you meet with many temptations here and you meet with many afflictions here trial upon trial one following another well under all comfort your selves with the Hope that is laid up in Heaven for you and ballance all your trials and temptations with the Hope that is in Heaven And Use 5. In the last place You that have a Hope laid up in Heaven for you see that you walk answerable to your Hope This is expected of you as the A postle tells you 1 Thes 2.12 That ye would walk worthy of God who hath called you unto his Kingdom and glory See that you walk worthy of the Hope that you have received Have you a Hope laid up in Heaven for you of such great things as we have mentioned a Hope ever to be with the Lord then carry it in a way correspondent to these Hopes in raised frames breathings and longings of heart after God The Hopes of an eternal enjoyment of God in the world to come should fill us with desires after the enjoyment of God here in those means and according to those waies in which he hath promised to let out of himself to his People You should be continually pressing after the enjoyment of God mediately who have the Hopes of the eternal enjoyment of God immediately And says the Apostle 1 Joh. 3.3 He that hath this Hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure If you have such a Hope then testifie it by laying siege to corruption and by seeking to mortifie the body of sin and death that you bear about you and correspond with your Hopes in pressing after holiness and a growth in all grace for he that hath this Hope and he that hath the Promise of these things will be perfecting Holiness in the fear of God Make it your business therefore to grow in grace and to advance in all Holiness that so you may abound and that yet more and more in the work of the Lord. Christians Freedom FROM Condemnation in Christ Romans 8.1 There is therefore now no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit THIS Chapter is as one calls it the Magazine of a Christian's comfort it is the Cabinet where many Jewels are lockt up the Ship where much of his Treasure is imbarqued The Apostle gives out comfort upon comfort unto Believers here 1. In the first part of the Chapter he endeavours to comfort them under the afflictive and discouraging sense that they had of the remaining corruption that did annoy and pester them every day shewing that it was pardoned and done away out of the sight of God 2. He endeavours to comfort them under all their trials tribulations and afflictions that were many and to be many in this world and shews them that there was a weight of glory in reserve that would more than ballance them all 3. He also endeavours to comfort them against their fears of falling away or of God's casting them off shewing of them that nothing shall separate them from the love of Christ And in the close of the Chapter Faith breaks out into an high act and he is able to triumph over all in this world and all the Principalities of Hell and Darkness that were engaged against him shewing that in Christ Jesus he was and all those in his state and condition were more than Conquerors through him that had loved them In the first verse you have a heart-reviving Proposition laid down There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus In the following verses you have the confirmation of this Proposition For says he the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sin and death In ver 9. he makes application of all unto those in Christ Jesus to whom he had written But ye says he are not in the flesh but in the spirit if so be the Spirit of God dwelleth in you All you that have the Spirit of God you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit and therefore there is no condemnation to you and he proposes it in such general terms as that all who have the Spirit may take it up and make application of the comfort thereof to their own Souls The Assertion that he lays down in the Text is no condemination to them that are in Christ Jesus Or a Conclusion that is drawn from the whole Doctrine of our Justification in and by the Righteousness of Jesus Christ of which he had treated in the preceeding Chapters of the Epistle Now this he concludes from it that being accepted in Christs righteousness and being in that justified before God there is now no condemnation for us so as you have in the words 1. This assertion laid down that there is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus 2. A Mark and Character given whereby we may come to know whether we are these to whom there is no condemnation that is such saies he walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit In the Proposition or assertion you may take notice 1. Of the Subjects and they are such as are in Christ 2. Of the Predicate and that is there is no Condemnation to them Some there are that make our being in Christ Jesus our vocation and they construe our Non-condemnation our justification and our walking not after the flesh but after the spirit to set forth our sanctification Condemnation it is the doom or sentence of a just and righteous Judge against an offender Now Non-condemnation it is the contrary hereunto that is to be acquitted to be discharged to have the sentence of death revoked and taken off and this is that that God doth for all those that are in Christ Jesus he revokes the sentence that was gone our against them There is in the Gospel a cancelling of our law obligation to die the Gospel that brings in life and removes the death that the law threatned and denounced against us and so the Proposition from the first part of the verse is this Doct. That all those that are in Christ they are acquitted absolved and discharged by God There is now saies he no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus No condemnation from God no condemnation in Heaven for them God the Father that is in Christ a Father of Mercies and a Father of Forgivenesses he comes and forgives and discharges them There are 3 Courts as I may so say there is the Court of Heaven there is the Court of Conscience and there are the Courts of Men. Now a Child of God may be sentenced in the two latter and yet acquitted and cleared in the former he may be condemning himself he may be drawing up charges against himself he may write nothing but bitterness against himself when he is acquitted before God he may be accused and condemned by Men Jesus Christ was so counted a Sinner numbred amongst Transgressours and yet the
