all diseases in this kinde arise either 1. from our selves as wee have a seminarie of them in our owne hearts or else 2. from the infection and contagion of others or 3. from Satan who hath society with our spirits as men have with the outward man comming in by his suggestions and our intertaining of them so that in that respect sin is like unto a wound and a disease in regard of the cause of them And in regard of the effects 2. Sinne is like a disease in regard of the effects it breedâ— sinne is like a disease Diseases if they be neglected breed death it selfe and become incurable so it is with the diseases and sinnes of the soule neglect them and the best end of them will bee despaire in this world whereupon wee may have advantage to flie unto the mercy of God in Christ This is the end of sinne either to end in a good despaire or in a fruitlesse barren despaire at the houre of death leading to Hell when they have no grace to repent Rom. 6.23 The wages of sinne is death c. Sinne it selfe is a wound and that which riseth from sinne is a wound too doubting and despaire for this disease and wound of sinne breeds that other disease a despaire of mercy which is the beginning of Hell the second death These things might be further inlarged but for the present onely in generall know That sinne is a disease and a wound of the soule so much worse then the diseases of the body by how much the soule is more pretious then it and the death of the soule more terrible then the death of the body Sinne is a disease and a wound for what is Pride but a swelling what is Anger but an intemperate heate of the soule like an Ague as it were what is Revenge but a wild-fire in the soule what is Lust but a spreading Canker in the soule tending to a consumption what is Covetousnesse but as a sword a perpetuall wounder of the soule piercing it through with many sorrowes what is Security but as it were the Lethargie and Apoplexie of the soule and so wee might goe on in other resemblances Quest But it may be demanded how shall we know that we are sicke of this sicknesse and disease you speake of Answ How doe wee know that we are sicke in body If the body be extreame cold we know there is a distemper or if it be extreame hot so if the soule be so extreame cold that no heavenly Motives or sweet Promises can worke upon it stirre it up then certainely there is a disease upon the soule If the soule be inflamed with Revenge and Anger that soule is certainely diseased the temper of the soule is according to the passions thereof a man may know by his Passions when he hath a sick soule If a man cannot relish good diet then wee count him a sick man so when a man cannot rellish holy discourse nor the Ordinances of God You have some men that can rellish nothing but profits and pleasures and such vanities but no divine thing such have sicke soules undoubtedly So againe a man may know there is a deadly sicknesse and sorenesse upon the soule 1 when it is senselesse of its wounds and 2 is senselesse of that which passeth from it as men we say are readie to die when excrementall things passe from them without any sense So a man may know that he is desperately soule-sicke when oathes lies and deceitfull speeches passe from him and yet he is senselesse of them they think not of them they meane no harme doth that argue a sound state of body when a man is so desperately ill that he feeles not his bodily hurts and is this a good state of soule when these filthy things come out from it insensibly it is an argument of extreame deadnesse of spirit and irreverence and of a desperate sinne sick soule when there is no dread or awe of the Majesty of God let such looke about them it is an aggravation of the danger of the soule this kind of temper We usually say when the stomacke is so weake that it can hold no nourishment without casting it up againe as fast as it receives it certainely such a one is sick and in a dangerous state of body So when a man heares and heares and reads and reads and digests nothing into nourishment but all is left where he heard it it is a signe that they have sicke soules when their retentive power is so weake And there is certainely some sicknesse some dangerous obstruction in that soule that cannot digest the wholesome Word of God to make use of it some noysome lust then certainely obstructs the soule which must be purged out
them And he answereth them largely that He will be as the Dew to them that they shall grow as the Lillie and cast foorth their rootes as Lebanon All set out by most excellent comparisons helping grace by nature our soules by our bodies and our spirits by our senses As we have soules and bodies so God applyeth himselfe to both His Branches shall spread his Beauty shall be as the Olive and his smell as Lebanon Then in the 7. Verse his gratious promise reacheth unto those who dwell under the Church Those that dwell under his shadow shall returne they shall revive as the corne and grow as the Vine c. The new Church that shall come under the shadow of the old shall flourish as the ancient did They that dwell under his shadow that is under Ephraims and Israels shadow shall returne and be partakers of the same dew of grace Now this eigth verse containeth a further gratious promise to Ephraim upon his repenting and former resolutions Ephraim said Ashur shall not save us we will not ride upon horses neither will we say any more to the worke of our hands ye are our gods Now what saith God here repeating the words of Ephraim Ephraim shall say is not in the Originall but onely set downe to expresse what the meaning is whereas Ephraim said What have I any more to doe with Idols Ephraim shall have this answer I have heard him and observed him I am like a greene firre tree from mee is thy fruit found As though the Lord had said let not Ephraim thinke that when he hath forsooke Idols hee hath forsaken his comfort as though there were no comfort in walking according to the rule of my Word and Lawes Let him know that in steed of these poore and base comforts either in grosse Idolatry or other more cunning Idolatries whatsoever which formerly tooke him up that now he shall exchange them for more solid and substantiall comforts For I have heard him and observed him so that let him see what he looseth in parting with base corruptions worldly lusts pleasures and the like hee shall finde it more abundantly supplied in a farre more excellent manner in mee and in the fruits and effects of my love unto him so as he shall finde that there is nothing lost by entring strictly into my service And whereas formerly hee walked in a vaine shadow in relying on Egypt Ashur and the works of his owne hands now hee shall have a farre more excellent shadow which no storme nor raine nor injury of weather can pierce through I am like a greene firre-tree unto him Not such a shadow as those his Idols were who could not keepe off the storme of Gods wrath from him Ionah 4.5 6. nor such a shadow as Ionahs gourd was which flourished for one day and was nip't the next No I will be constant and permanent as my selfe I will be as the greene firre tree a constant shadow to keepe backe all annoyance whatsoever not like the cursed noysome shadow of Idols under which Ephraim rested before But I will observe and regard him and be like a greene firre tree unto him I will not onely be a shadow and shelter of defence unto him from injurie and molestation that he may rest quietly but hee shall be also fruitfull though the firre tree be not so fruitfull yet from mee is thy fruit found whatsoever he is in himselfe yet this shall not be matter of discouragement unto him I am all sufficient there is enough in mee to supply him with from mee is thy fruit found But to take them in order Ephraim shall say what have I any more to doe with Idols c. Some thinke the words come upon Ephraims observing and hearing of him so as when God is seene in his most excellent majesty and glory and observed as he is just mercifull and wonderfull terrible in himselfe that this manner of hearing and observation causeth flesh and bloud so to stoope and reforme as they yeeld themselves and resigne up all unto God seeing that miserable condition they are in and what an infinite distance there is betwixt their impurity and Gods most excellent holinesse As we read of Isaiah when he had seene God in his throne of majesty Isa 6.5 Woe is mee saith he for I am undone because I am a man of uncleane lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of uncleane lips for mine eyes have seene the King the Lord of Hosts And so of Iob Iob. 42.5 6. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the eare but now mine eye seeth thee wherefore I abhorre my selfe and repent in dust and ashes Which indeed is true in the generall that a man then truly repenteth and turneth unto God when he knoweth God and himselfe to purpose and never effectually untill then for Christ who cannot lye and is truth it selfe calleth this kinde of knowledge eternall life This is life eternall to know thee to be the onely very God and whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ Iohn 17.3 But though this be a generall truth yet we take it here rather for an incouragement unto Ephraim as before that nothing is lost by cleaving unto Gods wayes and forsaking of sinne Now whereas Ephraim shall say what have I any more to doe with Idols In the words we may consider 1. The manner of expression with a great indignation of soule What have I any more to doe c. 2. The matter so hated with indignation is Idolatry their former Idols Ephraim shall say What have I any more to doe with Idols Ephraim wee see renounceth Idolatry The true renouncing of sin must bee with indignation but in what manner is this done with an high indignation of zeale and hatred What have I any more to doe with Idols Hee doth not say now that Ephraim hath left Idolatry I will supply all these comforts that they had by Idols But Ephraim loathes Idolatry therefore he saith What have I any more to doe with Idols It is a figurative Question implying a strong deniall with a strong indignation What have I any more to doe with Idols I have had too much to doe with them I have now nothing to doe with Idols It is a negation and deniall with as great aversation and abhomination as can bee possibly exprest for in such questions the deniall is set forth more strongly by a negation and with a greater emphasis then by any affirmation is possible to expresse So elegant is the Spirit of God in setting forth spirituall things in a heavenly and transcendent manner Ephraim shall say what have I any more to doe with Idols c. Hence in that Ephraim shall say thus and say it with such vehemency of spirit and indignation we may observe in generall Observ There is excellent use of the affections God hath planted the affections in us to be as the winde to carry the soule too and fro forward
