certainly while men do not think thus their hearts have very slight impressions of the truth of these things I fear the most of us scarce believe this condemnation to come at least very shallowly and so they cannot much consider the deliverance from it provided to us in Jesus Christ. I cannot see how 't is possible for a heart perswaded of these to be very careful about any thing beside you that eat and drink and labour and trade and bestow all your time either in the pains or the pleasures of this Earth what think you of Eternity Is it a light thing for you to perish for ever After a few days vainly spent to fall under the Wrath of God for ever Oh! that you would be perswaded to think on these things And you that have an interest in this free and blessed estate why are your Spirits so cold So infrequent in the thoughts of it Why are you not rejoicing in the Lord Glading your selves in secret when you remember this Go the World as it will my Sin is forgiven me mistake me accuse me who so will my God hath acquitted me in his Christ and he loves me and lives to intercede for me Methinks I hear some say Ay they that could say that might be merry indeed but alas I have no such assurance Who can lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect That 's true but here is the great point of so hard a resolution am I one of these That the Apostle doth thus specifie the owners of this Consolation by this high and hidden Character of their Election is not to render it doubtful and dark for his main aim on the contrary is both to extend it as far as it can go and to make it as clear as may be to all that have interest in it but he designs them by the Primitive Act of Love fixing on them so as it is now manifested to them in the subsequent effects that flow from the Elect called and sanctified and conformed to Jesus Christ both by his Spirit within them and the Sufferings that without arise against them in the World such as being the Sons of God are led by the Spirit of God and walk not after the flesh but after the spirit And these things indeed considered as their Characters the stamp of God on them the impressions of their Election to life do check the vain confidence of all Carnal Ungodly Professors of the Name of Christ and tell them that their pretended Title to him is a meer Delusion certainly whosoever lies in the love of Sin and takes the Flesh for his guide that accursed blind guide is leading him into the Pit What gross folly and impudence is it for any man walking in the Lusts of his own heart to fancy and aver himself to be a Partner of that Redemption whereof so great a pâ—â—t is to deliver us from the power of our Iniquities to renew our hearts and re-unite them to God and possess them with his love The great Evidence of thy Election is Love Thy love to him gives certain testimony of his precedeing Eternal Love to thee so are they here designed they that love God thy chusing him is the effect and evidence of his chusing thee Now this is not laborious that needs to be disputed amidst all thy frailties feel the pulse of thine affection which way beats it and ask thy heart whether thou love him or not in this thou hast the Character of thy Election Know you not that the redeemed of Christ and he are one they live one life Christ lives in them and if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his as the Apostle declares in this Chapter So then this we are plainly to tell you and consider it you that will not let go your Sins to lay hold on Christ have as yet no share in him But on the other side The truth is that when Souls are once set upon this search they commonly wind the Notion too high and subtilize too much in the Dispute and so entangle and perplex themselves and drive themselves further off from that comfort that they are seeking after such measures and marks of Grace they set to themselves for their Rule and Standard and unless they find those without all Controversie in themselves they will not believe that they have an interest in Christ and this blessed and safe estate in him To such I would only say Are you in a willing league with any known sin Yea would you willingly if you might be saved in that way give up your self to Voluptuousness and Ungodliness and not at all desire to follow Jesus Christ in the way of Holiness Then truly I have not any thing as yet to say for your Comfort only there is a Salvation provided and the door is yet open and your heart may be changed But on the other side are the desires of thy Soul after Christ whole Christ to be Righteousness and withal Sanctification to thee Wouldst thou willingly give up thy self to be ruled by him and have him thy King Handst thou rather chuse to suffer the greatest Affliction for his sake to Honour him than commit the least Sin to displâ—ase him Doth thy Heart go out after him when thou heaâ—est him spoke of Dost thou account him thy Tâ—easure so that all the World sounds but as an empty Shell to thee when he is named Says thy Soul within thee Oh! that he were mine And oh that I were his that I could please him and live to him Then do not toss thy Spirit and jangle and spin out thy thoughts in fruitless endless doubtings but close with this as thy Portion and be of good Comfort thy sins are or will be forgiven thee I add yet further if thou sayest yet that thou findest none of all this yet I say there is warrant for thee to believe and lay hold on this Righteousness here held forth to the end that thou mayest then find those things in thee and find comfort in them Thou art convinc'd of Ungodliness than believe on him that justifies the Ungodly thou art Condemned yet Christ is dead and risen fly to him as such as the Lamb slain he that was dead and is alive and then say who is he that Condemneth It is Christ that died or rather that is risen Who shall Accuse 'T is true they may clamour and make a noise both Satan and thy Conscience but how can they fasten any Accusation on thee If they dare Accuse yet they cannot Condemn when the Judg hath acquitted thee and declared thee free who is greater than all and hath the absolute power of the Sentence all Charges and Libels come too late after he hath once pronounc'd a Soul Righteous And who shall Condemn it is Christ that died if the Sentence of the Law be brought forth Yet here 's the answer It ought not to be twice satisfied now once it is in Christ he
