mee doe said hee then and hee was as good as his word Therefore take knowledge you that doe fall away what the defect hath beene and wherein for that will bee a meanes to set you right and recover you againe 3 Property of Humiliation is to have all the affections moderate all delights in worldly things faint and remisse and all his affections taken chiefly up about grace and sinne True affection in him wil eate up the false He esteemeth spirituall things at a high rate and all other things as little Aske such an one what of all things else he would desire and he will tell you Christ and the favour of God and the graces of the Spirit and to have his lusts mortified and his sinnes pardoned and that hee passeth not for the things of this life hee cares not in comparison whether he bee poore or rich bond or free notwithstanding if hee may have a better con dition hee will use it rather as a man that is condemned to die little regards hee his estate or the things of this life his apprehensions are taken up with greater things give him his pardon and take al else So here one truly humbled counts the favour of God so great as he esteemes all things else light in comparison When therefore men are violent in their affections towards worldly things and in their desires and delights in them and endeavours after them it is a signe they are not humbled 4 Property is to love God and Christ much Mary loved much because much was forgiven her that is not simply that much was forgiven her but because withal she had a sence of it apprehended it as much and her sin great by a worke of humiliation and so apprehended it a great matter to be pardoned And so a man having once apprehended death and hell and the wrath of GOD as belonging to him and God comes on a suddaine and tells him thou shalt live when his necke was on the blocke and hee expected nothing but death this causeth a man to love GOD much and to prize CHRIST and this made Saint Paul also to love CHRIST so much that the love of Christ constrained him because I was a persecuter and a blasphemer and he died for me forgave me a great debt Hee that is truly humbled will bee content with any condition as the Prodigall sonne I am content to be as an hired servant sayes hee and am unworthy to bee called a sonne any more hee was content to doe the worke of a servant to live in the condition of a servant to have the lowest place in all the familie And so Saint Paul look'd on himselfe as the least of all the Saints thought hee could never lay himselfe low enough Now this contentednesse is exercised about two things In a contentednesse in the want of these outward good things when a man is content with the meanest services and the least wages to want wealth and credit and gifts as Iacob being truly humbled I am lesse than the least of thy mercies whereas an other man that is not humbled when hee lookes upon himselfe and GODS mercies hee enjoyes he thinking highly of himself thinkes himselfe too big for them and that the disproportion is rather on his side whereas Iacob though he then had many mercies yet said take the least mercie and lay it in one scale and my selfe in an other and I am too light for it lesse than it and it too much for me It is exercised in bearing crosses One that is truly humbled still blesseth GOD as Iob and beares and accepts the punishment of his iniquity willingly and cherefully as we see it made a condition Lev. 26. 41. If their uncircumcised heart be humbled and they beare or accept the punishment of their iniquity if the Lord lay upon him a sharpe disease say the plague disreputation poverty yet hee beareth it willingly and chearefully for when a man thinkes in earnest that which is said Ezech. 36. that hee is worthy to be destroyed whatsoever befalls him from God which is lesse than destruction hee blesseth God for it and rejoyceth that he escapeth so The humble man therefore is in all conditions contented alwayes chearefull and blessing God if he hath good things they are more then he is worthy of if evill though never so sharpe yet they are lesse than destruction and then he deserves when as an unbroken heart is alwayes turbulent and thinkes in the secret murmurings of his heart that he is not well dealt with I should come now to the application of this Doctrine but before I must resolve a case and scruple which doth use to trouble the hearts of many The Case in question is whether to right and true humiliation it be necessary that such a solemne humiliation and such a measure of sorrow and violent Legall contrition goe before it There is a double kind of sorrow wrought in the hearts of men the one is a violent tumultuous sorrow which ariseth from the apprehension of hell and punishment the ground whereof is self-love and is commonly in those who are suddainely enlightened and so amazed therewith being taken on the suddaine as wee see in Saint Paul who was taken suddainely as hee was going to Damascus and it was discovered to him that hee was guilty of so great a sinne as he could never have imagined a voyce from heaven to strike his eares on the suddaine why persecutest thou me And this wee find by experience to have beene in many who never have true humiliation as wee see in Iudas God indeed sometimes useth it to bring men to humiliation as he did in Saint Paul But again we find in experience in some a cleaving to God and holinesse of life and a constant care to please him in all things without this violent vexing sorrow and many that have had their hearts deeply wounded amazed affrighted and have therupon taken up great purposes which have come to nothing the ground whereof having beene a violent passion as that the roote withered so the fruit withered also but a true apprehension and conviction of sin as in it selfe the greatest misery is more reall and drawes the heart nearer to Christ so that in this case we may say of these two sorts as Christ said of those who were bidden to goe into the vineyard They that said they would goe did not and others that said they would not goe yet went and therefore wee answer that it is not alwayes necessary to have such a violent sorrow or that a man should lie any long time in such an evident sence of wrath though alwayes there is a right apprehension of sin which doth humble a man which will appeare by these considerations 1 That is not alwayes the greatest sorrow that is thus violent though it seeme to bee so it is not alwayes the greatest sorrow which melteth into teares as that is
the fruit of Sanctification which is meant here and unto which the promise is made These goe both together in the godly and hee that hath the second never wants the first in some measure more or lesse though many have the first that have not the second Now the first is nothing else but a sence of sin and Gods wrath for it expressed to us in those former examples by being prickt in the heart it being a wounding of the heart and spirit Vnto which is joyned trembling feare with considering and comming to a mans selfe aswee have it in the Parable And this passive Legal humiliation stands in these particulars A sensiblenesse of sinne before a man is as one that is in a dead sleep what is done to him he feeles not nor what is said he heares not is sensible of nothing But this is the awakening of a man to be sensible of sinne so as now hee is wounded now he is smitten with it now he feeles it So the Goaler as the foundation of the prison was shaken so was his heart also and had an earth-quake within as well as one without and his awaking out of sleepe was a resemblance of his awakened heart This humiliation makes a man fearefull of his estate whereas before he was bold and others that are not humbled goe on boldly and are punisht as it is said of the foole in the Proverbs It makes a man consider his estate which he never did before as the Prodigall came to himselfe that is entered into a serious consideration of his estate before a man thought himselfe in a good estate little imagined hee was in the gall of bitternesse but this worke shewes him his poverty and that he is altogether naked and that hee hath nothing to sustaine him as the Prodigall saw he had not no worth at all in him And this first worke of humiliation is wrought by the Law and the curse thereof which sayes in his hearing Cursed be he that abides not in all things to doe them By the Law I say which is the rule of righteousnesse whereof all particular rules are branches and by the threatnings thereof which are all branches of that great curse The one being as the lightning to discover sinne the other like the thunder-bolt that strikes the heart with feare of Gods Iudgements the one is like the Inditement the other as the Sentence of the Judge I put both these together because both goe to humble a man The Law is like the Task-masters of Egypt that commanded the Israelites to do the worke but gave them no straw so the Law tells us this and this is to bee done and binds us to doe it but gives us no strength and so thereby discovers our sinfulnesse and unability to any good and then as the task-masters did beate them that failed of their tale so comes the curse and strikes them dead that continue not in all things to do the Law and these two put together worke this Legall humiliation neither by the Law is meant only those ten words spoken in Horeb but together with the explanation of them as wee finde them expounded in the Prophets and the whole Scriptures so that by the Law is meant that rectitude which the whole Scripture doth require Now therefore when the Scriptures