Mat. 18.23 c. The Lord there gives us a Parable of a Servant The Lord had compassion on him and forgave him the debt and the same servant went out to his fellow-servant that owed him an hundred pence and he took him by the throat saying pay me that thou owest me c. Here is set forth the spirit of the children of men they would have forgiveness from others but they will not forgive themselves Well but when Peter came to Christ and said Lord how often shall my Brother sin against me and I forgive him till seven times Jesus saith unto him I say not unto thee until seven times but until 70 times 7. As often as he doth offend so often thou shalt forgive Use 6. Again This Doctrine calls for an abhorrence of all Papal Masses as propitiatory Sacrifices for sin You that have heard any thing of the grace of God in the forgiveness of the New Covenant do you detest and defie the Idolatry and the abominations of the Church of Rome who would pretend to forgive sins What is this but to wrong the grace of God What is this but to trample upon the blood of the Covenant as an insufficient thing No pardon of sin doth not come in at so cheap a rate as to be bought with money but it comes in at the door of free Grace through the blood of Jesus Thousands of Rams ten thousand of Rivers of Oil the first-born of the body for the sin of the Soul will not satisfie for they and their money will perish together that would buy pardon of sin with such a price Bless God that you know better and let it raise up in you an abhorrence of that Religion that would thus corrupt you Quest Ay But some poor Soul will be saying Ah! But how shall I come to get God's discharge sealed upon my Soul O! had I but the evidence and witness of this all would be well Ans 1. In the first place Come before God with confessions in thy mouth Bewail and spread thy transgressions before him Psal 32.5 Says David I acknowledged my sin unto thee and my iniquity have I not hid I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin I confest says he and I said I would confess He came and judged himself before God he came and lamented his sinful condition and his sin-guiltiness before God he lamented and bewailed he poured out his confessions before God and the Lord he came and visited his Soul with pardon with the sense of forgiveness 2. Plead with God for his pardon and urge his promise for forgiveness This is that which the servants of the Lord have done when they have wanted the sense of pardon Psal 51.1 Have mercy upon me O God! according to thy loving-kindness according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions When sin lay against Israel God began to threaten Moses steps up and pleads with God for pardon that God would pardon their sin So the Servants of the Lord have all along pleaded with God for pardon in the want of it Do you do thus and urge God with his promise of forgiveness 3. Have your Eye upon Jesus Christ Pardon comes through his blood it is merited it is purchased by Jesus Christ look unto him and put forth renewed acts of faith upon him and in the renewing of thy close with him and in the resignation of thy self by faith to him thou mayest come to have thy pardon sealed 4. Wait upon God in sealing Ordinances It may be thou hast wronged thy Soul to this day that thou hast walked at so great a distance from God in his sealing Ordinances if thou hadst gone thither and attended upon God it may be thou hadst had some hint of his pardoning love to thee that would have more satisfied thy Soul I remember what God said to Gideon I only allude to it Judg. 7.10 11. Go and listen says he and thou shalt hear something that will strengthen thee So I say wait upon God in those Ordinances where God gives out strengthening grace and where God seals up his love to his People and there thou mayest have something that may be a feast to thy Soul there mayest thou meet with something that may confirm this love of God to thy Soul and put all out of doubt more to thee than ever And you that have the sense of God's discharging love in your hearts I have two or three words to leave with you 1. Improve it improve the sense of it unto an influence to all duties and to all obedience to God Let the sense of his kindness to you be so improved and wrought upon your hearts as it may constrain you to devote and dedicate your selves to God in your whole course to lay out your selves in all duties of obedience to God more than ever And know that you can never serve this God enough you can never do for this God enough that hath done so much for you labour to do more for him than ever and to serve him with a better heart and with a better spirit to pray more in your prayers to pray with more fervency and to confess with more sincerity and to walk with God in more exactness lay out your selves to the utmost in this work 2. Extend your pity and compassion unto those that are yet in a condemned state Your Souls should mourn over those that are yet in their sins You know what it is to be under sin and you know what it is to be under grace and therefore your hearts should be full of compassion to those that are yet in that state that by grace you are delivered from Ebedmelech's compassion and tenderness to the Prophet is recorded Jer. 38.11 That he took men with him and went into the house of the King under the Treasury and took with him old cast clouts and old rotten raggs and let them down with Cords into the Dungeon to Jeremiah O Sirs your bowels should work towards those that are yet in their sins I remember what David promiseth to God Psal 51.12 13. Restore to me the Joy of thy Salvateon and uphold me with thy free Spirit then shall I teach transgressors thy waies and sinners shall be converted unto thee He would then make it his business to turn sinners to God he would make it his business to convince and awaken and draw others out of their sinful state that is to labour with them if by any means the Spirit of God may work upon them be you full of compassion to others in a state of condemnation And 3. And lastly Keep up a humble sense of your great transgressions that God hath forgiven you I say keep up and walk under a humble sense of those transgressions that God hath forgiven you Sirs though God hath forgiven your sins yet you should remember them you should remember them so as to walk humbly and softly before God all your daies that you did ever provoke so gracious a God by such heinous provocations and inormities FINIS A Catalogue of Books Printed for and are to be sold by Edward Giles Bookseller in Norwich near the Market place A Discourse of Divine Providence A Word in Season Defensive Armour A Discourse of the Ordinary Matter of Prayer Sermons upon the whole first and second Chapters of the Canticles Allen's Way of the Spirit in bringing Souls to Christ The Glories of Christ set forth with the Necessity of Faith in several Sermons By Thomas Allen late of Norwich Several Sermons of Timothy Armitage late of Norwich Lougher's Precious Promises the Portion of Overcommers The Saint's Ebenezer By Francis English late of Norwich Directions for the Learned to Spell English right The History of the Protestant Reformation as it was begun by Luther The Dead Saints Speaking A Sermon Preached upon the Death of Mr. Newcomb The English Presbyterian