must be respected 1. Wee must consider our calling to reproove others for howsoever we must carry an universall hatred to sin thus farre that we must not doe it Yet in the discovery of hatred and dislike to others we must consider what calling we have and how farre we goe And it must be done with a sweet temper 2. It must be with a due respect keeping of distance to the party reprooved keeping our distance and reserving the due respect unto those in whom we shew our dislike As we see Nathan when he came to tell David of his fault how he doth it what art he useth It must so be done as that it may appeare to be done out of pure zeale that it is no wilde-fire nor no heate of nature but that it commeth meerely from the spirit and in much love with mildnesse and pitie in which case it carrieth a wondrous authority The discoverie of hatred to the faults either in a Minister or in a Megistrate though they must be truely dealt with and have their faults told them yet there must be respect had to their place by reason of the weakenesse of men As it is with the body great men have their Phisitians as well as meaner onely their phisicke must be more costly because perhaps of their tendernesse of their constitutions but as for their bodyes they must not be suffered to perrish nor will not So for their soules they must have that which other men have to helpe them but it must be done with reservation and respect as Paul speaking to Festus the Governour calleth him most Noble Festus Act. 26.25 c. Pressing also goodnesse in some sort upon King Agrippa O King Agrippa Act. 26.27 believest thou the Prophets I know thou dost So wee see how wee may examine whether our hatred to sinne be true or not Let every one therefore make Use of it in their calling Those that are intrusted with Gods Message let them know that Gods Ambassadors are to be faithfull in their Message for they serve a greater Lord then is upon the Earth And let them shew their true hatred of ill and the danger of sinne wheresoever they finde it And for those that are Governours of others let them not thinke that they hate sin in themselves except they hate sin also in all that belong to them and reforme it For we see here an evidence of conversion when Ephraim was converted What have I any more to doe with Idols and 2 Cor. 7.11 2 Cor. 7.11 There is an excellent description of the nature of Repentance by many parcels The Corinthians had repented how is this evidenced O! Behold saith he this selfe same thing that ye sorrowed after a godly sort what carefulnesse it wrought in you yea what cleering of your selves yea what indignation yea what feare yea what vehement desire yea what zeale yea what revenge what Revenge and Indignation against sinne a kind of extreamitie of hatred a hatred quickned and kindled the height of hatred What Indignation Jnsinuating that wheresoever there is the truth of conversion there will be indignation against sinne in our selves As David confesseth of himselfe having sinned Psal 73.22 So foolish was I and ignorant I was as a beast before thee When he suffered such a thought to lodge in his breast that it was better with the children of the world then with the Church of God he was troubled for it But when he went into the Church of God and saw the end of wicked men then he saw his owne foolishnesse in being so deceived and speakes against himselfe with indignation So wheresoever there is true conversion there is hatred with indignation against our selves As in that place before alleadged they shall say unto their Idols Isa 30.22 get thee hence what have I any more to doe with you which is a phrase of speech shewing a disposition of hatred to the utmost extention Get you hence So Christ to the Divell Get thee behinde me Satan This is the right temper of a truely converted Christian exprest by divers phrases in Scripture By a denyall of our lusts by killing and crucifying by pulling out the eye and cutting of the right hand which phrases doe they not imply a great strength of hatred and indignation when we must as it were pull out our owne eyes that is our beloved sins which are as deare to us as our eyes and as usefull as our right hands unto us Yet these must be cut off Col. 3.2 mortified crucified and denyed Therefore let us not deceive our selves but let us judge of the truth of our conversion by our true hatred to sinne in our selves and others and in all who are committed to our charge If this be so what shall we judge of a cold luke-warme temper It is the nature of cold to gather Heterogeniall bodies together As we see in Ice there are strawes and stones and all Heterogeniall things incorporated because the cold congeales them together But where there is fire there is a seperating of the drosse from the good mettall So where the Spirit of God is it is not so cold as to jumble sin and sin this and that together but it purgeth away that which is ill and that which is good it makes better For in what proportion the fire of Gods Spirit stirs up that which is good in that proportion there is a hatred of that which is ill They are unparaleld affections Those that love God they hate evill Those that are alike to all things doe shew that they have not this active true hatred against sinne No Ephraim shall say What have I any more to doe with Idols Quest But now how shall wee come to get this hatred against sinne and holy Revenge and Indignation against our selves for that which is amisse in us Answ First How we may come to hate our sinnes Wee must get neare communion with God and a cleare sight of his excellency Exo. 32.19 we must every day labour to get a cleerer sight of the excellency of that which is good and a neerer communion with God by Prayer and Meditation and then when we have beene with God it will worke an abhomination of whatsoever is contrary unto him Thus Moses when he had talked with God in the mountaine at his returne seeing them dancing and sacrificing to the Calfe of gold what did Moses he brake the Tables asunder So it is with those that have communion with God who is light it selfe 1 Iohn 1.5 and in whom is no darkenesse who is Holinesse and Puritie it selfe those who have effectually conversed with God in his Ordinances Meditation Prayer and the like when they looke upon sinne which is contrary to God they looke upon it with a more perfect hatred So Esay 6. When God appeared to the Prophet and touched his tongue with a coale from the Altar saith he Woe is me for I am undone because
nature is not altered on the suddaine but still tasts of the old leaven therefore there can be no meriting of Salvation by any workes we doe 1 Cor. 5.7 because they are not perfectly good Vse 1 The cleering of these points in our judgement For Humiliation they serve to worke in us a deepe Humiliation seeing that we have nothing in our selves but staines and defilements all that is good in us comming from God From me is thy fruite found What is from our selves then if all good in us comes from God vve are a barren and a cursed soyle nothing that is good can come from us even as the Earth vvas cursed after Adams fall and brought forth nothing but briers and thornes so our soule naturally is a cursed soyle in it selfe and brings forth nothing but weeds and thornes Our hearts are like the barren wildernesse full of evill noysome lusts and affections Therefore this serves to abase us that we be not lifted up vvith any good in us for as that is altogether from Gods Spirit so likewise we of our selves add nothing to it but somewhat which may deminish the value thereof Vse 2 Heere againe for matter of judgement you have a difference betweene the state of nature For Information of judgement and the state of grace I meane of innocent nature for in Adam wee had a standing in our selves being trusted with our owne good but now under the second Covenant under the second Adam Christ Jesus we have many graces to fit us for Heaven and many good works we doe but all the fruit wee have and yeeld is from God So that now this is a grand difference Adam as it were had the keeping of his owne happinesse locked up in himselfe but we have our happinesse graces and whatsoever is good for us shut up in Christ as the Spring and Fountaine which is the reason of the perpetuall stability and permanent condition of Gods children once his and ever his And put the case we want this or that helpe yet this prejudiceth not the perpetuity of the condition of Gods children because those graces which come immediately from Gods Spirit may be conveyed sometimes without meanes as well as with them Therefore whatsoever decay is in the branches that are grafted into this noble Vine Christ Jesus in whom we bare all the fruit we beare yet notwithstanding there is life everlasting for us in the roote which is by little and little distilled into us The leaves may fall outward things may decay but there is life alway in the roote of a Christian because he is in Christ and hath his fruit from him he cannot want fruit no more then Christ can want influence and vigor Iohn 15.5 Which shewes us the excellent state of a Christian under the new Covenant of grace that now we fetch all out of our selves and it is happy for us that we doe so For without Christ wee can doe nothing as without the soule the body can doe nothing so without the Spirit of Christ we can doe nothing from him is all This is the reason why we must not trust to any grace in our selves that comes from us because grace comes from God in Christ trust God the Spring whence it comes whose the fruit is God the Father in Christ from whom all fulnesse comes and is derived unto us or else wee make but an Idoll of grace if we