are laid to our hearts the rectitude of the Scriptures is compared with the crookednes of our hearts and lives and thereby we come to see how that the least sinne is forbidden and that the least dutie must not be omitted and that we must give an account for every idle word and every lustfull thought and motion in the heart as S. Paul when humbled saw lust to be sinne and then we come to see withall the curse due to the lease This humbleth a man And unto this is further required the help of the Spirit joyning therewith without which the Law doth not humble a man who is therefore called the spirit of bondage because he enlightneth a man to see his bondage and slavery to sin and Sathan and his subjection to Gods wrath not that hee makes him such or brings bondage with it but discovers it and this not onely by shewing a man his bondage but he makes him believe it For there must be a faith to humble as well as to comfort whereas wee set light by the threatnings and believe them not for would the swearer sweare if he believed that threatning the Lord will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vaine When therefore the Spirit enlighteneth a man to see his sinnes and makes him believe the threatnings denounced against them then a man is humbled and not before And yet though these threatnings are propounded by the Word and made effectuall by the Spirit yet usually some affliction puts life into them as wee see in Manasses and also in S. Paul who was first struck off his horse to the ground and in the laylor who thought verily all his prisoners gone for whom his owne life must have beene answerable so as hee would have killed himselfe sometimes a reall affliction sometimes an imaginary one an apprehension of Judgement shame poverty misery doth God use to put life into the threatnings and they put life into the Law and then the Law is brought home to the conscience and so sinne is brought to light for when men are sensible of miseries then they are often brought to to inquiry into the Law of God to find what should bee the cause of it and when the Law is brought home to the conscience then sinne is made alive Saint Paul saies Romans 7. Sinne appeares to bee sin which before was as colours in the darke and sin being made alive then I dyed saies Paul there that is he apprehended himselfe a dead man in which is a discovery of sinne and our subjection to death for it wherein doe consist those two parts of this former humiliation which makes way for the second humiliation Thus you see what to be humbled is Now wee come to the second what it is to humble a mans selfe which begins when the other ends for then a man lookes out for the remedy as those who cryed out what shall we doe to be saved which is the second thing to be observed in those examples after the wounding of their hearts they made an enquiry what to doe to be saved For those that belong to Gods Election goe yet further there is another kinde of Evangelicall humiliation wrought in them which is a fruit of sanctification for in one whom GOD meanes to save when hee is come to this the LORD sends the spirit of adoption into his heart the spirit of grace as Zaâ—hary calls him which gives him some secret hope hee shall bee received to mercy if hee will come in which is a worke of faith in some degree begun and then says the soule with it selfe I will
ment and so in the Rev. 3. because Laodicea was neither hot nor cold therefore will I spue them out of my mouth God would endure them no longer and therefore you that thinke your estates the best even you have had a hand in this plague you thinke that other mens sinnes the sinnes of wicked men are the cause of it but God he knoweth that they cannot pray and have no life in them as you have and though-their sinnes also be a cause and a maine cause as appeares by the Amorites whose sinnes when full God punished yet I say they are yours also And therefore when there is an evident signe that God hath a controversie with a Kingdome and the Churches and a signe of his wrath is proclamed from heaven then every man must doe something now feare the Lord be zealous repent and doe your first workes begin now to mend your pace to heaven and yet would onely there were a want of zeale among you yea is it not in disgrace is not a zealous man hooted at as an Owle among us this place the excellency of it is exceedingly abated and eclipsed the zeale of it is withered the Lord is departed from us learne to bee more zealous and God will returne and cause you to flourish againe for when God lookes upon a people it is with them as with the earth in spring time and when hee departs from them they are as withered trees in winter and where now is the zeale of former times the Communion of Saints the heating and whetting of one another by mutuall exhortations where is the boldnesse for the Lord Those holy prayers those former times are gone the light of those times remaine but not the heate as also if wee looke backe upon that Generation of Queene Elizabeth how are we changed they were zealous but here is another generation come in their roome that is dead and cold and yet we have their light but ignis qui in illis calidus in nobis lucidus tantum But I beseech you that you would now begin to stirre up your selves especially in these times of fasting when there must bee an extraordinary renewing of a mans covenant with God that you would not now be so cold and so dilute as you have beene and seeing you have that you would have and have desired long publike dayes of humiliation that you would labour to spend them with all care and diligence and quicknesse of spirit and to consider that the maine is to bee done at home with your selves for the end of these dayes is that you may be humbled which you will never bee till you consider your particular sinnes get up early in the morning for then your spirits are quicke and so you will have a long time before you come to the congregation and get you all that while alone and consider your particular sinnes and the holy duties you neglect and renew your repentance and enter into covenant and then when you come hither you shall finde the word to have another manner of working upon you than it hath ordinarily If God be thus ready to punish his own children and that thus sharpely it shewes the sinne of those that are fearelesse and carelesse which provoketh God exceedingly Zach. 4. 15. I am very sore displeased with the carelesse heathen the heathens had sinnes enow besides to anger the Lord yet this sinne did it above other sinnes and it is not to bee wondred at that it should for it is a rule in Philosophy and most true that of all things that which provoketh a man most is contempt in so much that Aristotle maketh it the onely cause of anger though therein he is deceived yet it is the maine we use to say non respondere pro convitio est it is a signe of contempt not to answer againe as when a man is chidden and stricken non respondere to goe by as if hee tooke no notice of it at Gods hand this is contempt And thus a Father when he is angry with his son or a Master with his servant how hainously doth hee take it And so God who now hath discovered his wrath to the whole Land and to every particular man in it this neglect of him will cause his wrath to wax hot against us but yet for the land in generall wee have cause to hope that his wrath doth not so but that God takes it well at our hands that we are thus publickly assembled but let mee say this though to every particular man though God spare the Kingdome yet if thou neglect him and bee carelesse it will goe the worse with thee however In the 50. Psalme when hee had expressed great threatnings in the former verses hee concludes with this Consider this O all yee that forget God! you that minde him not least hee teare you in peeces and there bee none to deliver you and so in the Prophet Ieremy 5 12 13 14. verses because you say that his words are but winde they shall be as fire and you as drie wood and they shall devoure you This is the great fault of men that they are ready to feare things which they should not feare the creatures poverty and discredit but are backward to feare the Lord. God sayes of the Church Rev. 2. 12. Feare not the things thou shalt suffer what all the world feares that doe not you feare feare not the things you shall suffer those things you ought not to feare but feare those things you should doe and who is afraid of them least hee should provoke God in them And so Christ saith feare not men no not those that have power of life and death if wee should feare any it should be them remember that was the commendation of Moses hee feared not the wrath of Pharaoh when you place your feare thus amisse it becomes a snare to you for it makes your hearts busie upon the creatures when they ought to be set upon the Lord but when your feare is placed upon God it doth exceedingly helpe you nothing more to give you an instance or two you shall finde David exceedingly strucke with the feare of the Lord when Ziglag was burnt no accident ever so amazed him when hee fled before Absolon hee bore it much better yet that feare helped al for it set him a worke to pray so Iehoshaphats feare did also helpe him when he heard of a great Army comming against him it set him on worke to pray and so turned away the Iudgement and therefore things that you so feare when your feare is placed on God seldome come to passe for that sets men on worke to prevent them whereas evill feare brings the thing with it Saul feared the Armies of the Philistines exceedingly that made him seeke to the Witch and this wrought his overthrow which hee feared so Ieroboam feared the losse of his Kingdome and that feare made him set up the Calves which lost him his Kingdome indeed