is used inâ—â— ver 27. conform to that of Moses Gen. 6. Every imagination of the thoughts of mans heart is only evil continually The word indeed signifies the wise thoughts so then take the full latitude of it thus The carnal mind in its best and wisest thoughts is direct enmity against God Carnal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What meant by the flesh here It is the whole corrupt Nature of man and that we may know by its opposition to the Spirit not to the Spirit or Soul of a man for so it hath no thoughts nor minding these being proper to the Soul but opposed to the Spirit of God Now the Corruption of Nature is called the Flesh not without very good reason not only to signifie the baseness of it the Flesh being the more ignoble and meaner part of a Man but because the greatest part of the sins of mens lives are about sensitive objects and things that concern the Flesh or the Body it lets in temptation of sin to the Soul by the doors of the Senses and it gives the last perfection or accomplishment to sin by external acting of it The very first sin that brought in Death and Misery with it upon Mankind the pleasure of the eye and of the taste were sharers in the guiltiness of it The carnal mind Man in regard of his composure is as it were the tie and band of Heaven and Earth they meet and are married in him A Body he has taken out of the Dust but a Soul breathed from Heaven the Father of Spirits a House of Clay but a Guest of most noble Extraction But the pity is it hath forgot its Original and is so drowned in flesh that it deserves no other but to go under the Name of Flesh. It is become the Slave and Drudge of the Body and as the Israelites in Egypt made perpetually to moyl in Clay What is all your Merchandise your Trades and Manufactures your Tillage and Husbandry but all for the Body in its behalf for Food and Raiment In all these the Mind must be careful and thoughtful and yet properly they reach it not for it self hath no interest in them It is true the necessity of the Body requires much of these things and superfluous custom far more but it is lamentable that men force their Souls to forget it self and its proper business to attend these things only and be busie in them They spend all their time and their choicest pains upon perishing things and which is worse engage their affections to them They mind earthly things whose end is destruction Philip. 3. 19. The same word that 's here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Will you consider seriously that your Souls run the hazard of perishing because you consider not their Spiritual Nature When that earthly Tabernacle of yours shall fall to the ground and e're long it must your Souls must then enter Eternity and though you had as large a share of earthly things as your earthly hearts now would wish they all lose their use in that moment they are not a proper good for the Soul at any time and least at that time If you keep it all your life long busie about the interest and benefit of the flesh the Body how poor will be when thy part having provided nothing at all for it self but the guiltiness of a sinful life which will sink it into that bottomless Pit Be forewarned then for to be carnally minded is death verse 6. precedeing the Text. The carnal mind Now as Sin hath abased and degenerated the Soul of Man making it Carnal so the Son of God by taking on our Nature hath sublimated it again and made it Spiritual The Souls that received him are Spiritualized yea as Sin made the Soul Carnal Grace makes the very Body to become Spiritual making it partaker and co-worker in spiritual things together with the Soul in doing and suffering and participant of the hopes too of an everlasting reward This is the main Christian Character our Apostle gives here that they are spiritually minded and that their actions suit their minds They walk not after the flesh but after the spirit whereas before with the rest of the World they were eager in the pursuit of Honours and Profits and Worldly Pleasures Now the stream of their desires run in another channel they seek after Honour and are very ambitious of it but it is such Honour as the Apostle speaks of in this Epistle Rom. 2. 7. By patient continuance in well doing they seek for glory and honour and immortality Their mind is upon profit and gain but it is with the same Apostle Philip. 3. that they may win Christ and they account all other things loss in comparison And their desires are after pleasure too but not Carnal Pleasures those are both base and of short continuance but the pleasures they aim at are those that are at Gods right hand and for evermore Psal. 16. 