trust too much to grace looke to the Spring whence all comes to us From me is thy fruit found Quest Againe for further instruction What is the Reason that some have more grace then others and more comfort some having grace and comfort in one degree and some in an other Sol. Hence it is from me is thy fruit found it comes from the freedome of God in Christ who according to his good pleasure gives the will and the deed whence we have grace sometimes in the vigour sometimes in a weaker and lesser degree the fault being in our selves too Yet notwithstanding there is a liberty in the Spirit of Christ to give a more or lesse measure of grace to shew that our good we doe springs not from our selves Which also is the reason of the difference betwixt Christians because God will shew that he is the disposer and the dispencer of his owne graces and comforts And that is the reason also why we must performe this duty of waiting upon God in the use of meanes though we finde no sense of grace and comfort from him for the present From him our fruit is found Waite his leisure he suspends grace and comfort untill a fit time in regard of the degree but yet there is alway some grace left though hee suspends the increase thereof untill a fit time because hee would have us know that it is of his giving Christians who are acquainted herewith they wâ—ll not tie God to their time but humbly goe on in the use of meanes who though they finde not their spirits and their comforts enlarged so as at other times nor so great nor as other folkes are yet can say Lord thou givest the Will and the Deed according to thy good pleasure all comes from thee therefore I will use the meanes and depend upon thee because J have all from thee freely God gives a spirit of Prayer and then the thing we pray for all is from him From me is thy fruit found Doe we finde the Ordinances fruitfull the preaching of the Word to open our understandings to kindle our affections to inlighten our judgements it is the Spirit of God that joynes with the meanes that are dead of themselves to make them fruitfull what are the Ordinances without God but empty conduit pipes of themselves therefore From me is thy fruite found Vse 3 This should teach and direct us also in all things to looke up to God in all use of meanes Lord I may reade heare and use helps and meanes long enough to little or no purpose unlesse thou give a blessing 1 Cor. 3.6 Paul may plant and Apollo may water but if thou give not fruite from Heaven all is to no purpose Wee forget this and therefore prosper accordingly We thinke we can worke fruit out of the meanes by our owne wit Oh! It is not so whatsoever is comfortable or gratious in the use of meanes it is meerely by Gods blessing And therefore seeing all our fruit whatsoever that is good comes from God let it stirre us up to practise the spirituall worship of God to adore God to beg of his fulnesse in Christ Jesus and likewise to resigne our selves in all conditions unto him Lord I put my selfe upon thee all my fruit is from thee thou canst sanctifie any condition unto me This adoration and resignation are parts of the spirituall worship of God And likewise the service of the Lord in feare and reverence that inward service of the Spirit all depends upon this that all our fruit is
how it cooled and chered the good theefe and comforted him And so when God sayes unto the soule I am thy Salvation O! when the soule feeles this how is it cooled and refreshed And the soule is not onely cooled and refreshed but 2. Grace fructifieth as dew doth It is also sweetned and made fruitfull with comfort to the soule If we were to see a man in the pangs of conscience stung with fiery temptations as with so many fiery serpents and poysoned darts which drinke up the spirits and presents God a consuming fire and Hel beneath full of insupportable torments set on by the insupportable wrath of God then we should know what it were to have grace in this efficatious manner cooling and refreshing the soule that hath these fiery darts stuck into it of violent strong temptations which to the present sense are the flashes and beginnings of Hell O! It is an excellent thing to have the Grace of God in such a case to asswage and coole the maladies of a distressed soule which for the present seemes to burn in a flame of wrath As it cooles so also it makes the heart fruitful our hearts of themselves being as the barren wildernes and wild desert Psal 107 33 14. Now God by his grace turnes the wildernes into water springs as it appeareth in many places of the Prophets Saith God For I will powre water upon him that is thirstie and floods upon the drie ground Isa 44 3. Jsa 45 8. I will powre my Spirit upon thy seed c. So Grace it turnes the barren wildernesse the heart drie of it selfe and makes it fruitfull Wee know what Paul said of Onesimus a fruitlesse servant Philem. 16. nay a fugitive theefe he is unfruitfull no longer saith he now that he is become a convert another a new man now he will doe good service A man is no sooner altered by the dew of grace but howsoever formerly he were a naughtie hurtfull person of whom every man was affraid because of his wickednesse yet now he is a fruitfull person and strives to bring forth fruits worthy of amendment of life Mat. 3.8 6. Grace is unresistible And we may adde one more in the next place in regard of the unresistiblenesse thereof for as nothing can hinder the dew from falling from the sweet influence of Heaven unto us Iob. 38 37. or hinder the working of those superiour bodies upon the inferiour or hinder the wind from blowing so who can hinder Gods Grace they may out of malice hinder the meanes of it and hinder the gratious working of the Spirit by discouragements in others which is a signe of a divelish spirit when yet God hath a hand in that too after a sort For it raineth in one citie and not in another by Gods appointment but nothing can hinder where God will have the dew and water and shine of the influence of grace worke nothing in the world can stop it So it is said in that excellent Prophesie of Christ and his kingdome Psal 72.6 Hee shall come downe like raine upon the mowen grasse as showers that water the Earth which as they coole and fructifie so come they unresistibly Let none therefore be discouraged with the deadnesse drienesse Vse Against discouragement in regard of our barrennes in goodnesse and barrennesse of their owne hearts but let them know that God doth gratiously promise if they will take the course formerly set downe to be as the dew unto them Therefore let them come unto the ordinances of God with wondrous hope confidence and faith that he will be as dew unto them that seeing he hath appointed variety of ordinances the Word and Sacraments he will blesse those meanes of his owne ordaining and appointing for his owne ends He that hath gratiously appointed such meanes of grace will he not blesse them especially having promised I will be as the dew unto Israell Therefore let us attend upon the ordinances and not keepe away though our hearts be barren drie and unfruitfull God is above the heart and able to turne the wildernesse into a fruitfull place he can make the heart a fit habitation for himselfe to dwell in Let us by faith attend upon the ordinances if we find not comfort in one ordinance let us go unto another and another comfort and help shall come especially if with the Church Cant. 3.4 we go a little further For the promise is I will be as the dew unto Israell 3. The order of Gods Promise But marke the order wherein he makes this promise First he gives grace to pray to him Take away all iniquity and receive us gratiously doe good to us Then he gives a spirit of reformation promising amendment whereupon this followeth that he will forgive their sinnes love them freely c. And be as the dew unto Israell He will be as the dew unto Israell but he will give them grace first to bee humbled confesse sinne and pray to God for grace and forgivenesse There is an order of working in the soule God giveth Justification before Sanctification and before he freeth from the guilt of sinne he gives grace to confesse sinne If we confesse our sinnes hee is faithfull and just to forgive us our sinnes 1 Ioh. 1.9 and to cleanse us from them saith S. Iohn Where these goe before grace will follow and where they doe not there will be no Sanctification Therefore let us consider the order for wheresoever God takes away iniquity and heales their soules in regard of the guilt of their sinnes unto those hee will be as dew Therfore if we have still barren soules without desires or strength to goodnesse certainely our sinnes are still upon the file for Justification is never without holinesse of life Whosoever is in Christ 2 Cor. 5.17 hee is a new creature When this is done God will be as the dew because he doth pardon our sinnes for this cause that he may thereby fit us to be entertained in the covenant and are we fit to be in covenant with him untill our natures be altered Therfore whensoever he enters into covenant with any he changeth their natures that they may be friends and have communion with him Then the same soule which crieth take away all iniquity desireth also the dew of grace to make it better this order is not onely necessary on Gods part but in regard of the soule also For was there ever any soule from the beginning of the world that truely desired forgivenesse of sinnes which did not also therewith desire grace such a soule were but an hypocriticall soule For if it be rightly touched with sorrow it desires as well ability to subdue sinne as forgivenesse of sinne Holinesse and Righteousnesse with forgivenesse Luk. 1.75 Vse 1 Therefore least we deceive our selves let this be an use of triall from the order that if we finde not grace wrought in our natures to restraine sinne