learne therefore to feare the Lord nothing brings a Iudgement so much as the want of feare security is the next doore to a Iudgement Lâ—â—hish was a secure people and when the Army came against them they and their City fell as Figgs from a tree that are ripe so did they fall in their enemies mouths security is a fore-runner to every mans Iudgement Esay 66. 2. To him that feares mee saith God and trembles at my words to him will I looke to keepe him safe if not I will neglect him as much as hee mee I will have no eye to save him as hee hath no eye to mee to cause him to feare and tremble But you wil say how may I bring my heart to feare the Lord I answer first pray to the Lord to strike your hearts with a feare of him it is the the worke of God to bring the feare of himselfe upon us for it is hee that brings the feare of one man upon another hee brought a feare upon all the Nations of the Land when the people of Israel entered Canaan much more the feare of himselfe for the affections are such things as the Lord onely can meddle with and therefore the Apostle saith You are taught of the Lord to love one another It must be the Lord that must put in such an affection into you for his teaching is planting the affections and so he is said to teach other creatures that is to give this or that inclination and so the Lord is said to fashion the hearts of men and then they cannot chuse but feare him therefore goe to the Lord and say Lord I am not able to feare thee and say Lord thou hast promised to give the Holy Ghost to those that aske it of thee that worketh every grace if you would seeke him so and seeke him importunately though you had the securest hardest heart of any in the world hee would at length teach you to feare him Ier. 40. I will plant my feare in your hearts that they shal not depart from me Thus you see that God takes the doing of this to himselfe it must be of his planting and he hath promised also you see to doe it This is not all but there is something we must doe our selves Therefore secondly observe the Lords dealing with his learne to know him in his wayes and that will be a meanes to cause thee to feare him if any of his children sin he never lets them goe for then should they thrive in evill and prosper in sinne but if they will bee medling they shall be sure to finde some bitternesse in the end When a mans heart is set upon the creatures there being thornes in them all and therefore if hee will graspe too much of them or too hard hee shall finde it Gods children are trained up so to it that God will not let them goe away with a sinne if they bee too adulterously affected they shall finde a crosse in such a thing you may observe this in the 30. Psalme there you may see the circle God goes in with his children David had many afflictions as appeareth by the 5 verse I cryed and then God returned to me and joy came what did David then I said in my heart I shall never bee removed his heart grew wanton but God would not let him goe away so God turned away his face againe and I was troubled At the 7 verse he is you see in trouble againe well David cryes againe at the 8 and 10 verses and then God turned his mourning into joy againe And this to be his dealing you shall finde it in all the Scriptures but because we find this his dealing set so close together in this Psalme therefore I name it Therefore observe the wayes of the Lord to you and they that are not acquainted with these his wayes as yet in themselves see what hee hath done to others in all the world in our neighbour Churches when hee had given a bill of divorce to Israel yet Iudah had not feared now when God hath stricken our neighbour Churches doe you thinke hee will take it well if we be idle spectators therefore when he hath stricken another place learne to feare If hee afflicts his owne children thus sharply let them looke to themselves that are not his whether they be grosse sinners prophane persons of whom there is no question or mere civill men and formal professors in whom there is no power of grace if he bee thus hot against his owne Church his anger will be seventimes hotter against you it may bee longer deferred as his manner is yet when hee strikes hee will strike you in the roote not in the branches and that so as he will not Strike the second time Consider that in the 50 Psalme that hee will teare you in peeces and you that are prophane ones let me say to you as 1 Cor. 10. 22. Doe you provoke the Lord to anger are you stronger than hee Those that lye in open prophanenes and doe fight openly against the Lord and have not so much as a shew of turning yea and those that are meerely civill and yet lye in secret sinnes that yet are in health wealth and credit in the world it is a signe that God meanes them no good hee would not let his owne Garden goe so long unplowed And in the second place for professors that doe not answer their profession in their lives take heed for he that is not with me is against me it may be thou art no enemy not very stirring in any evill way but because thou art not with GOD in good earnest because your hearts are not perfect at the last day you will be found against him CHRIST will come against you in good earnest as an enemy and whereas all your hope lies that GOD is mercifull and CHRIST a Saviour learne to know that this JESUS whome you hope to bee saved by will prove the sharpest enemy against you Kisse the Son lest he bee angry the Son may be angry as he who Rev. 2. hath his eyes like a flame of fire and his feete like fi ne brasse to tread you to powder he shall come against you that are formall and know that JESUS CHRIST is not only a Saviour but a Lord that he came into the world to be a Prince and the government is upon his shoulders you forget that part of his office halfe the end for which CHRIST came into the World and if you would know what kind of Governor he is Ex. 23. 21. I will send my Angel with you saith God that is Christ beware of him and obey his voyce and provoke him not for my name is in him he is of the same spirit and disposition with his father and they are both alike affected to sin beware of him he goes along with you and he will not spare you for the LORD hath put all the
government upon him Let it not seeme strange that he hath or should deale thus with his Churches abroad what though the Candlestick bee removed out of the Palatinate because they were luke-warme and falne from their first love what if he should do it in France what if in England in the Low countries should it seeme strange to us It is his manner so to doe Hee removed Iudah and Ierusalem often out of their pla ces wee should not be offended at it if he doth or if he should doe thus with us as thinking that it is a signe that our religion is not the true religion and that he doth not love his Churches yes those hee loves most hee soonest afflâ—cts for Iudgement must begin at the house of God that is hee lookes on all the world as on Europe now and where he seeth his house is there he beginneth with them for hee is to use others to afflict them and therefore he beginnes with them first Amos 2. 2. You have I knowne of all the Nations therefore will I afflict you soonest and frequentliest though not more deeply than others for though the Church bee brought under water yet she shall rise againe I speake this because men are subject to bee offended at it and Bel larmine I remember makes that an argument that theirs is the Church because they have had so ma ny victories against the Protestants and our Church hath beene ever and anon downe but by that argument the captivity should not have lighted upon Iudah's but upon Nebuchadnezzars people The second Doctrine was that Though God send very sharpe afflictions upon his owne people yet therein his kindnesse and compassions are exceeding great towards them hee cals them you see here my people as if hee should have said you are mine and I cannot forget you a man loves that which is his owne much more God who is all love And this Do-Doctrine had need to bee added to the former Now the reasons and demonstrations of this are three Because he is exceeding slow to afflict and exceeding long about it ere he do's begin and therefore hee makes many offers often before he does it as one that could finde in his heart not to doe it at all Psal. 78. 38. It is said he being full of compassion forgave their iniquity yea many a time did hee call backe his anger when his hand was up and hee giving the blowe hee called it backe againe as one that could not finde in his heart to do it and when hee did it hee did not stirre up all his wrath hee let fall some droppes of it but would not shed the whole shower of it and hee gives the reason of both for they are but flesh and indeed his primary scope is to shew mercy and that hee afflicts is but upon occasion and therefore he is provoked and provoked much before hee doth it As the Bee to give hony it is naturall to it but it stings but by occasion when it is provoked and this wee see to bee true in GOD by experience who suffersmen and suffers them long they continue in their sinnes and yet he continues his mercies and with-holds his judgements His compassion is shewen in sustaining them in their afflictions and in helping them in the mid'st of them Daniel 11. 