full my Jesus is full though I am robbed he is not robbed though I have little or nothing Jesus Christ he hath all and Christ is all and all his fulness is mine Sense of Interest will raise your hopes and expectations upon Christ Jesus My friends now we look upon Christ and have low thoughts of him we look upon Christ and our expectations are not raised upon Christ We come to an Ordinance where Christ is discovered and displayed in the riches of his Death and in the glories of his Life and our hearts are not raised upon this why but because we have not the sense of our Interest The sense of Interest will raise your expectations and will comfort you against the thoughts of death Now Lord says good old Simeon lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy Salvation Luk. 2.29.30 And says the Apostle I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is best of all The sense of Interest will lay you in against all fears of the approaching Judgment instead of being afraid of it it will make you long for it when the Soul comes to see and know and be ascertained that the judge of the Court is his friend and is in relation to him and hath loved him so as to lay down his life for him and hath ever been designing upon him in a way of love and grace this Soul will not be afraid to appear before him but will long for the day when he shall come to see his Jesus clothed with glory So as a clear evidence of interest in Christ obtained maintained and gospelly managed will be of singular advantage unto a Christian in his whole Christian course SERMON V. Habakkuk 3.18 Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation THe Proposition was this Doct. That there is enough in Jesus Christ alone for the Souls full rejoycing and triumph whatsoever his state and condition is in this world Now we proposed First To give you several introductory particulars by way of premise These we have dispatched And shall now proceed to consider what are the grounds of a believers darkness about his interest 2. It may be said in the second place if there be such solid and substantial grounds of joy in Christ Jesus for the believing Soul at all times and in all conditions what is the reason then that believers are so often in a dark dubious uncomfortable shattered state that they are seldom able in any stedfastness of spirit to look up unto Christ Jesus and glory in him Ans 1. I answer The darkness of the believers interest doth oft-times arise from a looking more unto such things in the examination of himself as argue the height of an interest then to such things as do discover the truth of an interest They do fix upon such things as are discoveries of a grown state in Christ when as they should fix upon such things as do discover an in-being in Christ they propose to themselves that corruption must be so and so brought under and mortifying work must be carried on to such a height or else they can have no grounds of their interest in Christ they propose to themselves such a measure of love as must be flaming to Christ at all times or else they think they have no love at all they think they must have such a measure of faith as to believe without staggering or else they have no part in Christ Now hereby they â—o ensnare their own Spirits and encrease their darkness But you should look more at such things as argue the truth of an interest then at those things that do argue the growth and improvement of that interest Secondly Darkness of evidence doth oft-times arise from the believers viewing his wants and overlooking his present receits Jesus Christ hath done a great deal for him and hath given out a great deal to him and hath made a wonderful change in him he cannot deny it if he be put to it but he overlooks all this and considers his present wants his weaknesses his short comings his failings his smallness of strength his staggering before a temptation the uncertainty of his Spirit in his walking with God and he bears the stress of his condition upon his present wants not considering what Jesus Christ hath already done nor considering that the work is gradually carried on Now Christians if you would lay your selves fair for the Spirits Gospel evidence in your souls then you must take in the encouragements of your condition as well as your discouragements you must not only insist upon your discouragements but consider also what Jesus Christ hath done and what a change he hath begun to work and what have been the movings of your souls towards him from divine influences upon your Spirits Thirdly The darkness of evidence or obscurity of interest do oft-times arise from the prevailings of sin in the heart upon which Christ suspends Sin that rallies that gathers head in the Soul that presses forward and the Soul gives way to the temptation and is overcome and upon it darkness does arise this was Davids case David was assured ay but sin prevailing in his heart drove him into the dark that all the joys of the holy Spirit were for a time taken from him 2 Sam. 12.7 8 9. And Nathan said unto David thou art the man thus saith the Lord God of Israel I anointed thee King over Israel and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul c. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight I have done all this for thee saith the Lord thou hast despised my commandment and done evil in my sight So the Lord Jesus speaks unto the Soul I have thus and thus manifested my self to thee I thought it not too much to take thee into communion with my self I thought it not too much to dandle thee upon my knee and to give thee the assurance of all that I have done for thee But thou hast wickedly departed from me and broken my Commandments and it is just with the Lord now to suspend prevailings of sin will cause a suspense You know that Absolom upon his rebellion was excluded for a while from his Fathers House he must not see his Fathers face just thus it is with a Soul when it hath turned aside into some way of folly after it hath provoked the Lord the Lord he hides himself from him he won't let him see his face he must not come into his presence to see him and to rejoyce in the light of his countenance as formerly he had done The prevailings of sin after Grace do many times cause a suspense Fourthly Darkness of evidence is occasioned from the Souls crediting the reports of Satan that lead him to deny what Jesus Christ hath done for him and in him upon undenyable demonstrations of the power of his Grace in his
sin he takes pleasure therein O! it is his meat and drink to satisfie the lusts of his heart in gratifying this Lord that is over his Soul Now my Friends your Interest in Christ may be discovered by the distance that your hearts stand in from the power and interest of this Lord that Jesus Christ hath overthrown that is a constant enemy to your in-being and standing in Christ And that I may help you to make a right judgment of your state in reference to this particular I shall open to you in several particulars what this distance is that the Soul stands in unto the interest of sin that Jesus Christ hath overthrown in the heart upon his making over himself to the Soul First There is upon the Soul's Interest in Christ this distance unto sin his former Lord that he proclaims war against it and becomes its professed enemy It may be the life of a Christian is not at present a Conquering life ay but it is a Conflicting life Rom. 7.23 But I see another Law in my members warring against the Law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the Law of sin which is in my members Well there is opposition for opposition as sin riseth up against him so he riseth up against sin And as sin upon his Interest in Christ declares against him so he declares against sin and he watcheth it as one enemy watcheth the motions of another and he taketh all waies and useth all endeavours to foil and bring under this enemy Secondly The opposition that is carryed on and managed in the heart against sin it is general It is not an opposition in one part only but it is an opposition that the whole Soul doth engage in and all the powers of the Soul are concerned in it It is not only an opposition in the Conscience but there is an opposition in the Affections as well as in the