11. And that path of life he there speaks of that way of holiness that leads thither is their delight Spiritual Excercises they go to not as their task only but more as their joy and refreshment And this change the Spirit of God works in the Soul making it yea and the body wherein it dwells of Carnal to become Spiritual as the fire to which the Holy Ghost is compared refines Sand and Ashes and makes of them the purest Glass which is so neat and transparent Enmity against God Sin hath not only made us unlike God by defacing his beautiful Image in us not only strangers by making us wander far off from him but enemies nor enemies only but Enmity in the abstract for that is emphatical The carnal mind is Enmity nothing else but Enmity Now this Enmity is described in the latter clause of the Text by an Antipathy so to call it or Not-compliance with the Law of God it is not subject to the Law of God neither can it be to wit while it remains such There is an absolute impossibility in it to suit with the Law of God and consequently with God himself the reason lies in their opposits qualities God is spiritual and holy and so is the law as our Apostle hath it in the preceeding Chapter and the opposition he there makes betwixt his Unregenerate part and the Law is wholly true of the Unregenerate man The law is holy says he ver 12. And ver 14. It is spiritual to which too he opposes but I am carnal sold under sin Where are now those that so vilifie Grace and magnifie Nature Or shall I rather say Nullifie Grace and Deifie Nature Here is the best Elogy the Apostle will bestow upon the best of Natures Enmity against God Nay all the sparkles of Virtue and Moral Goodness in Civil Men and Ancient Heathens is no better besides many other things to be said to the Vertues of those Philosophers as ignorance of Christ by whom alone this enmity is removed I
that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And if there be any that think to shroud unpunished amongst the thickets of ignorance especially amidst the means of knowledge take notice of this though it may hide the deformity of Sin from your own sight for a time it cannot palliate it from the piercing eye nor cover it from the revenging hand of Divine Justice As you would escape then that wrath to come come to Wisdom's School and how simple soever ye be as to this World if you would not perish with the World learn to be wise unto Salvation And truly its mainly important for this effect That the Ministers of the Gospel be active and dexterous in imparting this Wisdom to their people If they would have their Conversation to be Holy and Peaceable and Fruitful c. The most expedient way is once to principle them well in the fundamentals of Religion for therein is their great defect how can they walk evenly and regularly so long as they are in the dark one main thing is to be often pointing at the way to Christ the Fountain of this Wisdom you bid them be Cloathed and Cloath them not How needful then is it that Pastors themselves be Seers indeed as the Prophets were called of old not only Faithful but wise dispensers as our Saviour speaks St. Luk. 12. 42. That they be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 able and apt to Teach 1 Tim. 3. 2. Laudible is the prudence that trys much the Churches Store houses the Seminaries of Learning but withal it is not to be forgot that as a due Furniture of Learning is very requisite for this employment so it is not sufficient When one is duly enriched that way there is yet one thing wanting that grows not in Schools except this infused Wisdom from above season and sanctifie all other endowments they remain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 common and unholy and therefore unfit for the Sanctuary amongst other weak pretences to Christs favour in the last day This is one We have Preached in thy name yet says Christ I never knew you surely then they knew not him and yet they Preacht him Cold and Lifeless though never so fine and well contrived must those Discourses be that are of an unknown Christ. Pastors are called Angels and therefore though they use the secondary helps of knowledge they are mainly to bring their message from above from the Fountain the head of this pure Wisdom Pure If it come from above it must needs be pure originally yea it is formally pure too being a main treat of God's renewed Image in the Soul By this Wisdom the Understanding is both resigned and strengthened to entertain right conceptions of God in his nature and works And this is primarily necessary that the mind be not infected with false opinions in Religion if the Spring-head be polluted the Streams cannot be pure it s more important then men usually think for a good life But that which I suppose is here chiefly intended is that its effectively and practically pure it purifies the heart Act. 15. 9. said of Faith which in some sense and acceptation differs not much from this Wisdom and consequently the Words and Actions that flow from the heart This Purity some render Chastity The Wisdom from above is chaste 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The word is indeed often so taken and includes that here but it is too narrow a sense to restrict it to that only It is here an universal detestation of all impurity both of Flesh and Spirit as the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 7. 