33 34. When his people should fall by the sword and by the flame c. it is said they should bee holpen with a little helpe that is so much as would sustaine them beare them up the like wee have Zach. 13. 9. I will bring a third part through the fire and they shall come out refined as Gold and Silver is refined lose nothing but their drosse so as hee would sustaine them hold them up And this hee doth by doing of two things 1 by moderating their affliction 2 by so framing and fashioning their hearts so as they shall be able to beare them Hee moderates them they are Still in measure and not beyond their strength Revel 2. 10. saith Christ to the Church of Smyrna Feare none of those things which thou shalt suffer behold Sathan shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried and you shall have tribulation ten dayes as if hee should have said I will moderate this persecution and doe measure out the time to you but ten dayes and no more and therefore feare not so as you shall not have so much as Sathan would for he would never give over nor so little as you would for then you should not be afflicted at all If you aske now what it is to be afflicted in measure I answer if afflictions lye so upon his children as to cause them to put forth their hands to wickednesse then it is above measure but if so as they never fret nor faint under it it is not now he hath promised that he wil so accommodate afflictions as they shall not worke so with his people Psal. 125. 3. The rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous lest he put forth his hand to iniquity it shall not bee so long as to cause a distemper in the spirit of them so as they should not carry themselves in a meeke manner under it I meane not so but that at the first it may cause a bustling in their spirits as it did in Iob when it grew sharpe and hee spake unadvisedly yet not a substantiall disquiet he came to himselfe againe To this purpose let the Psalme 129. 3 4. be compared with the former God compares there the afflicters of his people to plowers set to plow his ground the Babylonians and all the other enemies were but Gods plowers now they should not doe it as to do them any hurt no more than for his advantage and his Churches they should not goe a foote further for then God cuts their cords in sunder and when the traces are cut then the plow stands still goes not a jot further let the horses doe what they will The second way of sustaining them is in that he so fashioneth their hearts as they shall be able well to beare it and then though it be great if they have strength to beare it it is the lesse A great burthen on a strong mans shoulders is no more than a small one on a weake mans Wee oft wonder that God should lay so great afflictions on his children but we do not see their inward strength and ability they have to beare them Now first he fashioneth their hearts to pray and not to murmure and the greatest affliction it is nothing if they can but pray in Rom. 8. 26. that is one comfort brought in among the rest that sweetneth our afflictions that the Spirit helpeth our infirmities and teacheth us to pray He frameth their hearts to repent and that they should not sinne against him and if sinne bee not mingled with an affliction
follow As first without this men will not seeke out for and come unto CHRIST they will not seeke His Face that is His Person The Laweis our Schoole-Master to bring us to CHRIST by humbling us men would not come in to Him unless they were driven men would not seek Him unlesse they themselves were first lost men would not receive Him unless they were first humbled the poore receive the Gospell the poore in spirit It is necessary in respect of receiving and seeking for mercy and pardon and forgivenesse which is the maine thing here promised I will bee mercifull to their sinnes for untill then our propounding pardon and the promises of it and inviting men to come in would bee all but lost labour for untill then men would give us that answer and the promises the same entertainement which they did that were invited to the Marriage Feast Matthew 22. 5 6. The text sayes they made light of it and so wee finde by experience that when wee preach the great things of the Gospell as Justification and remission of sinnes men account them as a small thing and set light by them and the reason is because they are not humbled men otherwise would not prize CHRIST nor the promise of the pardon by him as Manna was not prized by the Israelites nor his righteousnesse by which they are to bee forgiven a man happily would be content to have CHRISTS righteousnesse as a bridge to goe upon to Heaven but hee will not prize it as Paul did who was ambitious of nothing so much as to bee found in CHRIST not having his owne righteousnesse but that which is by faith accounting all things in himselfe and out of himselfe drosse and dung in comparison of it but a man unhumbled will not set this high prce upon it and God wil not have his Jewels much lesse Christ and pardon of sinne cast away at randome to those who shall not value them but when a man shall see the badnesse of his nature the multitudes of his particular sins and see that in his heart he never thought had beene there and stand amazed at them then to have such a righteousnesse as shall perfectly cover all these sinnes this he will thinke a great matter So it was to Saint Paul when he saw himselfe the greatest of sinners And when a man thus sees his particular sores and diseases and something in Christs righteousnesse to answer them all as Christs patience to answer his impatience Christs love to stand for his hatred Christs holinesse of nature to cover his uncleannesse he will then begin to esteeme every Iewell in that Cabinet for he knowes he could not spare one part of that righteousnesse he sees a glorious righteousnesse to cloath and cover his nakednesse from top to toe and this makes him prize it and every part of it which a man unhumbled will not do and as he would not esteeme the imputed righteousnesse of Christ so nor inherent righteousnesse from him whereby he should be enabled to turne from his evill waies but when a man sees and knowes what a heart he hath how false how full of sinnes and empty of grace and what strong lusts are there then when he shall finde the contrary graces wrought in him hee prizeth them highly and Christ for them because they are the pretious guifts of Christ for he knowes and acknowledgeth they are the sole worke of Christ because in his nature dwelleth no good thing And why else doth God after conversion suffer his people to fall into sinne and into variety of temptations but that they might be more humbled still and so know the worth of Christ herein It is required men should be humbled because else they will not actually turne from their evill wayes nor bee obedient to Christ in all things in their lives An unbroken heart is like an untamed horse that will not indure the bridle and be guided by it like an untamed Heifer that will not goe with the yoake such a man that God may command him what he will but he will doe what he list but when the heart is broken and humbled once then as Saint Paul trembling sayd Acts 9. he will say also Lord what wilt thou have me doe I will doe what thou wilt yea and suffer what thou wilt call me to suffer for thee If this question had been asked Saint Paul before he was thus humbled he would have given another answere before God may bid us doe what hee will but wee as stubborne servants will doe what we thinke good wee are proud and unbroken and pride is the cause of all disobedience and therefore it is sayd High thoughts must bee east downe that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God ere every thought can be brought into the obedience of Christ. 2 Corin. 10. 5. They exalt themselves against the knowledge of God and His will for when His will is knowne the heart yields not still when the LORD commands any thing as to take heede of evill company to have a care of their speeches whilest men are unhumbled they are ready to expostulate the matter and in the end will doe nothing at all but when a man is humbled and the high thoughts cast downe then hee brings every thought and affection that exalted it selfe before into the obedience of Christ. And as all disobedience is from pride and stubbornnesse of the will so all obedience is from humility when the heart is humbled it is made pliable to God Esay 66. 2. I will looke to him that is contrite and trembleth at my words they are both there joyned that is when he heareth any command from me he is afraid to breake it afraid of admitting the very occasions of sinning A man that hath beene scorched with the fire dares not easily meddle with it againe and the reason is it makes a man choose the Lord freely for his Husband and Lord and from thence followes kinde obedience to Him Hee that hath made the choyce himselfe will serve else not but hee will condemne himselfe that he should make a choyce so unsuitable to him and it also teacheth a man to set an high price upon CHRIST and forgivenesse of sinnes as you heare and that will set all thy desires on worke and cause thee to refuse no obedience whether active or passive For what is the reason men obey their lusts but because they prize pleasures have an high esteeme of honours c. and the same effect will the prizing of CHRIST have in thee to do any thing for Him so as thou shalt not count thy life deare for Him They would not doe all this constantly and for ever if they should come to Christ and be obedient for a while as Iohns hearers and Herod was yet they would returne unto their vomit againe and not stay with Him if they were not humbled they might come in as