God stablisheth grace in none who are gratious for themselves meerely but for the good of others also that converse with them whether it bee Governours or servants no man liveth to himselfe and for himselfe onely but for the good of all within their reach Vse 1 For Use therfore first this shall be for incouragement to all Governours of families to bee good if not for themselves yet in love to those that are theirs Jt may be some have no care of their owne soules or good But hast thou no care of thy children of thy wife that lieth in thy bosome or of thy servants if thou hast not a heart of stone or marble surely thou wouldest desire that for them that thou dost not for thy selfe thinke of this at least thou wouldest have thy children good and prosper Labour then if we would have all prosper who come under our roofe that our families may be little Churches of God that all who come under our shadow may revive and returne Therefore out of love to those that belong to us let us labour to be good Is it not a pittifull thing that some who are Governours of others they looke to them as to beasts and use their service as a man would use the service of his beast they feed their bodies and thinke they have no charge of their soules Now this is one reason why all that come under the shadow of a good Governour are the better because they take care for their instruction and best good that they live in obedience to Gods Ordinances and not like wilde creatures ruffians vagabonds Cains and the like What a strange thing is this to have a care of the body the worser part and neglect the more excellent part their soules Vse 2 Make wee also this Use of Tryall art thou a good and a gratious Governour indeed then grace in thy heart is communicative it will spread over thy family thou wilt labour to make thy children and thy servants good to make all good that come under thy roofe Other things are not alwayes communicative gold is a dead thing and other goods thou mayest keepe by thee which doe not spread But if thou hast the best good Faith and Love with a gratious heart this is like oyle or like fire which will not be held in but out and shew themselves they will and shine in their kinde So grace is a spreading communicative thing all that come therefore under the shadow of a gratious family are said to returne and be the better for it Make this therefore an use of Tryall whether thou be a gratious Governour or not is thou canst say with Ioshua when he called the people togther saith he doe what you will J know what I will doe I and my house will serve the Lord. Iosh 24.15 If you will be Idolaters or so and so but I and my house will serve the Lord so certainely there is no man who in truth of heart feares the Lord but he is able to say I and my house will serve the Lord. Vse 3 Lastly for Terrour let us behold the dangerous and cursed estate of those that dwell out of Christs shadow the Church and good meanes who lie open to the indignation of God and storme of his wrath Who howsoever they may blesse themselves in a thing of naught yet it is a fearefull thing to lie under a curse and that soule must needs be barren where the dew of grace fals not for God usually derives spirituall and heavenly things by outward meanes They that dwell under his shadow shall returne They shall returne to God and by returning to him returne as it were and revive As when in a swoond a mans spirits returne againe hee is said to revive But the ground of Returning is that they shall returne to God and come under his roofe in the Church But more immediately this is true they shall returne and shall quicken and revive in returning Which wee spake of in the beginning of the Chapter Onely this shall be added to that that a wicked man out of judgment of the danger of his estate may make a stop but turning is more then so in this case a man turnes his face to God and heaven-wards to good things formerly neglected on which he turned his backe formerly What is turning but a change of posture when the face is turned towards that the backe was to before So it is in this spirituall turning to God when heavenly things are in our face when God and Hierusalem the Church are in our eye still minding heavenly things and not earthly then we are said to returne And therefore these converts mentioned in Ieremie are thus described in their conversion Ier. 50.5 asking the way to Zion with their faces thither-ward whereas before in the dayes of our corruption we turned our backs to God now when we returne Psal 16.8 we set the Lord alwayes before us in every thing this is properly to returne to revive and flourish also in returning Thus wee have heard how all who live under the shadow of Christ doe returne and what use wee should make of it The end of the eighth Sermon THE NINTH SERMON HOS 14.6 They that dwell under his shadow shall returne they shall revive as the Corne and grow as the Vine the sent thereof shall be as the Vine of Lebanon OUR desire of good things is not so large as God is bountifull in satisfying our desires going beyond them as we see in this Chapter their hearts were too narrow to receive all that good which God intended them Receive us gratiously this was their petition whereunto God answers that hee would be as the dew unto them that they should grow ac the Lillie and cast forth their roote as Lebanon and their branches shall spread that they should grow in all dimensions upwards and downwards and spread in beauty and smell Their beauty shall be like the Olive and their smell like Lebanon And because he would be God-like like himselfe that is throughly and abundantly gratious and mercifull he doth not only as we have heard promise a blessing to Israell himselfe but unto all neere unto him and belonging to him Those that are under his shadow shall returne they shall revive as the corne We are all too shallow to conceive either the infinite vastnesse of Gods justice to impenitent sinners or his boundlesse mercy and goodnesse to his poore Church and children Therefore God to helpe our weake conceit in this kinde borroweth all the excellencies of nature and makes use of them in grace He takes out of the booke of nature into his booke what may instruct our soules and therefore sets downe the growing estate of a Christian by all excellent comparisons that nature will afford many whereof we have gone over the last we spake of was that mercy which God superabundantly shewes unto the friends and servants of the Church Those that dwell under
his shadow shall returne Now those that shall thus returne they revive in returning for they turne to the fountaine of life to the Sonne of Righteousnesse they come under Gods grace therefore they must needs returne and revive in vigor as they returne to God which vigor is especially meant here when he saith Those that dwell under his shadow shall returne They shall revive as the corne Now how doth the corne revive nor to speake of that comparison that the godly are corne and not chaffe as the wicked are who are driven too and fro without any solidity which though true is not here especially aimed at For it is supposed that they who are good and gratious have a substance soliditie usefulnesse and goodnesse in them like the corne Psal 1. not being emptie chaffe which the wind blowes away This is usefull to mention but to come to the scope intended by the Prophet They shall revive as the corne In this first that as the corne when unsowne it lies dead in the granarie fructifieth not but when it is sown springs up to an hundred fold as we reade of in Isaacks time who received so much increase Gen. 26.12 So it is with converted Christians before they were under any gratious meanes or in a good place they lay as it were dead and did not spring forth But afterwards being planted and sowen under gratious meanes in good company in a good family then they increase and grow up and multiplie They revive like the Corne. And then againe as it is with the Corne though it seeme to die and doth indeed die in some sort covered with winter stormes ere it spring out from the oppressions of frost and snow and hard weather as if it were altogether perished yet notwithstanding it is all the while a preparing for springing up againe more gloriously So it is with the Church which seemes to die often in regard of spirituall mortification by afflictions whereby it is dead to the world yet all this while there is a blessed life in the spirit preparing the soule under the hard pressures of all weathers to a glorious springing up againe Therefore the Church hath no hurt by afflictions no more then the corne hath by the winter which is as necessary for it as the spring-time or summer For else how should the earth be ripened and prepared how should the wormes and weeds bee killed if it were not for hard weather So it is with a Christian those afflictions that he suffers and under which he seemes to be buried they are as usefull to him as all his comforts Nay a Chistian is more beholding to afflictions for his graces and comforts then he is to outward blessings One would thinke that the goldsmith were a spoyling his plate when he is a burning of it when all that while the drosse is but a consuming out of it and the vessell so hammered and beaten out is but a preparing to be a vessell of honour to stand before some great man So it is with a Christian an ignorant person looking but one way thinks God neglects such a one and that if God cared for such a one or such a one would or could such and such things befall them they conclude hence as the Psalmist saith God hath forsaken him and forgotten him Psa 71 11. And as Christ the head of the Church was thought to be forgotten and neglected even when he was most deare and pretious unto God so even they all this while the Spirit of God is working an excellent worke in them preparing and fitting them for grace and glory Therefore in that respect also They shall revive as the Corne. Thirdly They shall revive as the corne in regard of fructification It is true both of the Church and of particular graces We see one graine of corne when it is almost perished and turn'd to froth nothing in a manner presently out of it springs a stalke and thence an eare and in that many eares God giving it a body sixtie or a hundred fold as he pleaseth So it is with a Christian when he is planted he will leaven others and those others and others A few Apostles leavened the whole world scattering the Gospell like lightning all over the same So it is true of grace in Gods Children it is like a graine of mustard-seed at the first yet it growes up and fructifies Mat. 13.31 from knowledge to knowledge faith to faith and grace to grace from vertue to vertue from strength to strength from one