severed from him they can do nothing because in Christ and from Christ is all that strength and ability for to do and so to repent and turn I can says Paul do all things but it is through Christ which strengtheneth me so that we must receive Christ before we can walk in Christ and the obedience of faith must go before the obedience of life and before we can do any other work to purpose we must do that great Gospel-work of believing Faithless persons are ever impenitent and unconverted persons for whiles they are shut up under unbebelief they are shut out from him and his grace whence all their ability thereto does and must proceed Hence says Christ If a man abide not Fide destituti nunquam ad resipiscentiam veram perveniunt in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned And therefore how infinitely are we concern'd as to faith as to believing Joh. 15. 6. for no being turned no being saved and no faith no being turn'd and therefore study and labour after faith and that you may obtain it attend upon the word preach'd which is the word of faith and by hearing of which faith is said to come so then faith cometh by hearing Rom. 10. 17. and hearing by the word of God Attend then diligently and constantly upon the Word and beg of God that faith may come by it to thy soul and when faith once comes O how much comes for then Christ comes grace comes the Spirit comes repentance saving conversion come and so life and salvation and eternal happiness come heaven comes And we should labour for increases of faith as the Disciples cryed Lord increase our faith for the more faith the more Luk. 17. 5. repentance as the one is maintain'd and nourished the other is renewed and increased yea the very being life and increase not onely of this but of all other graces depends much upon faith all other graces thriving or decaying as it were together with it and how earnestly then should we make out after it 9. Live no longer in the common practice of gross sins but forthwith break them off at least as to the outward act for this you may do thou canst not indeed convert thy self nor change thy heart I but thou mayest forbear and cease from the gross acts of the sins of thy life as many have done and do for fear or upon some other account as by the dictates of nature and the power of moral precepts History tells of a certain Heathen who being a debauched person and though continuing a Heathen still yet hearing Socrates read his Lectures of Morality left off his outward debauchery Thou canst not wash thy self but thou needest not wallow in the mire nor tumble in the dirt thou canst not mortifie sin but thou mayest forbear to Quoad externos actus commit such and such gross acts of sin and perform such and such outward duties though not after a right manner Indeed as to spiritual acts as such man is impotent and hath no power but he has as to moral he may as to outward acts live soberly and chastly and may abitain from gross sins as whoredom drunkenness swearing c. so he may come to the congregation hear the word Was there a strict law made by man that whoever committed such and such gross sins or omitted such and such known duties some fore penalty as confiscation of goods or loss of life should be inflicted how many would abstain from those sins which now they commit and do those duties which now they omit and therefore they can do it Thus Daniel counsels Nebuchadnezzar to break off Dan. 4. 27. his sins his pride tyranny and oppressings of God's people and to practise the contrary virtues and hereby God is less dishonoured his wrath less provoked the Saints less grieved and others less incouraged to do the like And if you would be kept from the outward acts you must shun and avoid the occasions for the not avoiding Vitare occasiones peccandi est vitare ipsum peccatum of them exposes to the other he that would not be burn'd must not come too near the flames nor be drown'd the Rivers brink nor hear the Bell meddle with the rope Solomon dehorting from being ensnar'd by the strange woman whose lips drop as an honey-comb and whose mouth is smoother than oyl but whose end Prov. 5. 3 4 5 8. is bitter as wormwood sharp as a two-edged sword and whose feet go down to death and whose steps take hold on hell he gives this advice Remove thy way far from her and come not nigh the door of her house much less knock at her door flight here is the best fight and the safest way of victory a speedy retreat He that would not come into naughty houses must not come near them but keep far away want of which undid that simple young man Prov. 7. 