goe and humble my selfe I will goe home to God and change my course and give up my selfe to him and serve him and this we shall finde in these examples mentioned before especially of the Prodigall Luk. 15. he came to this conclusion If I stay here I dye for hunger but in my fathers house there is bread enough here was hope that bred this resolution I will goe home and say to my father I have sinned against heaven and against thee c. here was that true humiliation we speake of So Manasses hee humbled himselfe greatly out of an hope of mercy for a man comes not to this active humiliation wherein he kindly humbleth himselfe unlesse hee hath hope of mercy and the beginning of faith is with a hope of mercy which sets a man a worke to goe to God and say Lord I have committed such and such sinnes but I will returne to them no more I am worthy of nothing Now there are foure severall compositions or foure paires of ingredients that have influence into this second kind of humiliation to cause us to humble our selves 1 Payr an hope of mercy as wel as a sence of misery that whereas before wee did looke upon God as a severe Judge we looke now on him as one willing to receive us both are requisite Sence of misery onely brings a man but to himselfe as the Prodigall first is said to come to himselfe but hope of mercy joyned with it drives a man home to God as it did also him without which sence of misery drives us from the LORD but hope of mercy being added to it causeth this active humiliation wee speake of whereby wee say I will goe and humble my selfe 2 Payre of ingredients are the sence of our own emptinesse together with an apprehension of that Alsufficiency that is in God which we also may see in the Prodigall when he said I shall starve and die if I stay here but in my fathers house is bread enough he lookt to that alsufficient fulnesse that was in God to supply his wants The creature whilst it findeth any thing in it selfe it will stand upon its owne bottome and not bee humbled but when it finds nothing in its selfe but emptinesse then it beginneth to seeke out for a bottome which it seeing to be in God alone it goes out to him for men will not be drawne off from their owne bottome till they see another bottome to stand upon 3 There must bee a sence of a mans owne sinfulnesse and the LORD JESUS his righteousnesse and so a light comes in that discovereth both thus when S. Paul was humbled there was a light shone about him which was an outward symbole of that new light which shone within him of Christ and his owne sinfulnesse A sence of the love of God and Christ joyned with the sence of a mans unkindnesse unto God whereby wee looke upon sinnes as injuries done to God and an unkindnesse shewne therein And now let us see the difference betwixt these two works or parts of humiliation that wee may further understand what it is to humble our selves And first they differ in the matter they are conversant about in that first a man is humbled properly but for the punishment a man indeed is humbled for sinne yet principally as it hath relation to punishment it is guilt works on him he is not humbled for sin as it is contrary to God and his holinesse but as contrary to himself and his own good and thus we are not humbled till we come to love God and to have a light discovering the holines and purity of his nature which one that is savingly humbled hath wrought in him They differ in their grounds and principles whence they arise The first ariseth but from selfe-love and is but a worke of nature though thus farre a worke of God to stirre up self-love by the sence of misery and to awaken it but so as any unreasonable creature if in danger useth to be sensible of it and what wonder then is it for a man when hee begins to have some sence of hel and death let into his conscience to be wounded and apprehensive of it but the other ariseth from the love of God kindled in the heart by hope of grace and mercy They differ in the instrumental causes that work them the one is wrought by the spirit of bondage by an enlightning meerly to see his bondage and the soule is as one that is in bondage fearing God as a master and he hath no further light than thus to see God as a Judge but this other is wrought by the spirit of adoption making the Gospell also effectuall discovering God as a father They differ in their effects as The one driveth a man from GOD but this latter causeth a man to goe to GOD and to seeke Christ it workes that affection to Christ that the Church in the Canticles had to him who would not give over seeking him till she had found him whom her soule did love Though there bee twenty obstacles in the way yet the soule hath no rest as a stone hath no rest till it bee in its owne center so nor this soule thus humbled but in God and therfore gives not over seeking him though it hath never so many denyalls The first breeds death an acedia a deadnesse and listlesnesse it makes a man as a log that moves not to God in prayer So it wrought in Nabal and Achitophel it breeds such discouragement as often ends in death Of worldly sorrow and such is all sorrow whereof God is not the end commeth death but when it is right and true and kindly sorrow for sinne it doth that which an affection should doe it quickneth him to doe that which he ought to do so feare when it is right worketh and so all other affections which were put into the soule for that end that it might bee stirred up by them to that which it should doe for GOD and its owne good and therefore this affection of sorrow for sinne quickens a man to seeke out to God when it is right The first breeds a fiercenesse and turbulency in a mans spirit as we see often in men whose consciences are awakned to see their sinnes they are fiercer then they were before for guilt of sin vexeth their spirits and where there is no sence of mercy from God there is none to men but hee that is broken for sinne spends his anger upon himselfe frets chiefly for his owne vilenesse and unworthinesse and the Peace of God which his heart hath a sence of makes his spirit gentle and peaceable and easie to be entreated and perswaded bring him Scripture and a child may lead him and perswade him The rough wayes are made smooth the rough and froward dispositions of the heart and every Mountaine-like affection cast downe as it is said they were by Saint
in thee yet they have not that full effect they should for they overcome not that evill that is in thee for notwithstanding all these good things thou art still a Sabbath profaner a drunkard given to company I might goe over all other sins but in a word if they overcome not every sin they are nothing for the saving thee if they had beene effectuall in thee they would have driven out the darknesse all the good things thou hast availe not to thy salvation because they make thee not a good man yea all these good things and the good fits thou hast had will helpe forward thy condemnation because thou hast prophaned the truth in thy heart and hast not put fuell to these sparkes which God in mercy did put in that thou shouldest suffer such Talents as these to lie hid in a Napkin will he not say thou art an unprofitable servant A second thing that is to be added to the sight of your sinnes to humble you is to know that misery and vanity that is in your selves wee see by experience that men will grant that they are great sinners but what is the reason that yet notwithstanding they stand out They doe not know their owne misery and vanity and though wee have preached to men againe and againe their misery yet they are not stirred but when death comes then they are humbled and why but because then they see what God is and what themselves are death shewes them the vanity of the Creature so that the way to bee humbled is to know how unable a man is to bee happy within his owne compasse And to this end consider First the greatnesse of God and his power and the terrours of the Almighty that he is that God in whose hands is thy life and wayes and all and consider that unlesse thou seriously lay thy sinnes to heart this God is thy enemy and him with whom for ever thou hast to doe Consider what a weake creature thou art thinke with thy selfe a sicknesse may come on my body a crosse may come on my estate yea an apprehension of my soule that may sucke up the marrow of my bones and above all I have an immortall soule in a vessell of clay and thinke when that glasse that shell is broke what will become of that poore soule of thine And this would bring a man to the Prodigalls case Belshazzar saw this when hee saw the hand writing upon the wall Had it not beene wisedome in him to have seene and acknowledged it before Thou art well now thou doest not know what alterations may befall thee in the yeare and thou hadst better leave a thousand businesses undone than this And yet thirdly all this will not doe it except the spirit of God come on thee to humble a man is a mighty worke Though Eliah should preach to you yea all the sonnes of thunder should come yet without the spirit they will not be able to humble you yea God himselfe came downe from heaven upon Mount Sinai and with what terrours and yet the people remained unbroken though they were amazed for a time When Christ spake to S. Paul and strucke him off his horse if he had not had a light within as well as without hee had not beene humbled nor the Iaylor if there had not been an earthquake in his heart as well as in the earth Ieroboam had as