degree to another nothing lesse at first and nothing more great or glorious in this world in progresse of time nothing so admired of God and pleasing unto man as this which makes one all glorious and without spot O! what can be said more to incourage us to come under gratious meanes to love God and his Ordinances good company and the communion of Saints considering they are such happy people Those that are under their shadow shall returne revive and bee vigorous They shall revive as the corne which doth when it seemeth to bee dead notwithstanding all weathers grow up and multiply And whereas it seem'd dead before and lay hid being sowen it growes So being planted in the Church we shall grow for there is a hidden vertue in the least grace in the least of Gods Ordinances more then we are aware off saith Christ Where two or three are gathered together in my name Mat. 18.20 there am I in the middest of them Much more is this made good in great Congregations and families But this is not all he saith They shall grow as the Vine Howsoever the Church which is the mother Church growes before in the former words the new Church that comes under her shadow shall grow in the same manner They shall grow as the Lillie their Branches shall spread and more it is said heere They shall grow as the Vine It is a comparison delightfull to the Holy Ghost to compare Christ to a Uine the Church to a Uineyard and Christians unto vines but such as draw all their moysture and fatnesse in them from Christ the true Uine their sweetnesse being a derivated sweetnesse They shall grow as the Vine The Uine we know is a fruitfull plant The Vine is fruitfull so Christians Iud. 9.9 13. as we reade in the Judges The Olive and the Vine would not forsake their sweetnesse to be a king for it is said by them that they revive God and man being pleasing to them So every true Christian is like a vine for fruitfullnesse he is a tree of Righteousnesse a plant of Gods owne planting a vine that spends himselfe in bearing fruit Againe as it is fruitfull so it is exceeding fruitfull abounding in fruit so Christians are vines not onely for a little fruit that they beare but because they are aboundantly fruitfull which is premised that if they doe as they should do they shall be vines aboundant in the
or backeward for affections are planted in the soule answerable to things aimed at by it For as in the nature of things there be good and bad delightfull and hatefull hurting or pleasing so answerably God hath framed the soule to the nature of things That the soule hath affections suitable to the things it aimeth at For good things God hath planted affections in us to joyne claspe imbrace them and welcome them as Love Joy Delight and such like And for evill things he hath planted affections to avoid them That Religion is especially in the affections as indignation hatred and the like Indeed Religion is mainely in the affections whereof there is excellent use take away them and take away all Religion whatsoever A man were it not for his affections is like Mare mortuum the dead sea that never stirreth Therefore it is but a doting idle conceit of these rigid men that take away affections much like the follie of them who because they have beene drunke with wine doe therefore cut up all the vines But the way were to moderate the excesse not to cut up the vines So for the affections wee must not roote them up or cut them downe but order them aright For what doth the first Commandent require Thou shalt have no other gods but mee But a right ordering of all the affections of the soule Ioy delight trust and feare and the whole frame of them to be carried to God For the inward worship of God is nothing else but the excellent working of these affections sutably to the Law with the detestation of the contrary It is not knowledge that makes a man a good man but the affections the Divell and wicked spirits know much but they have no love joy or delight in them Therefore we must value our selves and things as we are in our will and affections for so God valueth us and we should value others thereby This well done would bring us a wondrous deale of comfort and stop our too much and rigid judging and censuring of others Ephraim shall say what have I any more to doe with Idols Now in particular we see here that Ephraim not onely leaveth Idols but there is planted in him a sound indignation against them whence we may learne Observ That it is not enough to leave sinne but we must loath sinne also A notable place to this purpose we have in the Prophecie of Isaiah what they should doe after their conversion in the case of hatred to Idolatry Isa 30.22 Yee shall defile also the covering of thy graven Images of silver and the ornament of thy molten Images of gold thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth thou shalt say unto it get thee hence There is a hatred and a strong loathing indignttion against sinne when it is discovered in the pollution and vilenesse thereof which affection of hatred God hath planted to draw the soule away from any thing that is truely hurtfull to it It is not enough to leave sin for some by ends as feare of punishment shame and the like but we must loath it also The Prophet David when he professeth his love to the law Psal 119.163 how prooveth he it I hate and abhorre lying Psal 13â— 21 And so againe Doe not I hate them O Lord that hate thee and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee I hate them with perfect hatred I account them mine enemies Here is hatred and perfect hatred with abhomination Reason 1 The Reason is because God is a Spirit and lookes to the bent of our spirits seeing what we love and what we hate Iohn 4.24 therfore the strength of this consideration draweth the soule to hate and love with God as hee hates and loves and as much as may be to hate sinne as he doth Reason 2 And then againe he requireth our heart especially My sonne give me thy heart Give me thy love in that which is good and hate that which is ill What ill we leave we must hate first and what good we doe we must first love or else we shall never doe either of them acceptably to purpose What the heart doth not is not done in Religion if it hath no hand in the avoiding of ill it is not avoided if it have no hand in the doing of good it is not done before God Therefore in true conversion there must be a loathing of sinne Reason 3 Thirdly Because in all true conversion there is a new nature put in us now the New Creature which partaketh of the Divine Nature whereby we resemble God it hath an Antipathy to the greatest ill which is sinne the cause of all other evils whatsoever which maketh us opposite to God defileth the soule and hindereth our sweet communion with him A new Creature we know hath a new disposition and is opposite to the works of the flesh they are contrary to one another so that we see it cleere that we must not onely leave but loath sinne Quest. But how may we know discerne and trie this true hatred of sinne Answ Our hatred of sinne is 1. when it is universall First true hatred is universall he who hates ill truely hates it universally in the whole kinde As we see in wicked men and divels who hate God and all goodnesse so on the contrary those that are good hate all ill whatsoever whether it pleasure or displeasure them they stand not upon it they hate the very nature of all ill Those whose obedience and affections are partiall they hate some evills but not others which is not true hatred wrought by the Spirit of God for that is universall to the whole kinde 2. Implacable Then also wheresoever true hatred is it is unplacable and unappeasable there 's no true end of sound hatred but by the abolishing altogether of that thing it hates as we see the hatred of Satan to the Church and people of God is unappeasable and unquenchable nothing in the world can stay Satans hatred nor the hatred of his instruments who hate the remembrance of Gods people Therefore the very name of Calvin and Luther must be put out of their bookes to satisfie their hatred Not onely when they are dead burne their bones but abolish their memory if they can So there is the like disposition in Gods people to that which is ill A godly disposition it hateth sinne even to the death and is not quiet untill all sinne be abolished Whereupon it is never quiet in this life but desires Heaven not enduring patiently the least reliques and rags of sinne desiring that that which it so hateth might have no being at all Those who mince and cull things who are so gentle and tender towards their sinnes and corruptions in themselves and others is this that hatred which is unappeasable and never rests till it see either a through Reformation or abolishing of what it so hateth Wherin it is a