8. he went the way to her house can we think he would escape the plague that comes near infected houses or he avoid the sin that does what tends or leads to it It is a tempting of God for one to come where he is like to be tempted and never let such a one look to be safe Straw will quickly take fire and Gun-powder is not says one more apt to kindle than our corrupt nature to be provoked to sin especially that of Oculus incitat appetentiam objecta movent sensus uncleanness Solomon elsewhere dehorting from drunkenness says Look not thou upon the wine when it is red when it giveth its colour in the cup c. that is avoid the occasions the eye stirs up desire and objects move the senses keep therefore far off from what thou wouldest be freed 10. What you do do speedily for there is danger here in delaying and besides the matter is of so great moment and importance that it doth not admit of it we say necessary things fall not De necessariis non est deliberandum under deliberation but require present expedition Was a man fallen into the fire or into the water was it for him to lye there and deliberate whither or no he should get up no the necessity thereof does not admit it for unless he rises up and gets out he perishes he is in danger to be burn'd or drown'd Now whiles you yet go on impenitently in your sins you are as it were in the fire and in danger to be drown'd in destruction Jude 23. 1 Tim. 6. 9. and perdition And some save with fear pulling them out of the fire c. And is not the greatest expedition requisite here even such as Solomon speaks of in case of suretiship Give not Prov. 6. 4 5. sleep to thine eyes nor slumber to thine eye-lids deliver thy self as a Roe c. Men do not delay in matters of
nor call upon men as a company of stocks and stones but as such as are capable of the use of such means and directions which he gives them 5. If we understand these places of those already Acti agimus hoc benè agimus quod à bono agimur turned and converted they may cooperate in further turning though they cannot at first turn themselves not begin it yet being begun they may and ought to carry it on A supernatural life being infused into the soul we may spiritually move and being first acted and wrought upon by God we may further act and work upon our selves 6. Though we cannot convert our selves yet if we seek to the Lord he is both able and also ready and willing for to help us he is God all-sufficient as in and to himself so at all times and in all things as to others as he said to Paul his grace is sufficient for us his accepting free and favouring grace as I said before against our unworthiness and his powerful operating grace against our weakness and his strength is made perfect in weakness and he is very ready to put it forth Turn you at my reproof behold I will pour out my Spirit unto you c. What he commands Prov. 1. 23. in one place he makes promise of in another CHAP. XII Motives to turn to God INdeed to adde further motives here might seem needless there being so much in the words themselves to move us to this it being as ye have heard and had it abundantly confirmd ' the onely way for a people to be sav'd and that in the largest sense and utmost extent thereof but that I may the more yet prevail as to that wherein we are all so infinitely concern'd both as to our own and the Nations weal I shall propound to your serious consideration these following motives 1. The equity and reasonableness thereof how just and right and meet and equal a thing it is that we should turn again to God as Elihu bespeaks Job Surely it is meet to be said unto God I have born chastisement I will not offend any Job 34. 31 32. more That which I see not teach thou me if I have done iniquity I will do no more Surely having by departing from God and his ways done so great wrong and injury both to God and our selves what can be more meet and matter of greater equity than that we should break off and amend and not go on still to pervert our ways as we have done especially his chastening hand being upon us See how the Lord argues as to the equity and reasonableness of this in that famous place Jer. 8. 4. Moreover thou shalt say unto them thus saith the Lord shall they fall and not arise shall he turn away and not return In the three first verses of this chapter we have grievons judgments denounced against the Jews both dead and alive such as were dead though great ones should not be suffered to lie quietly in their graves At that time Jer. 3. 1. saith the Lord they shall bring out the bones of the Kings of Judah and the bones of the Princes c. and death shall be chosen rather than life v. 3. by all the residue of them that remain c. And now the Lord the more to manifest the equity of his proceedings in this severity towards them declares the folly and unreasonableness of their proceedings running on headlong without stop or stay in those ways that tended to their utter ruin and destruction and the Lord reasons the case with them Thus saith the Lord shall they v. 4. fall and not arise shall he turn away and not return Is there any man so absurd so witless so void of sense and reason who being fallen will not willingly arise or at least assay to get up and be glad of such as would offer him their help or that having gone astray would not gladly come again into the right way A man may indeed unawares and through inadvertency miss his way and go astray yea but will he not desire to come into his way again and