Conscience and there is an opposition in the Will as well as in the Conscience and Affections and also an opposition in the Judgment both the Conscience and the Affections the Will and the Understanding and Judgment do all discharge against sin and all the renewed powers of the Soul enter into a strict combination against the interest of sin The Conscience that lays loads upon it whenever it appears and the Affections they declare against it and the Will that resolves against it and the Understanding and Judgment do discover it and witness against it The opposition that is made it is general Thirdly In this distance that the heart stands in unto sin upon its Interest in Christ the heart in its most deliberate actings stands in an irreconcileableness unto it The opposition that is made is not upon a sudden motion it is not upon a passion of the Soul that in cool thoughts will be called in again but the Soul in its most deliberate actings stands in an irreconcileableness unto it That the Affections will never be enticed over to sin again the Love will never be invited over to sin again indeed he may be overpowered to sin but he will never be reconciled to sin more his Love and Affections can never be gained to sin again but the Affections are so broken that the distance will ever remain and the Soul will alwaies stand in and act upon an irreconcileableness to it Fourthly The distance of the heart unto the interest of sin upon the Soul's Interest in Christ is universal unto all sin It is not only alienated and drawn from notorious and gross sins that make a great noise in the world or against some particular sins that his walking in will turn to his disadvantage but it stands at a distance from all sin from heart-sins as well as from life sins from small sins as well as from great sins and from such sins as are connatural to us from inclination complexion and condition and employment and the like the heart stands at an universal distance from all sin Fifthly The distance of the heart from sin upon its Interest in Christ is unto sin as it hath a contrary nature in it to the Interest of Christ in him He doth oppose sin not upon a particular but upon a general account he opposeth sin as sin as it hath a contrariety in its nature unto the Lord and the Interest and Dominion of the Lord in his Soul and so he will oppose sin while sin is sin and whilst there is any sin remaining in him The distance that his heart stands in unto sin is unto it as it hath a contrary nature in it unto Christ's Interest in him and his Interest in Christ Sixthly The distance of the heart unto the Interest of sin that Christ hath overturned upon his having an interest in himself it is such as hates sin in the temptation It doth not only hate sin when it is committed and when Conscience lays hold upon him for the commitment of it but it sets the Soul at a distance from sin in the temptation whilst it is a great way off and hence we are commanded to abstain from the appearance of evil and the Saints they hate the appearance of evil that which looks like a disputable evil the gracious heart stands at a distance from it or that which hath a probability in it of being an occasion of sin to him that will the gracious heart stand off from he will oppose sin at a distance and he hates and watcheth against sin in the temptation the heart stands at such a distance from it Seventhly The distance of the heart from sin is such that it chuseth rather to suffer than to sin Nay it will chuse a great suffering before a little sin It will say Lord any thing rather than sin and no burthen will be like the burthen of sin to him no weight like the weight of sin upon his Conscience and therefore he says Lord any condition rather than to be driven upon a temptation whereby I shall sin any thing Lord but sin Eighthly The distance that the heart stands in unto sin upon its Interest in Christ is such as doth discover a great reluctancy of spirit and deep searchings of heart upon the invasions of sin and the Soul 's passive captivities by it Probably he may be foiled and overcome by sin and many times against his will he is overcome ay but when he is so he mourns and he weeps and that bitterly he doth not justifie the fault he doth not extenuate the offence he doth not hide his transgression but his Soul breaks out into mourning by reason of it and that upon the passive captivities of the Soul by it when the Soul against his will is overcome he watches and he strives to keep it under and yet sin is too hard for him and whether he will or no sometimes leads him captive and carries him out of the way he goes mourning into these captivities and he groans when he falls into the hands of sin
and when he is at any time taken a prisoner Thus it was with Paul Paul had an honest heart he did labour against sin what he could and yet says he I find that when I would do good evil is present with me and there is a cursed Law in my members that leads me captive to the Law of sin whether I will or no he strove and conflicted and watcht and did his utmost yet says he I find a Law that when I would do good evil is present and I am taken captive but he groans under it O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Rom. 7.24 It was one of the deepest and most sorrowful complaints that ever the Apostle Paul made and thus we find Scripture Saints upon Record when at any time they have been overcome and led captive it hath been a time of great sorrow darkness mourning and bitter complaint to them Now this is another part of the distance that the Soul stands in from sin Ninthly The heart stands upon his Interest in Christ at such a distance from sin that nothing will satisfie the Soul but the returns of death upon it Sin that seeks the ruine of grace and the destruction of the Soul and the Soul that is interested in Christ stands at such a distance from sin that he seeks and designs and labours to the utmost to hate sin and to pursue it unto death It is not the pardon of sin that will satisfie a true Believer Let me say thus much that if you be at no greater distance from sin than this that if the Lord will pardon you all is well and you will lay down the Cudgels it is a sign your heart is not right with Christ If you have an Interest in Christ you will be at a greater distance from sin than so the pardon of sin will not satisfie you if sin should be driven into the secret retirement of your Soul and should there remain among the stuff yet this will not satisfie you The Soul that is interested in Christ is set upon the death of sin as its enemy and that is the meaning of those Scriptures wherein we are called upon to mortifie sin and to crucifie sin that is to destroy sin to be the death of it Ephes 5.14 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts They are doing of it sin is dying and mortifying and crucifying and it shall be crucified and mortified and slain and appear to be wholly dead ere long This is that that the Soul is set upon the death of this body of death the utter ruine and destruction of it it will not be satisfied that sin is a mortifying and dying in it but the distance of the heart from it is such that it will not bear the being of it Though it cannot drive out all these cursed Canaanites to have the Land at rest and peace when it will yet it will maintain the war and abide