but the Spirit doth most of all as you may see in David Psal 51. Psal 51. He resolves all into this as if he should say what should I tell you of my murther and Adultery in sin did my mother conceive me so a true Christian doth not look to the branches so much as to the root Then againe 2. Difference a naturall conscience when it convinceth a man it is against his will it makes him not the better man he mends not upon it but he is tortured and tormented But a man that is convinced by the Holy Ghost he takes Gods part against himselfe he is willing to be laid open that he may find the greater mercy So that there is a grand difference betweene common conviction of nature and the Conviction of the Spirit The Conviction of the Spirit is the light of the Spirit which is of a higher nature then that of naturall conscience I will send the Comforter when he comes he will greatly inlighten and over-power the soule 3. Difference Againe the Conviction of the Spirit sticks by a man it never leaves the soule But that of an ordinary conscience it is but for a flesh and after they are worse then they were before I must cut off these things because the time is alwaies past upon these occasions before we begin Vse Come we therefore to make some Use The Spirit doth Convince of sinne But how by the Ministery ordinarily though not alone by the Ministery Therefore we must labour willingly to submit to the Ministery Convincing of sinne Conscience will Convince first or last Is it not better to have a saving Conviction now to purpose then to have a bare desperate Conviction in Hell O beloved all the admonitions wee heare if we regard them not now we shall hereafter therefore labour to make good use of this Sword of the Spirit of God and it is an argument of a good heart to wish O that the Ministery might meet with my corruption that it may be discovered to me to the full A true heart thinkes sin the greatest enemy and of all other miseries it desires to bee freed from the thraldome thereof For that defiles Heaven and Earth and separates God from his creature It s that that threw Angels out of Heaven Adam out of Paradice What imbitters blessings and puts a sting into all afflictions but sin if it were not for sin we would take up any crosse and beare any affliction more quietly then we doe Therefore as we desire to be saved and to stand with comfort before God at the day of judgement let us desire and indeavour to bee throughly Convinced of sinne Take heed of resisting the Spirit of God in the Ministery why are so many led captive of their lusts but because they hate the Ministery of the Word they looke upon it as Ahab did upon Elias Hast thou found me O my Enemy They naturally are in love with their sinnes and there is none so much hated as those that present themselves to themselves A man take him in his pure naturalls is a foolish creature his heart rises against Conviction You see the Pharisees Wise men Learned men being convinced they hated Christ to the death why Mat. 23.27 because he did untombe them and discover the dead mens bones within So many now a daies that are convinced hate any that by life or speech discover their sinne unto them if it were possible and in their power to the death Thus the Holy Ghost convinces of sin But before I leave this point let me adde this from the reason or ground of this Conviction because they beleeve not in me That unbeleefe makes all other sinnes damnable no sinne is damnable if we could beleeve and repent Therefore we are convinced of sin because we doe not beleeve as we say of a man that is condemned because he cannot reade therefore he is condemned he should escape if he could reade being for no great fault so it is here it is not beleeving in Christ and repenting makes all other sins deadly The differing of one man from another is their faith and repentance some there be whose sinnes are greater then others yet by the Spirit of God and Faith they worke them out every day It is faith in the brazen Serpent that takes away the sting of the fiery Serpents J have done with the conviction of sinne Let us now come to speake of the conviction of Righteousnesse 2. Conviction of Righteousnes Of righteousnesse because I goe to my Father and you shall see me no more It is a fit time for the Holy Ghost to convince Gods people of righteousnesse when they are convinced of sinne before then they can relish Christ Balme is balme indeed when the wound is discovered and felt O then a pardon is welcome when the party is condemned The reason of this conviction of righteousnesse is because I goe to my Father and you shall see me no more The Holy Ghost as he sets on sinne upon the conscience so he takes off sinne by applying to the conscience the righteousnesse of Christ this is his office first to convince the world of sinne and then to convince of righteousnesse wherby we stand righteous before God And this righteousnesse here is not our owne inherent but the righteousnesse of Christ a Mediator God and man A fourefold gradation of convinction of righteousnesse The Holy Ghost convinces of righteousnesse in this order of a fourefold gradation First that there must be a righteousnesse and a full righteousnesse The second is this that there is no such righteousnesse in the creature Thirdly that this is to be had in Christ the Mediator Fourthly that this righteousnesse is our righteousnesse Gradation 1 First there must be a righteousnesse for wee have to deale with a God who is righteousnesse it selfe and no uncleane thing shall come into Heaven unlesse we have a righteousnesse how shall we looke God in the face or how can we escape hell Gradation 2 Now for the second that it is not in any creature men or Angels we have not a righteousnesse of our owne for there are divers things to be satisfied God himselfe and the Law and our owne consciences and the world Perhaps we may have a righteousnesse to satisfie the world because we live civilly O but that will not satisfie conscience And then there must be a satisfaction to the Law which is a large thing that condemnes our thoughts desires but God is the most perfect of all Put case we have a righteousnesse of a good carriage among men this will not satisfie God and the Law it will not satisfie conscience men they are our fellow-prisoners conscience will not be contented but with that which will content God when conscience sees there is such a righteousnesse found out by the wisedome of God that contents him else conscience will be alwaies in doubts and feares Gradation 3 Thirdly this
is set downe a further effect of this Repentance and gratious worke in them A sound and strong well rooted Indignation against their former darling sinnes Ephraim shall say what have I any more to doe with Idols Backt with a strong Consolation I have heard him and observed him c. Verse 8. 6. The Divers Event and Jssue of this Gods so Gratious Dealing is shewed both in the godly and Wicked 1. The Wise and Prudent understand and know that the wayes of the Lord are right and shall walke in them But 2. The Transgressors shall fall therein Ver. 9. O Israel Returne unto the Lord thy God for thou hast fallen by thine Iniquity Every word hath his waight and in a manner is an Argument to inforce this Returning O Israel Israel we know is a word of Covenant Iacob was Israel a Prince and Wrestler with God as they also ought to be Therefore he enforceth you also ought to Returne because you are Israel And 2. It was also an Incouragement for them to Returne because God so acknowledgeth them to be Israel and will be Gratious unto them though they were such hideous siners Returne saith Hee unto the Lord Iehovah Who is the chiefe good for when a man returneth to the creature which is a particular changable good unsatisfying the soule he is restlesse still untill he come unto Iehovah who is the all-sufficient universall good who fills and fills the soule abundantly therefore Returne to him who is the fountaine of all good and giveth a Beeing unto all things Ierem. 2.13 and not to broken Cisternes Hee is Iehovah like himselfe and changeth not And then He is thy God Therefore Returne to him who is thy God in Covenant who will make good his gratious Covenant unto thee and did choose thee to be his people before all the nations of the world this therefore is also an Incouragement to Returne And then Thou hast fallen by thine Iniquity Therefore because thou art fallen by thy Iniquities and thine owne Inventions have brought these Miseries upon thee and none but God can helpe thee out of these Miseries seeing he only can and is willing to forgive thy sinnes and revive thee Therefore O Israel Returne unto the Lord thy God for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity Now in that he forewarneth them of the fearefull Iudgements to come which were to fall upon them unlesse they were prevented by true Repentance hence in generall it is to be observed Obser That God comes not as a suddaine storme upon his people but gives them warning before hee smites them This is verified in Scripture when the crie of Sodome and Gomorrah was great Gen. 18.20.21 The Lord said Because the Cry of Sodome and Gomorrah is great and because their sinne is very grievous I will goe downe now and see whether they have done altogether according to the crie of it which is come unto me and if not I will know And wherefore was the Arke of Noah so long in building but to give warning to that sinnefull age which were nothing bettered by it The like we have of Pharaoh Exod. 11.1 and all the Egyptians who had so many warnings and miracles shewed before their destruction came Thus God dealt in Amos Therfore thus will I do unto thee and because I will doe this unto thee Amos. 4.12 Prepare to meet thy God O Israell O Hierusalem Matth. 23.37 Hierusalem saith Christ thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy children together even as a henne gathereth the chickens under her wings and ye would not What need wee stand upon proofes are not all the Threatnings of Scripture as so many warning peeces of approaching Iudgements The Reason hereof is His owne nature hee is a Reason 1 God of long suffering Exod. 34 6. he made the world in six dayes yet hath continued it six thousand yeares notwithstanding the many sinnes and provocations thereof His mercies being over all his works Psal 145.9 And partly from a speciall regard to his owne Reason 2 deare children these terrible thretnings not being killing and wounding but like Ionathans warning Arrowes who though he shot yet ment no other harme to David 1. Sam. 20. Vse save to forewarne him of harme Let us therefore observe Gods gratious and milde dealing in so much mercy who giveth us so many warnings by his servants lesser judgments which wee have had amongst us Let us take notice and believe so as beliefe may stirre up feare and feare may provoke care and care stirre up indeavours to provide us an Arke even a hiding place beimes before winter and worse times come upon us Hence issueth another generall Point Observ That The best provision for preventing of destruction is spirituall meanes God himselfe is a Spirit and spirituall means reach unto him who is the first mover of the great wheele of all the affaires of this world It is preposterous to beginne at the second cause we trouble our selves in vaine there when wee neglect the first Wee should therefore begin the worke in Heaven and first of all Take up that quarrell which is betwixt God and our soules If this be done first we need not feare the carriage of second things Rom. 8.28 all which God out of his good providence and gratious care will frame to worke for good to his for whose sakes rather then helpe should faile he will create new helpes Isa 4.5 Wherefore in all things it is best to beginne with God The third generall point is this That Obser Of all Spirituall meanes The best is to returne to the Lord. In Returning 1 There must be a stop In this Returning 1. There must be a stop those who have run on in evill waies must first stop their lewd courses for naturally from our birth and childhood we are posting on to Hell and yet such is our madnesse unlesse the Spirit of God shew us our selves to be angry with these who stand in our way To make this stop then which is alwayes before Returning 1. There must be Examination and Consideration whether our wayes tend there be stopping Considerations which both waken a man and likewise put rubs in his way If a man upon Examination find his waies displeasing unto God disagreeing from the Rule and consider what will be the end and issue of them nothing but death and damnation and withall consider of the day of Iudgment The houre of Death The all-seeing eye of God and the like So the Consideration of a mans owne wayes and of Gods wayes towards him partly when God meetes him with goodnesse I have hitherto beene a vile wretch and God hath beene good to me and spared me and partly when God stops a wicked mans waies with thornes meetes him with crosses and afflictions these will worke upon an ingenious spirit to make him have better thoughts