be willing and glad to receive direction from those who would set him therein and why then do not this people do so why having fallen by their sin do they refuse to arise or to be raised again by those that take pains with them to that purpose and why having wandred and gone out of the right way do they go on still pertinaciously in the same refusing to return or to be reduc'd why does this people thus act even quite contrary to the usual way and manner of men in such a case Thus the Lord makes application of this to the people Why then is v. 5. this people slidden back by a perpetual back-sliding why having gone out of the right way and being in a wrong way so prejudicial to themselves will they thus still persist in it they v. 6. hold fast deceit they refuse to return I hearken'd and heard this shews God's earnest desire of their repentance being a phrase borrowed from men who are wont diligently to listen after what they much desire to hear but they spake not aright no nor acted aright for it follows no man repented him of his wickedness saying what have I done they it may be complainâ—d what others had done or did but none said what have I done every one turned to his course as the horse rusheth into the battel that is fiercely fearlesly presumptuously neither regarding their duty nor danger neither my command nor their own safety Thus in stead of turning from evil they still run headlong and with an impetuous eagerness into evil and will not be curb'd nor restrain'd but will on And how unrighteous and unreasonable and against all equity is this and hence wicked men are called unreasonable men 2 Thes 3. 2. And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men who still go in their sins without remorse and refuse to return And if sinners will not see the equity of this now of turning again to God so as to return they shall so see and feel the iniquity of it hereafter as to fill them with shame and astonishment O that they should be so sottish so absurd and unreasonable as being fallen not to arise as being out of the way not to turn into it again The sottishness and unreasonableness of this is such and so great that the Lord 〈◊〉 in the very next verse calls the very unreasonable creatures to witness against it and iâ—pannels as it were a Jury of Storks and Turtles and v. 7. Cranes and Swallows to condemn it Yea the Stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow observe the time of their coming but my people Ab irrationalibus auget accusationèm etenim nôrunt volucres varietatem temporum nunc huc nunc illuc
sacrifices of God in the plural number as denoting the peculiar gratefulness and singular acceptableness of this above all other There were many sacrifices under the Law but none of them all so pleasing as this nor any without this this is the sacrifice of sacrifices and this God will not despise But is that all no there is more intended than spoken the meaning is Thou wilt highly esteem and account thereof it is the most acceptable It is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 endearedst frame under heaven not onely above all sacrifices but above all meer moral performances and Pharisaical duties and perfections this made the poor Publican accepted when the proud Pharisee was rejected The spirit is the best of man and a kindly broken spirit is the best of spirits for such a spirit is ever a believing spirit they shall look upon Christ c. Zach. 12. 10. there 's faith and mourn for him there 's repentance and faith wonderfully pleases God as highly honouring his Son whom he so delights in for it makes to him and leans upon him and clasps fast to him as its peculiar object it goes into the presence of God with him and presents and urges him and him alone and his righteousness and satisfaction for acceptation and propitiation of its sins counting all but loss for the excellency of the knowledg of him and this exceedingly pleases the father that his Son so dear to him should be thus honoured in the Souls having recourse to him and relying on him and such a soul seals to the truth of what the Word says as concerning the greatness of God the vileness of sin and the excellency usefulness and all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ and the Lord cannot but have choice thoughts and an high esteem of such a frame The heaven he says is his throne and the earth is his footstool c. but Is 66. 1 2. to him will he look that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at his Word that is not only with a look of bare intuition but dear affection and gracious acceptation yea such a one is the very home and habitation of God himself though so high and holy For thus says 57. 