the field and never give over till sin be wholly dead Now I beseech you Christians you who are desirous to clear your own state bring your condition to a tryal upon this head and examine what that distance is that your heart stands in unto the Interest and Power of your former state which Jesus Christ hath overthrown examine the distance that your hearts stand in unto sin in these nine particulars Is the distance such as that you have proclaimed engaged in an holy war against it Or do you only speak slightly of sin before men and hide it in your hearts Again consider Is the Conflict that you profest to be engaged in against sin general Or is your opposition against sin only in your Conscience Verily a natural man will oppose sin thus A Hypocrite's Conscience may check him for sin a carnal man's Conscience may sometimes wound him for sin and speak high against it but is the opposition from the Affections from the Will and from the Judgment as well as the Conscience Do all the powers of the Soul engage against it And do they all combine against sin to bring it under If so Christians though sin yet live in you and sometimes prevail over you to your grief and disadvantage yet you are of the better side and have a promising evidence of your Interest in Christ And again doth your heart in its most deliberate actings stand in an irreconcileableness unto sin It may be the opposition thou makest against sin is only in a passion or only some sudden motion upon a disadvantage that thou meetest with in thy sinful waies but consider whether your Souls do deliberately stand in an irreconcileableness unto sin and whether your Affections be so engaged that they refuse to receive this object because your Souls loath it Again Is this distance universal to all fin It may be Soul there are some sins that thou wouldest pick at and be willing to part with them but there are some others that you are ready to say of them O! they are but little ones Good Lord spare them Is the distance thy heart stands in to sin to all sin to heart-sins as well as to life-sins to little sins as well as to great sins to those sins that are most connatural and that thy heart and thy disposition doth most close with And then again Is thy distance to sin as sin as it hath a contrary nature in it to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his blessed Interest in thy heart then the Conflict will be abiding as long as there is sin remaining in thy Soul Again How stands thy heart unto sin in the temptation This verily is a discriminating Character of a Saint Those whose hearts are not rightly engaged they may oppose sin and speak highly against it when it is committed and when they have seen the ill consequents and effects of it but do you oppose sin in the temptation when it is a great way off And do you shun and avoid and flee from the occasions of sin that which may probably be an introducement unto sin do you avoid that and arm your selves against that This will be an evidence to you that you are interested in Christ And again Do you chuse rather to suffer than to sin Verily this is also a discriminating Character of the reality of your Interest in Christ Another man may chuse to avoid sin when he receives a prejudice by it or when he cannot apprehend an advantage to the lusts and desires of his own heart Ay but the gracious Soul that is interested in Christ it stands afar off from sin so as it says Lord any condition rather than sin any burthen rather than the burthen of sin any affliction any grief rather than sin And then Do you consider what reluctancies are in your spirits against the irruptions of sin and the passive captivities of the Soul by it Where the heart is not right it will have no
delights in and as to all Ordinances he values them not but as he meets with Jesus Christ in them if he finds not Christ in an Ordinance he counts the Ordinance as no Ordinance And if a Lord's Day doth pass without some communion with Christ he counts 't is no day to his Soul And the Gospel of Christ Jesus that he prizes so much it is because it is Christ's Gospel and the Truths of the Gospel that are so dear to to him that he can venture all for it is because they are Christ's Truths Now Christians examine your state and condition by this also what is it that you value your selves by Do you value your selves by your bare professions Do you value your selves by your enlargement Do you value your selves by your gifts Do you value your selves by the name that you have amongst men Those that are in Christ do not value themselves thus but by what they apprehend themselves to be in and to have received from Christ Jesus Thirteenthly Again The Soul that is interested in Christ rises and falls in its spirit according unto the sensible manifestations or withdrawings of Christ in his heart he rejoyces as Christ doth appear and he is saddened as Christ doth withdraw and his joy is coming and going as Christ is coming and going in his heart an appearance of Christ makes day in his heart and the withdrawings of Christ makes night in his Soul When there is a Curtain drawn between Christ and him then he is in the dark and then his Soul sits in sorrow then he is covered over with mourning but upon the return of Christ his Soul leaps within him and he is filled and satisfied as with marrow and fatness Isa 61.10 I will rejoyce in the Lord my Soul shall be joyful in my God Why so because Christ doth appear and puts on something of his own clothing and giveth out something of himself to me he comes as a Bridegroom decketh himself with Ornaments and makes me as his Bride and decks me with his Jewels Now this doth cause me to rejoyce in the Lord and makes me joyful in my God Days of communion and seasons of manifestation they are the festival days that his Soul enjoys and nothing causes so great a damp upon his heart as when Christ draws off This was seen in David he rises and falls in his spirit as were the manifestations or the withdrawings of Christ there Lord says he thy loving kindness is better than life Ay there was his joy and gladness And Lord says he at another time thou didst but hide thy face and I was troubled there was his sorrow for Christ's absence And says the Spouse Cant. 1.2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth By kiss here is meant some visible manifestation of Christ unto his Soul some discernable token of his love Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth for thy love saies he is better than Wine Wine you know was to be given to those that were of a heavy heart by Solomons direction Proverbs 31.6 and Psal 104.15 Wine that maketh glad the heart of man and Oil to make his face to shine So as Wine it is to be given to those that are of a heavy heart it is that which is to make joyful and to exhilarate the Spirits Now saies David Lord thy love is better then Wine there is more in a little communication of Christ Jesus then in the greatest refreshment and heart chearing in the world for this love that is better then Wine is not love simply considered but the effects of love in gracicious manifestations as John 14.21 22. He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest my self unto him and saies Judas not Iscariot Lord how is it that thou wilt manifest thy self unto us and not unto the world This love was a love of manifestation