and deeper considerations of true happinesse and the way unto it God puts into the heart of a man whom he intends to save serious and sad considerations what estate he is in whither his course leads and withall hee lets them feele some displeasure of his towards them in those waies by his wayes towards them where upon they make a stop 2. There must be Humiliation 2. Humiliation with displeasure against our selves judging and taking revenge of our selves working and reflecting on our hearts taking shame to our selves for our wayes and courses And withall there must concurre some hope of mercy for so long as there is hue and crie as we say after a Traitor he returnes not but flyes still and hasts away but offer a pardon Luk. 15. and he Returneth So unlesse there be hope of pardon to draw a man againe to God as the Prodigall was moved to Returne by hope of mercie and favour from his father wee will not wee dare not else Returne 3. 3. Resolution There must be a Resolution to overcome impediments for when a man thinks or resolves to turne to God Satan will stirre up all his instruments and labour to kill Christ in his Infancie and to quench good while it is in the purpose only the Dragon stood watching for the Birth of the Childe so doth Satan observe the birth of every good resolution and purpose so farre as he can know them to destroy them Vse Let it be thought of by us in all our distresses and in whatsoever other evidences of Gods anger whether this meanes have bin taken up by us It will be thus knowne 1. Turning is a change of the posture of the body so is this of the frame of the mind by this we know a man is in a state of turning the looke of his Intentions Purposes the whole bent of his soule is set another way even upon God and his word is the starre of Direction towards which he bends all his thoughts 2. His present actions also be contrary to his former there is not only a change of the disposition of his soule There is a Change of Actions Behold all things are become new Not some things but all not only new but with a Behold new 2. Cor. 5.17 This change undoubtedly sheweth that there is a true conversion and unfained By our association 3. By our association he that turnes to God turnes presently to the company of Gods people together with the change of his nature and course of life there is a change of company that is of such as we make choice of for amity and friendship Isa 11. other company by reason of our callings and occasionally may be frequented 4. It is a signe that one is not only Turned but hath gon backwards from sinne a great way when the things of Heaven only are great things in his eyes for as the further a man goeth from a place the lesser the things behind him seeme so the greater the things before he being neerer to them The more sublime and high thoughts a man hath of the wayes of God and the meaner thoughts of the world and worldly matters hee esteemed so highly of in the daies of his vanity the more hee is Turned unto God This Returning is further inforced saying Returne unto the Lord thy God It is very emphaticall and significant in the Originall returne usquè ad Iehovam even to Iehovah as though he should say do not only beginne to Returne towards Iehovah but so Returne as you never cease comming till you come to Iehovah Even unto the Lord thy God Obser It is not enough to make a stop and to forbeare the practising of our former sinnes but wee must come home even unto the Lord our God to be pardoned and healed of him The Prodigall serue Luk. 15. had beene never a whit the better to see his sinne and misery and to be grieved for his wicked life past unlesse hee had come unto his father for Pardon and Comfort Act. 2.38 And when those were pricked in their hearts at Peters Sermon asking Peter what they should do hee exhorted them To Repent every one to be Baptised in the name of Iesus Christ for the Remission of sins and so they should receive the Holy Ghost And when Christ invites all those who are wearie and heavie laden to come unto him Matt. 11.28 he bids them not now be further humbled and grieved for their sinnes but by Faith to come unto him to be healed and so they should find rest and peace to their soules It is not sufficient for a wounded man to be sorry for his brawling and fighting and to say he will fight no more but he must come to the Surgeon to have his wounds stopt dressed and healed or else it may cost him his life So it is not enough to be humbled and grieved for sinne and to resolve against it we shall relapse againe do what we can unlesse wee come under the wing of Christ to be healed by his blood Vse Many think they have repented and are deceived upon this false ground they are and have bin grieved for their sins and offences are determined to leave and forsake them and that is all they do they never lay hold on Christ and come home to God For thou hast fallen by thine Iniquitie Here divers points might be insisted on 1. that Obser Where there is a falling into sinne there will be a falling into miserie and judgement This is made good in the experience of all times ages persons and states still the more sinnfull any were the more fearefull judgements fell upon them and as soone as any man came into a sinfull state he entered into a declining state as Iacob said of his sonne Reuben who had defiled his bed unstable as water Thou shalt not excell Genes 49.4 because thou wentest up to thy fathers bed So sinne still debaseth a man so much sinne so much losse of excellencie The Use hereof is first against those that complaine of their troubles and miseries as Vse 1 though God and men had dealt hardly with them whereas their owne waies indeed have brought al these evills upon them Lam. 3.39 God is a sufficient wise and holy disposer and orderer of all the wayes of men and rewarder of good and evill doings God being wise and just in his disposing of all things it must needs follow that it shall goe well with those that are good as the Prophet speakes Say unto the just that it shall be well with them for the reward of their workes shall be given them And if it fall out otherwaies then well with men the blame must be laid on their owne sinne As the Church confesseth and therefore resolveth Micah 7.9 I will beare the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him untill hee plead my cause and execute judgement for mee hee will
friend for such or suâ—h a purpose to doe this or this good indeed such are gratious Quaeres made to a mans soule to enquire for what purpose hath God raised me to doe this or that To be idle or barren or noysome O no to be a plant of Gods planting my glory shall bee my fruitfullnesse in my place Therefore let us every one consider with our selves wherfore God hath set us in the Church in our particular standings Wherein let us remember this that howsoever God may endure barrennesse out of the Church in want of meanes yet hee will never indure it under meanes It is better for a bramble to bee in the Wildernesse then in an Orchard for a weed to bee abroad then in a garden where it is sure to be weeded out as the other to bee cut downe If a man will be unprofitable let him bee unprofitable out of the Church but to bee so where hee hath the dew of grace falling on him in the meanes of salvation where are all Gods sweet favours to bee a bramble in the Orchard to bee a weed in the Garden to be noysome in a place where wee should bee fruitfull will God the great Husbandman indure this He will not long put it up but that hee exerciseth his children with such noysome trees to trie them as hee hath some service for these thornes to doe to scratch them so were it not for such like services for a time hee would weed them out and burne them for whatsoever is not for fruit is for the fire Mat. 3.10 Yea every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall bee hewen downe and cast into the fire And the more to stirre us up hereunto let us know that wheresoever the dew of grace falls and where there is the meanes of salvation that at that very time there is an axe an instrument of vengeance laid to the roote of the tree which is not struck downe presently but it is laid to the roote that is vengeance is threatned to the tree to that plant which hath the meanes and brings not forth good fruit in time and season What is the end thereof to be hewen downe and cast into the fire As wee see the Church of the Iewes when Christ came the Messias the great Prophet of the Church never was there more meanes of salvation yet even then what saith Iohn Baptist Now even now is the axe laid unto the roote of the tree and indeed in a few yeares after the whole tree the Church of Iewes was cut downe And Revel 6. we see after the Rider on the white horse which is the preaching of the Gospell there comes a red bloodie Horse and a pale Horse Warre and Famine After the white Horse his triumphant Chariot the preaching of the Gospell if this take not place that it winne and gaine not what followes after the