15. the high and lofty one that inhabits eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place there 's one of his dwellings with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones there 's his other It is not said the Angels shall dwell with him or grace and peace and joy onely though these are sweet companions but God himself and where God dwels all good dwells there dwels light life joy peace comfort happiness yea heaven it self and how acceptable must he needs be to God whom he thus honours 6. The comfortableness of it to our selves not onely to others but to our own souls It is very 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iniquitas molestia quae laborem afflictionem parit observable that as the same word that signifies iniquity signifies also pain and sorrow as occasioning the same and as being that whereof comes trouble grief misery and at last confusion and hence some render it painful iniquity or sorrowful sin so the same word in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doluit consolationem invenit that signifies to repent and mourn for sin signifies also to comfort and the reason may be this because such repenting and mourning is the way to comfort and true comfort arises out of Verus poenitens de peccatis dolet de dolore gaudet it and follows upon it Worldly sorrow indeed and joy are contraries but not godly for these effect and help one the other or 2. the reason may be because there is joy even in such sorrow and not onely does comfort follow it but accompany it The true penitent grieves for his sins and rejoyceth for his grief certainly there is an hundred times more true comfort in the sorrow of a truly repenting sinner than there is in all the mirth of a sinner who yet goes on in his sins how refreshing are April showers to the earth and so and much more are true penitential tears to the soul they do not only moisten and mellow the soul as it were for the reception of the word but occasion mirth Musick sounds sweetest upon the waters and sweetest is that joy that accompanies such mourning All true mirth is from a rectitude and right frame of the soul from a being well set and dispos'd as that word implies made use of by the Apostle James for being merry Is any merry the Greek is is any of a good or James 5. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aequo animo est aliquis right mind or well dispos'd is he right set or hung as we say implying that all true mirth ariseth thence and now then and only then that we repent and turn to God are our minds and hearts right and in a right frame or rightly hung or dispos'd And therefore this must needs render our state comfortable indeed when hearts are at rights and ways at rights and besides we are then turn'd to the God of all comfort to the Sun of all refreshings and the fountain of all consolations and therefore can no more want comfort than such as turn to the Sun light or to the fountain water or to the fire heat and as such sorrow is accompanied with joy so shall it be turn'd and end in joy Blessed are they that mourn for they shall Matth. 5. 4. be comforted that is with a godly sorrow for sin they that sow in such tears shall be sure to Psal 126. 5 6. reap in joy and they who so go forth weeping bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again rejoicing bringing their sheaves with them And then such have infinite cause matter and ground of joy as being blest as having Gods favour pardon of sin audience of prayer inheritance among them that are sanctified c. yea over such God himself rejoiceth with joy Zeph. 3. 17. Psal 71. 21. lia 61. 2 3. â—â—b 38. 26. c. Yea rests in his love and joyes over them with singing and shall comfort them on every side Such Jesus Christ himself was anointed to comfort and to them belong the promises of comfort â—sa 65. 13. and what cause and ground then have such to rejoice and again to rejoice Yea to shout for joy but till sinners repent and turn to God they have nothing to do with joy neither have they any true cause or ground for it but we may well say of their laughter it is mad and â—celes 2. 2. of their mirth what doth it such rejoice as are in a state of perdition and in the very gall of bitterness and whose portion in the state they are in is nothing but wrath and death and
robs us of our joy peace safety separates from God the chief good and brings horrors of conscience here and to eternal Is 59. 1 2. perdition hereafter which may have a moments pleasure but an eternities torment And can we do better than to incourage one another here to come up to so great a good and to come off from so great an evil Do others incourage one another in evil matters and not we in what is so good to quit sins and the Devil 's Psal 64 5. and hell's quarters murderers quarters our deadly enemie's quarters which seek our bloud and the destruction of our precious souls and to come into heaven's quarters into God's and our friends quarters O who would not incourage here and say come and let us return unto the Lord and so betake our selves to the onely way of our own and the Nations weal And O that it was once come to this that so both our own and the Nations utter ruine might be prevented which God professedly declares yea swears he has no pleasure in We read of those indeed who were ready to cast such a calumny upon God as if he took