now saies he Let him kiss me mith the kisses of his mouth Let love be manifested and this manifesting love is better than Wine O it will make all other things dainties to him and sweets to be bitter in his Spirit this is sweet indeed and an abiding ground of joy and comfort to his Soul upon the evidence of his love and upon the sight of his face and communion with him Now Christians examine your hearts by this if that your joy be determined upon something else then upon Christ and if that the withdrawments of Christ don't cause the greatest sadness unto your Spirits it is a shround sign that you have no interest in Christ But now where Christ Jesus is lookt upon as the very joy of your Souls and you most of all joy in his presence and you are most of all troubled at his departure and at the hidings of his face it is a sign of interest O it is a sign that that Woman doth intirely love her Husband that cannot bear that he should be long absent from her and is most of all pleased in his company so it is a sign that that Soul is married unto Christ Jesus that cannot bear the withdrawments of Christ and that is never so much troubled and tossed and discomforted and afflicted in his Spirit as when Jesus Christ stands behind the Curtain and refuseth to make answer to his Soul when he is crying after him SERMON VIII Habakkuk 3.18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord I will Joy in the God of my Salvation VVE proposed to give you some notes of evidence whereby you may come to know that this Jesus is your Jesus and that you are interesced in him We have already gone through 13 particulars and shall now proceed Fourteenthly The Soul that is interested in Christ hath constraining abiding endearments in his heart unto Jesus Christ so as no discouragement shall turn him off from Christ but he will cut the way through all opposition to come to the enjoyment of him My Friends if you are really interested in Christ and have upon an interest tasted how gracious the Lord is difficulties in your way to Christ will be no difficulties so you may enjoy him the Soul in Christ will be contented to be reproached for Christ so he may enjoy him and the reproaches that he meets withal in the way of Christ will be no great matter to him so Christ and he may keep together You may see what was the Spirit of an old Testament Saint in Heb. 11.24 25. By Faith Moses when he was come to years refused to be called the Son of Pharaohs Daughter chusing rather to suffer affliction with the People of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season v. 26. Esteeming the reproaches of Christ greater riches then the Treasures of Egypt Persecutions won't part Christ and the real sincere Christian but though he shall be persecuted for Christ yet if Christ and he
recoilings and clashings of our will with our condition is a main hinderance unto our rejoycing in and acting Faith upon the Lord Jesus under a sad providence And the great reason why some persons are under such great dissatisfaction in their own spirits that they know not how to bear the troubles of their state is because their wills are not brought to their condition but they go about to bring their condition to their wills and when any thing considerable comes in upon them that doth not suit with their wills it causeth royls disquiets and disturbances of spirit and discomposure of heart and such a Soul will never rejoyce in Christ in an evil day Now Christians if you would get into the Life of Faith you must then bring your will to your condition be what it will own the disposing hand of God that makes the change whatever your change is and yield obedience to the Lord's will that hath the over-ruling power of your state and keep your spirits within the confines of the will of God otherwise a cross or a tryal in your outward condition will make a great alteration in the inward frame of your spirit I will give you a few Instances for the clearing of this Paul was a man that rejoyced and gloried in Christ Jesus when he had almost nothing else left him in this world many times his heart was made sad among the Churches of Christ that he came to make glad and as to losses who met with more says he I was in perils oft and in hunger and in distress and in nakedness and yet this man he glories in tribulations he counted it all joy when he fell into divers tribulations how came this about that this man was got thus into a rejoycing in Christ Jesus when the whole world frowned upon him He tells us Phil. 4.11 12. his will was brought unto his condition I speak not says he in a complaining way in respect of want for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content for I know how to want and how to abound Says he if God empties me my will is brought to my condition I am willing to be emptied if the Lord will make me poor and take away what I have I am willing to be made poor my spirit is brought to my condition He that can live in the confines of the will of God will live comfortably and rejoyce in the Lord at all times Another instance for this is Job Job you know was a man that was sorely tryed I think as much as ever man was upon earth now Job's will was brought to his condition and hence came he to rejoyce in the Lord Job 1.21 Now Job's wife's spirit was not brought to her condition she could not tell how to be contented for she said unto him Chap. 2.10 Dost thou still retain thy integrity Curse God and die but he said unto her Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh what shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord and not evil As if he had said It was the Lord that filled me and shall not the Lord empty me We were satisfied when the Lord was filling of us and shall we not be satisfied now the Lord is emptying of us Another instance is that of good old Eli 1 Sam. 3.18 Samuel told him every whit and held nothing from him and he said It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good Why if the Lord will strip me says he I am willing to be stript if the Lord will take away my Children and take away my comforts and break up my house It is the Lord I am contented if the Lord will do so let him my will is brought to my condition Let him do as seemeth him good So David 2 Sam. 15.26 But if he say thus I have no delight in thee behold here I am let him do to me as seemeth good to him And thus it was with our Lord Jesus the greatest instance of all Father says he not my will but thy will be done Let my Father chuse for me I will not bring my will into competition with his If he will have me to drink off this Cup I will drink it if he will have me to lay down my life I will if he will have all my glory obscured it shall be so if he will have me a man of sorrows his will be done and not my will You do not know Christians what an alteration of heart and what an alteration of life this living in the will of God will make 8. Captivate and throw out all the suggestions of sense and reason upon the rising difficulties of your state If that reason speak over your hearts in a strait and sense give the ruling word over your spirits in your condition it will certainly cause you to repine and murmure and to sin against God Sense and reason are great enemies unto our peace and comfort If sense and reason have liberty to speak and to be heard in your hearts they