great a miracle wrought before him as Saint Paul you may well thinke the drying up of his hand amazed him yet made him not give over his sinne and what was the reason there was a miracle in both but not the spirit and if wee did worke miracles before you from day to day yet unlesse God sent his spirit of bondage upon you you would not bee humbled See the necessity of the spirits helpe in admonitions also Amaziah was admonished by a Prophet as well as David by N. than yet hee was not humbled and so wee see some are humbled by afflictions and others not Therefore pray that God would send his Spirit to convince you and learne also not to be offended at us when in preaching the Law your consciences are troubled It is the spirit that troubleth you else our words would not trouble you and therefore bee not angry at us and therefore also doe not put off this duty of getting your hearts humbled for thou art not able so much as to humble thy self therefore take the opportunities of the spirit when he stirs thy heart But you will say this rather discourageth us from the worke for then wee must ever waite like marriners till the tide and the gale comes and I had as good sit still for I may goe about it to no purpose seeing the Lord must doe it I answer thee that if thou wouldest goe about it and shut up thy selfe in private a day and after that another in the end God would send his Spirit When Christ bad them goe and rowe though they rowed all night to little purpose yet CHRIST came at last and they were on the other side presently it may be thou mayest bee about it a moneth or two ere thou findest the Spirit comming yet hee will come in the end and then the worke wil be throughly done for God hath made a promise of the Holy Ghost that hee will baptize with the Holy Ghost as with fire not onely to his Disciples but those that yet never had it for it is not onely for increase but to begin grace Yea if God hath given thee a heart to pray to consider this promise so as thou hast taken up a resolution to waite and to set thy selfe to the worke when thou hast done so the spirit is already in thine heart the worke is begun though thou thinkest not so and never pleade thou canst not do it without the spirit for I aske thee this question didst thou ever commit a sinne in which thou couldest say I did it against my will was there ever any duty which thou hadst a thought to doe that thou couldest say thou couldest not doe it thy heart tells thee no. Therfore set about this duty which is the maine which therefore we have prest much because it is as a naile driven into a wall on which other graces hang. This and Faith are the great things which the master builders are occupied about and indeed the foundation which therefore above all you must looke to and these our exhortations should bee as forked Arrowes to sticke in you and not out againe and not as other Arrowes that wound onely We have done with the negative part That such as doe not humble themselves have no interest in the promises We come now to the affirmative part which is for comfort That if any man doth humble himselfe God will heare his prayer his sinnes shall be forgiven c. The Doctrine is this The Lord will be mercifull unto the humble I
you had lost Thou mayest seeke salvation and deliverance from hel out of the strenght of naturall wisedome because it is for thy good and also being convinced of the necessity of faith and repentance to escape hell and obtain salvation Men may thereupon go farre in the performance of many duties and be constant a while in them and yet not seeke the Lords face in all these and then the Lord regards them not Take a thiefe that is arraigned at the bar he will cry earnestly for his life but yet he seeketh not the face of the Iudge i. e. he doth it without love to the Iudge but onely out of the love of life So we may do much to escape hel and to attain the life opposite to it and yet all this while not seeke the presence of God and then GOD regards it not You find this disposition in your selves and see it in others if a man bee never so observant of any of you and performe never so many offices of friendship to you yet if a man can say he loves me not for all this hee doth not prize mee nor desire my love and favour so much for it selfe but for his owne ends in this case you care not for what hee doth So the LORD hee knowes the heart and the reines and what thine end is whether it bee communion with his person immediately or thine own welfare meerely and if so regards not thy humbling thy selfe nor thy prayers The promise you see is suspended upon it it is a distinguishing point and will separate betweene the precious and the vile it is a marke set upon Gods people alone To seeke Gods face Wee will therefore further and more particularly consider what it is to seeke Gods face or presence And there are three wayes to finde it out First by what is here joyned with it If they humble themselves and seeke my face and so by considering the connexion that these two have together find out what seeking of Gods face is Now there is a twofold humiliation wrought in men The one is for that bitternesse and punishment that sin brings with it and this never brings forth either faithfull prayers or seeking Gods face But there is another kind of humiliation which hath a further ingredient in it and that is the sight of the foulenesse of sinne when God openeth a crevise of light to looke upon sin not onely as that which brings bitternesse with it but as that which in it selfe is most filthy and abominable and by that light it is made such in his account for it is one thing to flee from the sting of the Serpent an other thing to hate the Serpent it selfe and so to take heed of the Wolfe because of his cruelty and to hate the Wolfe it selfe are differing things Other creatures may hate the properties and conditions of a Wolfe but a Lambe only hates the Wolfe it selfe Now with this latter kind of humiliation there goes and is conjunct with it an enlightning whereby God shewes to a man his owne glorious face the lustre whereof helpes him further to see the foulnesse of sinne God by the same light of the Spirit whereby he shewes a men the uglinesse of sinne discovers withal his own excellencies which makes the sinner thus humbled to seeke his face to seeke grace as well as mercy But other men either see not Gods face at all or onely see his angry countenance onely those whom the Lord calleth effectually see his gracious face Now hee to whom it is hid and sees it not seekes not Gods face for none can seeke it unlesse they have seene it and hee who sees it onely as angry flies from God but he discovers himselfe to the truly humble the secrets of the Lord are with such Psal. 25. and so Ioh. 15. 15. I call you not servants for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth but I have call'd you friends for all things I have heard of my Father I have made knowne to you Hee reveales himselfe to those who are already his friends or to those he is about to make his friends one of the first things he doth is to reveale his face to them With men indeed men are first made friends and then secrets are revealed but contrarily with God he reveales his secrets to us and his face that we may be made friends with him and then wee grow into further acquaintance with him and they are therefore cal'd the secrets of the Lord because only revealed to the Saints Servants indeed see what is done in the house but there are many things which their masters reveale not to them and so many come here to the house of God and heare what is spoken of GOD and CHRIST but yet there are some certaine secrets that are hid from them that are told only to the children the sonnes and daughters of God The other heare as much and see as much for the outside as Gods children do yet the secrets of things are hid from them and among others Gods face and the excellencies thereof are hid from them This he reveales as his other secrets onely to those that feare him and this revealing it is a speciall worke of the Spirit If a man would see the Sunne all the starres in heaven and torches in the earth could not helpe him to see it or shew it to him unlesse the Sunne it selfe shines and ariseth and there come a light from the Sunne it selfe you cannot come to see it and so all the Angels of heaven and wits of men on earth cannot shew you Gods face unlesse hee opens the clouds and reveales himselfe by his owne Spirit it will not bee done which is therefore called the Spirit of Revelation Ephes. 1. 17. by which God reveales his secrets to his children when he begins to call them effectually they see him and none else wee make knowne the Doctrines about GOD and CHRIST c. to all alike but the Lord makes the difference by revealing himselfe to one and not unto another that which is said especially of the Iewes 2 Cor. 3. 15 16. verses and so on is in like manner applicable to us all The Lords face shines as Moses face did verse 15. and hee gives the knowledge of his glory in the face of Iesus Christ in the ministery of the word every day but there is a vaile lies upon all mens hearts upon all but those whom the Lord calls and upon theirs also till hee calleth them as upon the Iewes hearts verse 16. Neverthelesse when they shall turne unto the Lord the vaile shall be taken away and untill then Gods face cannot bee seene as Moses face was not and who shall take away that vaile The Spirit of the Lord where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty vers 17. and when hee doth free us of that vaile then we behold the Glory of the Lord as in a