red and the pale Horse Warre Famine and Destruction It will not be alway with us as it is for the Gospell having beene so long preached we having beene so long planted in Gods Paradice the Church if we beare not fruit The axe is laid to the roote of the tree God will strike at the roote and roote up all therfore let every one in their place bee fruitfull Every one that is fruitfull God hath a speciall care of The benefit of fruitfullnesse Deut 20.19 20. If any tree were fruitfull the Israelites in their conquests were to spare that because it was usefull and they might have use of it So God will alwaies spare fruitfull trees and have a speciall care of such in common calamities Let us therefore be exhorted not only to bring forth fruit but to bring forth fruit in abundance to studie to excell in good workes the word in the Originall is A Standerdbearer to stand before others in good workes As it is in Titus Titus 3.8 labour to be as Standerdbearers to goe before others in good workes strive to outgoe others in fruitfullnesse for therein is the excellency For those both in the sight of God and men are in most esteeme who are most fruitfull in their callings and places The more wee excell in fruitfullnesse the more wee excell in comfort and the more we excell this way the more we may excell for God will tend and prune good trees John 15.2 that they may bring forth more and better fruit And the more majesty we walke with the more wee dampe the enemies seeing them all under our feete a growing Christian never wants abundance of incouragement for hee sees such grounds of comfort as that he walkes impregnable and invincible in all the discouragements of this world breaking through all Pro. 30.30 as Salomon saith it is a comely thing to see a Lyon walke so much more it is to see a valiant strong well-growen Christian who is bold as a Lyon abound in good workes It is said His beauty shall bee as the Olive and his smell as Lebanon the Olive of it selfe hath no sweet smell therefore it is made up by another resemblance His smell shall bee as Lebanon Lebanon stood on the North side of Iudea and was a place abounding with goodly trees and all sweet plants whatsoever which cast a wondrous sweet sent and smell a farre off as some Countries abound so in sweet fruits and simples as Oranges Lemmans and the like that the fragrancie of the smell is smelt of passengers as they saile along the Coast So was this Lebanon a place full of rare fruits and fragrant flowers which cast asent a farre of Now hence the Holy Ghost fetcheth the comparison They shall smell as Lebanon that is as those plants in Lebanon which cast a sweet and delightfull smell a farre off whence wee will onely observe this Observ That a Christian by his fruitfullnesse doth delight others He is sweet to God and man as the Olive and the Vine speake of their fruitfullnesse They delight God and man So a Christian Iud. 9.9 13. both alive and dead he is pleasing and delightfull to the spirits of others to God and all that have the Spirit of God As for God himselfe wee know that workes of mercy are as it were a sweet odour he is delighted with good works Phil. 4.18 as with Sacrifice smelling a sweet savour from them Psal 141.2 and their prayers ascend as sweet incense before him Every good worke is pleasing and delightfull to God who dwels in an humble heart Pro. 11.20 and broken spirit The upright are his delight We see likewise how Christ commends the graces of his Church which whole booke is full of praises in this kinde one of another The Church sets out the praises of Christ and Christ the praises of the Church The Church is sweet Cano. 2.14 O let me heare thy voice for it is sweet and lovely The Churches voice is sweet praying to God or praising him So whatsoever comes from the Spirit of
God in the hearts of his children is sweet God laies to heart the voice of his children And as it is true of God so is it of Gods people they are delighted with the savour of those things that come from other of Gods people For they have graces in them and therewith the Spirit of God which is as fire to set a worke all those graces in them For it is the narure of fire where it incounters with sweet things to kindle them and make them smell more fragrant and sweet So a Spirit of love makes all sweet and pleasing whatsoever in the children of God it puts a gracefullnesse upon their words making their reproofes admonitions comforts and whatsoever comes from them to have a delightfullnesse in them because all is done in love and comes from the Spirit of God which carrieth a sweetnesse in it to all those endowed with the same Spirit Vse 1 Let this be an incouragement to be in love with the state of Gods children that so our workes and whatsoever comes from us as farre as it is spirituall may bee acceptable unto God and to the Church while we are living nay when we are dead The very workes of holy men when they are dead are as a box of oyntment as the oyntment of the Apothecary as the wise-man sayes of Iosiah whose very name was like the oyntment of the Apothecarie So the name of those who have stood out for good and have beene good in their times it carries a sweetnesse with it when they are gone The Church of God riseth out of the ashes of the Martyrs which hitherto smels sweet and puts life in those who come after so pretious are they both dead and alive Vse 2 And then let it be an incouragement to be led by Gods Spirit and planted in Gods house and to be fruitfull in our places that so we may delight God and man and when we are gone leave a good sent behind us Good men as it were with their good sent they leave behinde them perfume the times which are the better for them dead and alive What a sweet savour hath Paul left behind him by his writings to the Church even to the end of the world what fragrancie of delightfull smels have the holy ancient Fathers and Martyrs left behinde them Mat. 26. a good man should be like the box of oyntment spoken of in the Gospell which when it was opened the whole house was filled with the sweetnesse thereof so a good man should labour to bee full of sweetnesse willingnesse and abilities to doe good all kindled by a Spirit of love in him that when he is opened all should bee pleasing and delightfull that commeth from him Christ never opened his mouth but good came from him and the Heavens never opened in vaine therefore in opening of our mouthes we should labour to fill the places where we are with a good savour O how contrary is this to the condition of many what comes from them filthy speeches and oaths nay that which should be their shame they glory in Wee see it is the glory of a tree to be fruitfull and to cast forth a good savour like the trees of Lebanon What vile spirits then are such men led withall who delight to offend God and man by their impious speeches who yet are so bold as to shew their faces to out-dare others that are better then themselves such are contrary to all Gods senses The Scripture condescends so farre to our capacitie as to attribute senses unto God of feeling smelling and touching c. So God is said to looke upon his children with delight and to heare their prayers Cant. 2.14 Let me heare thy voice c. And he tastes the fruit that comes from them So on the contrary all his senses are annoyed with wicked men and vile persons who are abhominable to God as the Scripture speakes As a man that goes by a stinking dung-hill stops his nose and cannot endure the sent So the blasphemous breath of gracelesse persons it is abhominable to God as it were God cannot endure such an odious smell Hab. 1.13 and for his eyes he cannot endure iniquity to looke upon the wicked and for his eares their prayers are abhominable how abhominable then are their persons whence those prayers proceed they have proud hearts hating God and man wherefore praying out of necessity not love to him they are abhominable And so for feeling Isa 1.11 your sacrifices are a burthen unto me I cannot beare them Amos. 2.13 and the Prophet complaineth that God was burthened and loaded under their sinnes as a cart pressed till it be readie to breake under the sheaves All his senses are offended with wicked men This hardned wretches thinke not off that whilst God fils their bellies with good things goe on in security but the time will come when they shall know the truth of these things what it is to leade an odious abhominable life contrary to God and all good men Hence we see what wee should bee that wee may give a sweet sent His smell shall be as Lebanon Wicked men know this very well that the lives speeches and courses of good men for the most part are fruitfull beyond theirs therefore what they can they labour to cast aspersions upon them that they may not smell so sweet so crying downe those who are better then themselves that they may be the lesse ill thought of and setting a price upon all things in themselves and their companions Take me a knot of cursed companions and they are the onely stout the onely wise and learned men all learning it must live and die with them and all other men though incomparable beyond them in abilities in grace in fruitfulnesse to doe good they are no body and this pollicie the Divell teacheth them But this will not serve the turne for God both in life and after death will raise up the esteeme of such who have beene fruitfull Pro. 10.7 when The memorie of the wicked shall rot and not be mentioned without a kinde of loathing Therefore let no man trust to this foolish policie to cry downe all others that are better then themselves thinking thereby themselves shall be better esteemed This will not doe for as all other things so our good name is at Gods disposing It is not in the world to take away the good name or acceptance of good people for they shall have the in spight of world a place in the hearts of Gods people who are best able to judge The next thing promised is They that dwell under his shadow shall returne The Holy Ghost it seemes cannot expresse in words and comparisons enough the excellent condition of the Church and of the Children of God when they are once brought into the state of Grace The former words concerne the excellencie of the Children of God in themselves and these the fruitfullnesse and goodnesse of them that