will certainly lay your spirits under a discouragement and drive you off from the Lord. Thus it was with Israel when they were in the wilderness as soon as they were come out of Egypt where they had their Rivers and their Pools and their Ponds of Water and where they had their Flesh-pots and were fed to the full They came into a howling wilderness into a dry and barren place where they had no Wells of Water where there was no plowing nor sowing then they fell a murmuring and chiding of Moses and said Wherefore hast thou brought us hither into this place to slay us for it is not supposed to be rational that we can live here in this wilderness but if we abide here we must die Numb 11.4 5 6. And the mixt multitude that were among them fell a lusting and all the children of Israel wept again saying Who shall give us flesh to eat We remember the flesh that we ate in Egypt freely the Cucumbers and the Millons c. And Psal 78 19. Yea they spake against God They said Can God furnish a Table in the wilderness And Numb 20.12 Bebold there is no water for the Congregation and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and they chod with Moses saying would to God we had died when our Brethren died before the Lord and why have ye brought up the Congregation of the Lord into this wilderness that we and our Cattel should die there and wherefore have ye made us to come out of Egypt to bring us unto this evil place It is no place of sowing seed or of Fields or of Vineyards or of Pomegranats Here you see sense and reason spake over their condition and how did it lay their Souls under discouragement And if you do but review at your leisure the great murmurings of this people when they were in the wilderness it was something or other that sense and
we are passed from death to life we know it says he And the Spirit it self beareth witness with our spirits that we are the Children of God Rom. 8.16 There is a report and a testimony of the Spirit of God within and there is by the work of the Spirit and by the hand of the Spirit the discharge and the work of God in the discharge sealed upon the Soul of the Believer so as he knows as really as he hath known that he was a sinner that he is discharged from his sins Though a person may be discharged and not know it for the Spirit of God doth not alwaies witness the Spirit of God doth not alwaies seal Nay he may seal and his Seal may be hid he may make report and give evidence and this evidence may be lost Those that have had the assurance of the pardon of their sins may lose it again or it may be some considerable time after the Soul hath been discharged before he is able to read his discharge but the Spirit of the Lord first or last will be a Witnesser and Sealer to all those that have their discharge and they shall know it and have the comfort of it It is a real discharge Secondly It is a free discharge God doth all that he doth for his People gratis there is nothing in them that hath procured and bought in the blessing at the hand of the Lord. But when he comes to discharge a Soul he doth it for his own Names sake As Isa 43.25 I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake and will not remember thy sins I will blot them out says God not for thy sake for thou hast deserved no such thing at my hand but I will blot them out for my own sake I do all that I do freely and therefore says he Rom. 3.24 Being justified freely by his grace We are justified freely by the grace of God When the sinner deserveth the full and the effectual execution of the sentence that was denounced against him then comes the Lord in a way of free and soveraign grace and he discharges and he pardons As Hos 14.4 I will heal their backslidings I will love them freely for mine anger is turned away from them I will love them freely and I will pardon freely and I will pass by and I will forgive freely So Col. 2.13 And you being dead hath he quickened together with him having forgiven you all trespasses So we read it But it may be read Having freely forgiven you all trespasses God freely forgives the trespasses of his People those that he takes unto himself and those that are in Christ therefore we are called upon by the Lord for to come unto him without money and without price Come ye says he that thirst to the waters such as have no money such as have no price come and hearken diligently and your Souls shall live Isa 55.1 2 3. Thirdly It is a full discharge which the Lord grants unto his People a discharge that takes off all their sins at once Psal 103.3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy diseases They are not hundreds and thousands only but all that you stand guilty of All sins of omission and all sins of commission all sins against the first Table and all sins against the second Table they are all at once forgiven all secret sins and all open sins all heart-sins and all life-sins they are all forgiven Hezekiah he made Faith of this Isa 38.17 For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back The sinner when he returns to God comes with a load of sins upon him thousands of thousands of sins he brings with him a multitude of sins and the Lord when he receives this guilty Soul he forgives them all at once Isa 55.7 Let the wicked forsake his waies and the unrighteous man his thoughts Or the man of wickedness and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and unto our God for he will abundantly pardon Or as it may be read he will multiply pardons Sins have been multiplied in daies of ignorance and multiplied in daies of knowledge multiplied against all the strivings of the Spirit multiplied under many tenders of Christ multiplied under many of the beseechings of the Spirit multiplied in the clear Light of a Gospel-day But says he this shall not keep off for I will abundantly pardon God's pardon shall be as extensive as all his transgressions were Hereupon says the Apostle There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus There is no sin remaining to condemn him of all his repeated transgressions of all the thousands and ten thousands that he is guilty of there is no condemnation not one sin left upon the score to condemn him V. 33. Who shall lay any thing unto the charge of God's Elect it is God that justifieth Satan will heap up things against them but there shall not condemn them their own Consciences may bring in Indictment after Indictment against them but says he there is not any thing that shall stand in record against them not any thing that shall be laid to their charge to condemn them not any of their sins be they never so small not any of their sins be they never so great that shall remain against them Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect when God justifies Whereupon says the Prophet Jer. 50.20 The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none and the sins of Judah and they shall not be found for I will pardon them whom I reserve Their iniquity shall be sought for and there shall be none found why because the pardon of God reacheth every one Col. 2.13 Having forgiven you all trespasses And Heb. 8.12 I will be merciful to their unrighteousnesses and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more I will be merciful not to this unrighteousness or the other but to all their unrighteousnesses to their sins and to their iniquities It is spoken of in general terms that they might know it will reach every particular It is a full discharge in so much as the believer is counted righteous he is constituted righteous before God Heb. 11.4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice then Cain by which he obtained witness that he was righteous that is in his justification in Christ Jesus in which justification he had absolution and in the compleatness of his justification before God by Gods imputative act he was reckoned he was constituted righteous 4. The discharge that God gives out to those in Christ it is irrevocable It is such an act of grace as God will abide by as God will never recede from no not to eternity therefore he saies Jeremiah 31.34 I will forgive their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more The believer he is afraid it may be that something may be brought