if thou wert truly turned to God though sinne did creep in as a thiefe yet thou wouldest not suffer it to take possession of the house but you would cast it forth and if it did breake in by violence yet when thou hadst recovered thy strength when thou hadst got the hill that is the upper hand thou wouldst keepe it under The second effect is this that when hee hath thrust out sinne then he hates it as Amnon did his sister Thamar he not only thrust her out of doores and barred the doore on her but also he hated her worse than ever he had loved her So a man that is turned doth hate sinne hate it as truly as ever hee did love it before There is none but the regenerate man that hates sin truly Suppose a man hath lived a long time in some sinne it may be in drunkennesse or whoredome swearing c. hee may sometimes thrust it out of doores and by a resolution upon some grounds barre the doore against it as when he lies on his sicke bed or is in some great affliction but doth not hate it You will say how shall we know that Hatred is implacable and for ever as in a man towards Toads and Serpents he will never be perswaded to receive it again and to grow friends with it but he forsakes it forever And againe secondly he will never mince the matter with sinne and say thus farre will I lop and cut up my sinne but hee will pluck it up by the rootes Hatred desires the utter abolition and destruction of what it hates Thirdly he will hate all kinds of sinnes Sheepe hate all kind of Wolves and the Dove all kind of Hawkes therefore examine thy selfe by these generalls The third effect is this fighting against it The truth of turning is seene by a mans resistance all a mans life as the Israelites were never to seeke peace with Amalek but to fight against them to seeke the destruction of them while they lived Indeed it is true such a man may bee foyld by a sinne but still hee fights against it and so wee will if wee bee truly converted Therein then is the difference betweene the relapse and backsliding of the wicked and the falling of the godly into some sinne A Saint never gives over the warre he never enters into league with sin The spirit lusteth against the flesh Gal. 5. that is will be ever stirring him up against it all the world cannot make peace where GOD hath put enmity Thou wilt never come to say I cannot chuse I must needs yeeld to it but thou wilt never give over for that is the property of one truly converted to look on sin as an enemy and whatsoever helpes him against sinne he accounts his friend as admonitions and reproofes and whatsoever helpes sinne against him hee accounts his enemy But you will say if all this bee to bee done I cannot say I hate sinne for it hangs on mee continually and I finde an aptnesse to delight in it as before It is true that there is something in thee the flesh to which sinne is as suitable as ever it was hence the aptnes to entertain it that is ready to become as friendly to it as ever it was Yet againe the frame is such as there is something in thee namely a new creature a new selfe thy regenerate part that hates sinne with a deadly hatred yea and the flesh also which fosters it So then this may be thy comfort that the spirit that is in thee hates sinne at the same time that the flesh which is in thee delights in it If this turning unto the Lord bee a condition on which all the promises are put then it stands you upon to examine your selves whether any way of wickednesse bee found in you if it bee be it greater or smaller then you are not converted you are still in the bond of iniquity it is the Apostles phrase to Simon Magus Acts that is tyed up in it as in a bond shackled in it as a man still in prison and bound in fetters thou art a fettered bond slave For when there is any way of wickednesse in thee it so bindes the soule that a man is not able to runne the wayes of Gods Commandements Looke backe therefore upon thy former wayes search thy heart as throughly and narrowly as they did for the leaven before the Passeover search as it were for thy life because if there bee a way of wickednesse it will cost thee thy life Search also diligently for selfe-love makes it hard to find it out This point needs application more than explication the busines here is more with the heart than with the head Put case it bee a way of enmitie having an evill eye toward such a man though thy enemy if thou goe on in it thou art in a way of wickednesse It is the LORDS command that thou shouldest overcome evill with good and that thou shouldest love thine enemies and therefore you are your owne utter enemies in walking in a way of enmitie against others Say it bee the way of evill speaking which comes nigh to enmitie and therefore I speak of it in this next plâ—ce in Titus 3. 2. Speake evill of no man You must not speake evill of any man though he be truly wicked for you your selves were such saith the Apostle and therefore doe it not to make a custome of this when thou hast an opportunity and when any man will give thee the hearing this is a way of wickednesse It is one thing to fall into it beyond a mans purpose another to give a mans selfe liberty in it It may bee done for the good of the party or when it concernes GODS glory but not of envie Againe suppose it bee a way of idlenesse which men of all callings are subject to consider that if thou wert free from all other sinnes and yet wert idle thou art in a way of wickednesse The Apostle speakes much against idle persons as 2 Thes. 3. 10. For even when wee were with you this wee commanded you that if any would not worke neither should hee eate c. that is it is such a sinne as he is not worthy to live that lives in it as for scholars that are sent hither with a price in their hands to learne the knowledge of GOD and his true religion for these to spend their time idly of all other they are not worthy to live If Saint Paul may be Iudge thou canst not be saved because this is a way of wickednesse Art not thou the Lords servant doth not he give thee thy wages Suppose it not a positive way of sinning in it selfe yet that will follow upon it Omnis omissio fundatur in aliquo actu voluntatis affirmativo the reason why a man neglects to doe what he should is because hee doth what he should not and therefore 2 Thes. 3
their iniquity and why because hee remembred they were but flesh And indeed one would wonder how the LORD could forgive so obstinate a people that had such experience of his power and mercy by those great workes which he wrought afore them in bringing them out of Egypt yet he did because he remmebred and wisely considered what ingredients went to make up their natures hee remembred they were but flesh So Psalme 103. 13 14. the former part of that Psalme is nothing else but an expression of promises of forgivenesse and in the 14. verse he gives this as the reason of all for hee knowes our frame hee remembereth that wee are dust hee knowes whereof we are made and therefore is exceeding mercifull 4 Whereas there is one Attribute from which you object against the pardon of their sinnes that the Lord notwithstanding is just and this terrifies you and puts you off even from this we may fetch an argument to strengthen our faith herein for know that the Lord is therefore ready and willing to forgive because hee is just 1 Iohn 1. 9. If wee confesse our sinnes hee is faithfull and just to forgive us This is the ground of all our comfort that he eis just and faithfull for is he not engaged by promise and is hee not faithfull to keepe his promise Againe hath hee not beene satisfied and paid for our sinnes by CHRIST and his justice will not suffer him to require a second payment It is just now with him to forgive faithfulnesse hath reference to his promises justice to that bloud of CHRIST the ransome received which cleanseth us from all our sinnes 5 If all these will not serve to perswade our hearts to believe the Lord descends a little lower and helpes us out with an argument of his readinesse to pardon from the consideration of what is in our selves consider how you would deale with your children Psal. 103. 13. Like as a father pitieth his children so the Lord them that feare him If a child that is yours offend you an hundred times yet if he come in and humble himselfe you will pardon him And will not God when his people humble themselves Wee use but such arguments as God himselfe doth and doe but set him and your consciences together to reason the case But you will object againe and say it is possible for a child so to offend as that a father will not nor cannot forgive him True but the Psalmists meaning is not as if GOD would pardon no more then an earthly father but on the contrary if you that are earthly fathers can doe so much I that am an infinite Lord God and not man can doe much more who is Omnipotent and can doe whatsoever he will and shews his omnipotency in pardoning I compare with this Esay 55. 9. My thoughts are not as your thoughts What though your sinnes bee great and in their owne thoughts unpardonable and you thinke them greater then can bee forgiven but my thoughts sayes GOD are not as your thoughts he speakes this of pardoning but as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my thoughts above your thoughts and my waies above yours in multiplying to pardon Though you could not forgive nay though you cannot think or imagine how such transgressions should be forgiven yet I can forgive them A second sort of arguments is taken from the meanes and instrument by which forgivenesse is conveyed Wee are come to IESUS the Mediator of the new covenant and to the bloud of sprinkling which speakes better things then the bloud of Abel Hebrewes 12. 