1. Pride Selflove Profanness of Spirit and Irreligion though they do not so properly pollute the Body as carnal uncleaneness yet they do less defile the Soul and make it abominable in the sight of God Those Apostate Angels called unclean Spirits are uncapable of bodily defilement tho'indeed they tempt and inveigle Man to it their own inherent pollutions must need be spiritual for they are Spirits Idolatry in Scripture goes often under the name of Fornication and Adultery and indeed these Sins may mutually borrow and lend their names the one to the other Idolatry may well be called Spiritual unchastity and unchaste Love carnal Idolatry earthly mindedness likewise is an impurity of the Soul in the Apostles phrase Covetousness is Idolatry and so a spiritual pollution yea it may well share with Idolatry in its borrowed name and be called Adultery too for it misbestows the Souls prime affection upon the Creature which by right is God's peculiar This Purity that true Wisdom works is contrary to all pollution We know then in some measure what it is it rests to enquire where it is and there is the difficulty it is far easier to design it in it self then to find it among men Who can say I have made my heart clean Prov. 20. 9. Look upon the greatest part of Mankind and you may know at first sight that Purity is not to be lookt for among them they suffer it not to come near them much less do dwell with them and within them they hate the very semblance of it in others and themselves delight in Intemperance and all manner of Licentiousness like foolish Children striving who shall go furthest into the mire these cannot say they have made clean their hearts for all their Words and Actions will bely them If you come to the meer Moralist the World 's honest man and ask him it may be he will tell you he hath cleansed his heart but believe him not It will appear he is not yet cleansed because he says he has done it himself for you know there must be some other besides man at this Work Again he rising no higher than Nature hath none of this Heavenly Wisdom in him and therefore is without this Purity too But if you chance to take notice of some well skilled Hypocrite every thing you meet with makes you almost confident that there is Purity yet if he be strictly put to 't he may make some good account of the pains he hath taken to refine his Tongue and his publick Actions but he dare not say he hath made claan his heart it troubles his peace to be askt the question He never intended to banish Sin but to retire it to his innermost and best room that so it might ewell unseen within him and where then should it lodge but in his heart yet possibly because what 's outward is so fair and Man cannot look deeper to contradict him he may embolden himself to say he 's inwardly suitable to his appearance But there is a day at hand that shall to his endless shame at once discover both his secret impurity and his impudence in denying it After these there follows a few despised and melancholly persons at least as to outward appearance who are almost always hanging down their heads and complaining of abundant sinfulness And sure Purity cannot be expected in these who are so far from it
extols him above all things beautiful and pleasant to the Eye Another while above things delectable to the taste as in the former verse Thy Loves are better than Wine and here prefers the Perfume of his Graces to the most precious Ointments When a natural eye looks upon the Sacrament to wit of the Lord's Supper it finds it a bare and mean kind of Ceremony Take heed there be not many that come to it and partake of it with others that prize it little have but low conceits of it and do indeed find as little in it as they look for But oh What precious Consolation and Grace doth a Believer meet with at this Banquet how richly is the Table furnisht to his eye what plentiful varieties employ his Hand and Taste what abundance of rare dainties yet there is nothing but one here but that one is all things to the Believing Soul it finds his love is sweeter than the richest Wine to the Taste or best Odours to the smell and that delightful Word of his Thy Sins are forgiven thee is the only Musick to a distressed Conscience Thy good Ointments The holy Ointment of the Sanctuary under the Law was composed according to God's own prescription Exod. 30. 25. And they were straitly forbid to imitate it or make any like it to signifie the singular holiness the matchless worth of the anointing Oyl of gladness wherewith our high Priest the Lord Jesus was anointed above his fellows And in this he is incomparable that his Ointment he hath not from without It was his own Divine Nature that perfumed his Manhood with these precious Ointments God and the Spirit of the Lord is said to have anointed him Psal. 45. 7 Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the Oyl of gladness above thy fellows and Isaiah 61. 1. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the Meek c. But know that that Spirit and the Father are one in Essence with the eternal Son In that mystical Song much like to this in the 45 Psalm at the 8th verse It is said that his Garments smell of Myrrh and Aloes and Cassia as he comes forth of his Ivory Palaces When he came down from his glorious Court above to dwell among Men he apparell'd himself like them he was Clothed with humane Flesh. But yet that vesture was so transcendently enriched with all graces as with costly perfumes that Men might easily know there was more under them then a meer Man yea even in that low Estate did such beams of his Glory shine through that all whose eyes were open did clearly behold them and knew him to be no less than the only begotten Son of God by this that he was so full of Grace and Truth Jo. 1. 