in against him at last that after-reckonings may undo all No saies God when I forgive sin I do it with this resolve of grace never to remember it more and therefore Psal 103.12 As far as the east is from the west so far hath he removed our transgressions from us east and west can never meet together so the sins of a believer that are forgiven by God shall never return again never return again to his Condemnation The sense of them may return again and again for his humiliation but the sins themselves shall never return again unto Condemnation for God having once blotted them out will never more write them down therefore Rom. 11.29 The gifts and callings of God are without repentance God doth all in wisdom in righteousness and in judgment he knows what he doth he sees all before and he sees after at once and therefore there can never be any repentance in God for him to recede from his own act of grace but having once absolved the poor sinner he shall remain so to eternity Micah 7.19 Thou wilt cast their iniquities into the depth of the Sea That which is thrown in at the Havens mouth may be washt up again but now take a milstone and carry it into the vast Ocean and cast it into the depth of the Sea and it will never be seen more and thus the Lord to illustrate his own grace doth make use of such comparisons to speak to our understanding This act of his grace is done in Judgment and God will never repent of it it is an irrevocable act Rom. 8.1 There is therefore now no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus VVE made entrance upon these words and gave you this Proposition from them Doct. That all those that are in Christ are acquitted absolved and discharged by God We have given you the properties of this discharge that God gives out unto the believer in Christ And shall now proceed Object But you will say if that believers be thus fully and irrevocably discharged by God how comes it to pass that they are the persons that God doth so much afflict in the world that they are seldom free but followed with adversity upon adversity trial upon trial and yet all their sins done away Ans I answer Though Gods People are the People of affliction and adversity ordinarily in the world yet their afflictions are not from wrath but from love and consistent with his pardoning grace you must distinguish between punishments that are satisfactory and punishments that are monitory You must distinguish between wrathful proceeds from justice and fatherly corrections and chastisements God doth afflict his people upon two accounts in the world sometimes for sin and sometimes for the trial of grace God I grant doth sometimes Chastise his people for sin that Scripture clears it to me Psal 89.30 31 32 33. If his Children forsake my law and walk not in my Judgements if they break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments then will I visit their transgressions with rods and their iniquity with stripes nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail c. Here you see God doth chastise for sin he hath reserved to himself a power so to do that if his Children break his law if they transgress and walk contrary to it they shall hear of it they shall feel the smart of his rod ay but it is such a chastisement and visitation as is consistent with the stability of his Covenant for that is not shaken thereby it is such a chastisement as is consistent with unchangeable love and grace and by these afflictions God carries on his work in them the more to humble them and to recover the Soul and to bring it to a due consideration of its self and waies in order unto a closer walking with God and sometimes again afflictions are for the exercise the trial and the improvement of grace and all that God might be the more glorified 1 Pet. 1.6 7. Now for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations that the tryal of your faith being much more precious than that of Gold that perisheth may be found unto praise and honour c. Afflictions stir up patience and patience that encreaseth experience and experience hope so as under the trial grace is made to abound and much glory is brought forth to God Obj. Ay but you will say further The believer is taken near to God and forgiven but he sins again don't his renewed transgressions break his pardon Ans Renewed and repeated transgressions they are found in those whom God pardons and they may break their peace and take away the comfort of their pardon but they don't null the pardon of God Their pardon that is continued that is renewed as their transgressions are renewed so as the obligation to punishment obligation to Hell and the wrath of God that returns no more upon their head really before God it returns no more for the pardon that is given forth of God takes it off but the sense of the pardon and all the comforts of the pardon may be lost for a considerable while This seems clear to me from that of the Prophet 2 Sam. 12.13 David said unto Nathan I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David The Lord also hath put away thy sin thou shalt not die God had blotted out the sin of David and yet if you look into the 51 Psalm you will find there that the comfort of his pardon was gone he was not able to read it nor to make Faith nor to take any joy from it O says he Verse 8. Make me to hear joy and gladness That seems to be a strange voice in his ears the voice of joy and gladness that he had so often heard from the Lord he was a stranger to O! says he that I could hear that voice again Restore unto me the joy of thy Salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit V. 12. The joy of his pardon was out of sight and till God returned again to him with fresh consolations and till the Comforter came again to visit him he was not able to apply a Promise nor to take in the comfort of his pardon although the Prophet had told him that God had pardoned him But the obligation to condemnation that doth not return For says the Apostle 1 Joh. 2.1 If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous Christ lieth there in Heaven to secure the state of a Believer and he keeps up the torrent and stream of God's love to the Soul though the manifestations of that love are under a soveraign over-rule and dispose But 3. We proposed to give you the ground upon which God doth proceed in the giving out of this discharge unto those that are in Christ And that is the merits and the satisfaction the propitiation and atonement