24. Hee speakes this as an encouragement to their faith and it is as if hee had said consider how the bloud of Abel though but the bloud of a poore man cryed so loud that it came up to heaven that it brought down vengeance upon Cain how loud then shall CHRISTS bloud speake What is it able to procure for us which speakes better things that is for mercy which God is more ready to heare the cry for then for vengeance and this cry is not of the bloud of an ordinary man as Abel was but of the bloud of his owne Sonne to which purpose compare with this that place Heb. 9. 14. How much more shall the bloud of Christ who through the eternall Spirit offered up himselfe without spot to God purge your conscience from dead workes As in the other place hee compares it with Abels bloud so here with the blood of Buls and Goates which in the old law served by Gods appointment for the outward purification of the flesh how much more how infinitely transcendently more above our thoughts or imaginations shall the bloud of the Sonne of God bee able to purge your consciences wee not able to conceive nor he to expresse hee onely sayes how much more c. and hee backeth it with two Reasons which put together shew the transcendency of that sufficiency in Christs bloud to cleanse us the first from the eternall Spirit whereby hee offered up himselfe it was not the bloud or sacrifice of a meere man but of God which sacrifice was in it selfe without spot There are three objections wee usually make against our selves by reason of our sins 1. That they are so many 2. So great 3. That they are reiterated and often fallen into Now the sprinkling of the bloud of Christ thus offered is sufficient to cleanse your consciences from and to take away all these Ezek. 36. 25. then will I sprinkle cleane water upon you and yee shall bee cleane from all your filthinesse and from all your idols will I cleanse you The bloud of Christ is the water there meant which cleanseth from sinne and filthinesse and from all though never so many and from filthinesse and idols from such sinnes though never so great Ah! but I have also fallen often into them Zach. 13. 1. His bloud is therefore compared to a fountaine set open for sinne and for uncleannesse not a cisterne but a fountaine a continuall spring perpetually running to cleanse us so that as there is a spring of sinne in us so as wee are defiled againe and againe so there is a spring of vertue in his bloud to cleanse us never to be dried up The last reason is taken from the freenesse of the covenant which God hath made with mankind if any man bee a thirst yea if any man will come let him come and drinke of the waters of life freely See the manner how it is set downe Iohn 7. 37. In the last day a great day of the feast Iesus stood and cryed saying if any man thirst let him come to me and drinke hee makes a proclamation for all to come as also Rev. 21. 6. and 22. 17. where he makes the like generall invitation and adds that they shall have it freely so the tenour of the covenant runnes that if any thirst those indeed
bring That if you humble your selves and turne from your evill wayes God will be mercifull to you and heale you FINIS Horat. 1. 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 4 1 Doct. 2 Doct. 3 Doct. Reas. 1. 2. 3. Num. 16. 9 4 Vse 1. Psal. 4. Vse 2. Ier. 40. 2 Observe Gods dealing Psalm 30. 5 verse 7. Vse 3. God will be more severe to wicked men Psalm 50. 1 Cor. 10. 22 1 Prophane 2. Civil men Revel 2. Exod. 23. 21. Vse 4. Not to think strange that God afflicts his Doct. 2. God pitties his people in affliction Reas. 1. He is slow to afflict Psal. 78. 38. Simile 2 He sustaines them in afflictions Dan. 11. 33. 34. Zach. 13. 9. 〈◊〉 By moderating them To be afflicted in measure what Psal. 125. 3. Psalm 129. 3 4. 2 Fashioning their hearts to beare it 1 To Pray Rom. 8. 26. 2 To Repent 3 To Patience Psalme 3. Reas. 3. In bringing them through Esay 27. 8. 2 Kings 6. 33. 2 Chron. 28 22. Quest. Answ. Afflictions of Gods people worke good in the end Iames 1 2. God deales thus 1 Because they are his people Hose 11. 8. 1 Sam. 12. 22. Micah 7. 18. 2 They are called by his name Numb 14. Object Answ. Mistake in afflictions 2 Cor. 6. Object Answ. Afflictions needfull 2 God afflicts no more then needs Esay 28. 24. Object Answ. Difference in afflictions Ier. 24 Object Answ. Why God sends many and great afflictions Dan. 11. Vse 1. Not to bee discouraged in afflictions Psalme 31. Psalme 30. Mica 7. 8. Object Answ. No avoyding afflictions sent God in due time removes affliction Marks 5. Mar. 4. 40 41. Vse 2. To come to God when we have offended him 1 Sam. 12 20. What keeps men from comming to God Ieremy 3. Vse 3. To leade us to repentance Rom. 2. 4. Double performaÌ„ce of Fasts 1 Publike 2 Private Zach. 12. 1 By confession of sinnes 2 Seeking reconciliation 3 Renewing covenants 4 To bee willing to leave fin 5. Labour to keepe our hearts in a good temper Dan. 11. Iames 4. Vse 4. To chuse the Lord for our God Heb. 11. 25. Psal. 119. 30 Happinesse in chusing God Motives to chuse God Ioy what Isay 26. 12. Psal. 31. 7. Vse 5. To confirm this choyce Doct. 3. The Lords Name called upon his People 2 1 Cor. 3. ult Reas. Because of Gods choyce Isa. 57. 15. Vse 1. To learne Obe dience We are not to serve our selves Luk. 14. 26. The nearenesse of our relation to God Ephes. 5. 31 32. verse 24. Iames 4. Exod. 23. 21 1 Cor. 7. 11. The wife the glory of the husband how 1 Pet. 2. 9 Vse 2. To humble our selves having sinned Humiliation double Love humbleth Ier. 2. 2 3. 2 Sam. 12. 7 8. Psalme 51. Two things in sinne Way to humiliation Cause of hardnesse of heart Levit. 23. 29 Object Answ. 1 God accepteth endeavours 2 Hel pes them Promises of Gods helpe Luk 11. 13. Zach. 12. 1â— The Spirit workes humiliation Iob 42. Iob. 42. Vse 3. Not to pollute Gods Name Simile Vse 4. Not to be ashamed to professe Gods name Object Answ. 1 Men ashamed of the power of re ligion Simile 2 Before wicked men Mark 8. 38. Rom. 10. 10. Outward profession is required Why men are asham'd of profession 2 Sam. 6. 24 Deut. 4. 6. Vse 5. Comfort concerning our selves and the Church Esa. 4. 5 6. Object Answ. c 1 2 Doct. 4. Without hu miliation no mercy What meant by humiliation 1 2 1 Necessity of humiliation Humiliation required 1 By God the Father 2 God the Sonne Luk. 4. 4. 3 God the Holy Ghost Ioh. 16. 8. 〈◊〉 1 2 Reas. 1. From the necessity of it 1 The relation it hath to the other conditions 1 Seeking for Christ. 2 Seeking merâ—cy Mat. 22. 5 6 Christs righteousnesse not esteemed by men unhumbled Reas. 3. No turning else from our evill wayes Simile Act â— Pride the cause of disobedience 2 Cor. 5. 10. Esay 66. 2. Reas. 4. Else there would not be constancy 2 Cor. 7. 10 Reas. 5. God should not have the praise of his mercy Why humiliation required first Reas. 1. No sacrifice accepted without it Psal. 51. 16 17. Reas. 2. It makes us Priests â— Cor. 8. 5. Reas. 3. Else the Spirit of God dwells not in us Esay 57. 15. Reas. 4. It makes us obedient in all things 2 Humiliation what Examples of men hum bled 2. Chron. 33. 12. Manasses The converts Acts 2. 37. The Goaler Acts 16. Prodigall Luk. 15. 〈◊〉 Humiliation of two parts Passive humiliation 〈◊〉 Sensiblenesse of sin 2 Feare of his estate 3 It workes consideration 1 It is wrought by the Law Simile The Law what 2 The Spirit workes humiliation 3 By afflictions Rom. 7. 2 Active humiliation Examples of this humiliation Luke 15. Foure payâ—s of ingredients in it 1 Hope of 〈◊〉 mercy and sence of mi sery 2 Our owne emptinesse and Gods alsufficiency 3 Sence of our sinnes and Christs righteousnesse 4 A sence of Gods love and our unkindnesse Difference betweene active and passive humiliation 1 In the matter 2 In the ground 3 In the instrumentall causes 4 In their ef fects 1 2 3 4 5 Properties of this humiliation 1 Prayer 1 2 Seeke Gods face 3 Turne from sinne 2 Chron. 33. 23. Simile 2 To cleave fast to Christ. 1 2 Two things accompany this humiliation Falling away the ground of it 3 Moderates the affections 4 To love God much 5 To be content with any condition 1 In want of outward things 2 Bearing crosses Lev. 26. 41. Ezech. 36. Case Whether such a measure of Legall sorrow be necessary Answ. Sorrow dou ble Violent sorrow not alwayes necessary 1 It 〈◊〉 not alwayes the greatest 2 1 Not necessary on mans part 2 Nor on Gods part 1 2 Simile 3 Greatnesse of sorrow 1 Comfort comes late Simile 2 From ignorance Simile Object Answ. Sence of sin necessary Two ends of humiliation To take Christ. 2 For Sanctification Simile Vse 1. 1 Exhortation to those that are humbled Degrees of grace from degrees of humiliation 2 Faith â—aith what Simile 2 Love 2 To those that are not humbled 1 To see the greatnesse of sinne 1 Single out some great sinne Acts 2. 〈◊〉 Iohn 4. Simile Sins great how 5 To make past sinnes present 3 Let sorrow abide Psalme 51. 2 Cor. 12. Simile Ioel 2. 4 Take heed of false reasonings Other excuses are in those Sermons upon Rom. 1. 17 18. 2 The sight of our misery and vanity to that end 1 See the greatnesse of God 2 Our owne weaknesse 3 Labour for the Spirit Object Answ. God gives the Spirit in our indeavours Doct. The Lord is mercifull to the humble Levit. 23. 27 Lev. 16. 20. Iames 4. 6. Psalme 25. Esay 57. 15. Esay 62. 2. 2 Chron. 12 Reas. 1. They give God the glory Acts 3. Iohn 17. 4. Reas. 2. It keepes a man in com passe Simile Reas. 3. Makes a man usefull 〈◊〉 others