pleasure in their death for they said if our transgressions and our sins be upon us and Ezek 33 â—â— we pine away in them how then should we live c. as if they had said What do you tell us of living or prophesie of life when we find the quite contrary that we are dying Now as to this God vindicates himself asserting the clean v. 11. contrary by an Oath Say unto them as I live says the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live c. As death is indeed an act of justice punishing the impenitent so it hath the nature of good in it and so it is pleasing to God who is just as well as merciful but as it is meerly the creatures ruine and misery so he delights not in it and to this he swears Indeed God cannot lye and so his word might be enough O beatos noâ— quorum causâ Deus jurat O miseri nos si non juranti Domino credimus Tertull. but the more to confirm what he says he is pleased to swear and happy we for whose sake God swears if we believe but miserable we if he shall swear and we yet not believe him and further to shew his unwillingness that we should dye he doubles his invitation to turn Turn ye turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye dye O house of Israel And this ingemination as it shews our dulness and love to our sins and loathness to leave them so a vehemency and intention of spirit in God there being much life spirit and affectionateness in sueh expressions and it shews also a necessity of compliance for that cannot but be a matter of great weight that we are so often invited to such Scripture ingeminations not being vain but the more words from God the more weight and what is doubly prest must needs be doubly our duty and that which we are doubly ingag'd to Surely as it shews God desires it much so that it concerns us much and what indeed can concern us more than that which unless we do we as certainly perish as the Lord lives And what goodness and condescension is it in the great God that he should so earnestly and so often invite us to that which is so much for our own good and that though he cannot be better'd nor made happier by us yet that our salvation should be so dear to him and therefore let us set to it our selves and incourage one another all we can looking up to God for help for though we can turn away Ps 119. 176. Hos 13. 9. we cannot of our selves turn again we can wound but not heal our selves throw our selves down but not raise our selves up loose our selves but not reduce our selves CHAP. XV. To see to it that our turning to God be true and real AND let us not onely incourage one another to turn to God but be sure our conversion be sincere 1. Let there be a sound conviction of sin and a kindly compunction for it with a thorow aversion from it to the Lord both in heart and life in inward principles and outward practises there being a change both of the disposition and affection and love to sin within and of the conversation without and these depend one upon another For 'till the conscience be throughly convinct of sin how should the heart be kindly contrite for sin and 'till the heart be contrite for sin how should it forsake or turn from sin and 'till it do turn from sin how should it turn to God And 2. let this turn be such as is of God as also unto God quite Jer. 4. 1. through unto him and not to any thing below him or on this side him O how sad is it to suffer shipwrack neer the haven to turn towards God and yet never to reach nor take up in God as our true and proper center to come up out of Egypt and yet never to come into Canaan not to be far from the Kingdom of God from heaven and yet to fall short of it and to be turned into hell 3. Let it be such as arises from faith 4. Let it be hearty with all or the whole heart no part of the heart here being reserved for sin but the whole heart inclin'd one way and that to God as it is said of good King Josiah 2 King 23. 25. that like unto him there was no King before him that turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might c. Indeed the heart is the main and what is done Quod cor non facit non fit here unless it be with the heart it is not done And in what should we be hearty indeed if not in what we do to God and in what tends so infinitely to our own good 5. Let it be universal 1. As to the subject turning the whole man body and soul and all the faculties of the one and members of the other compleat as to parts though not degrees as to extension though not perfection in every part though but in part As the Air in the dawning is light in e-every part though but in part else if any one part be unturn'd we shall as one expresses it with our whole go to hell and therefore as all of us and in us is turn'd away from God never let us rest till all be turn'd again to God 2. As to the object turn'd from and turn'd to from all sin to all that is holy and righteous from every false and crooked way to every true and right way for as there 's no Brook so small no River Ps 119. 101 128. so little but if a man follow it it will bring him