14. And these are in a word these precious Ointments whose delightful smell is here commended Now to enumerate and describe these Graces what Tongue of Men yea or of Angels were sufficient What other is the main subject of the whole Scriptures what mean all the Figures and Ceremonies of the Law the costly Furniture and Ornaments of the Temple the rich vestments of the high Priest that fine Linnen that Silk and Gold these Gems and precious Stones was any of them were they all any other but Shadows and dim Resemblances of the matchless perfections of Jesus Christ 'T is strange that Christians have so low conceits of their high Redeemer what is the Gospel but a more clear and plentiful pouring forth of those Ointments What was the great Labour and Business of the holy Apostles but the diffusing of Christ's Graces through the World I determined to know nothing among you save Christ and him Crucified says St. Paul to his Corinthians What was that other Sacrament and this but Coverts under which Christ conveys himself and his Graces to the Believing Soul while the prophane and slight hearted Receivers are sent away with empty Elements Thus you see how ample a Subject these graces are in the general And truly the Consideration of any one particular of them might be the employment of many hours Would you hear the wisdom of Christ look what the Apostle says of it Col. 2. 3 In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge Not some drops of wisdom no nor Streams but a Fountain A Treasure not one Treasure but Treasures many yea all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge yet not obvious to every eye but as Treasures are hid The Children of wisdom which are the Worlds Fools have some knowledge of this his Wisdom and draw from it for their own use but to sound the depth of it who can be able No less admirable is his Holiness he is both the Immaculate Lamb and the Undefiled Sacrifice such a High Priest became us Became us Yes Holy Harmless and Undefiled Heb. 7 26. The more we were defiled with sin the more stood we in need of an undefiled and spotless High Priest it was as expedient that he should be unlike us in that as that he should be like us in all other things Therefore as for the Legal Priesthood there was a Holy Consecrating Oyl This Immortal High Priest was Anointed with most entire and compleat Holiness and this perfect Holiness of his is set forth as Myrrh the best Ointments and Spices Myrrh which is of a vertue preservative from Corruption He was not only of excellent smell while he lived among men but this Myrrh did likewise preserve and exempt him from contracting any corruption or pollution by the bad air of sinful Company so that he conversed with Sinners that he might Convert them without any danger of infection And as he was thus extraordinarily Anointed with the Spirit of Wisdom and Holiness so likewise with the Spirit of Meekness therefore called The Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the World His voice was not heard in the streets And take in that other Grace which he himself mentions together with his Meekness as being near in Nature to it Humility Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart Matth. 11. 29. Indeed Humility is an odoriferous Grace it is a gracing decoring Grace and it adds a kind of sweetness and lustre to all other Graces yea it serves singularly as a Character for the trial of the truth of all other Graces As Balsam which is the chief of precious Ointments used to be tried That is the truest and best that put into any Liquor goes to the bottom that but slight which swims above so these Graces are most upright that are accompanied with most humility And that this may be out of doubt you know that Jesus Christ of whom we now speak as he had most Grace so was he most exemplary in humility and certainly the sweet smell of this good Ointment did fill the whole House when he washt his Disciples feet
should easily confess nor I think can any deny it but that there is in the very ruines of our Nature some Character left of a tendency to God as our chief and only satisfying good which we may call a kind of love and when we hear him spoken of find it flutter and stir and hence men so abhor the imputation of hating God and being enemies Yet this is so smothered under sensuality and flesh that until we be made spiritual nothing appears but practical and as they call it Interpretative Enmity There is one thing stains them enough they were all as that Father speaks Animalia Gloriae They aimed not in their study of Vertue at God's glory but at their own and is not that quarrel enough and matter of enmity Says not he My glory I will not give unto another c. But that is most useful for you to convince you of that too good conceit men have of their natural condition you would take it hardly the most prophane of you all if any should come to you in particular and tell you you are an enemy to God But I answer there is none of you if you believe the Scriptures but will confess that all men are naturally such and therefore except we find in our selves a notable alteration from the condition of Nature we must take with it that we are Enemies yea Enmity to God Of strangers to become acquainted with him yea which is more of enemies to become friends is a greater and more remarkable change than to be incident to a man without any evidence and sign of it I know there is very great variety in the way and manner of Conversion and to some especially if it be in their tender years Grace may be instilled and dropt in as it were insensibly But this I may confidently say that whatsoever be the way of working it there will be a wide and apparent difference betwixt friendship with God and the condition of Nature which is Enmity against him Do not flatter your selves so long as your minds remain Carnal ardent in love to the World and cold in love to God Lovers of pleasures more then of God as the Apostle speaks You are his Enemies for with him there is no neutrality That which they say taxing it as a weakness in the Sex Aut amat aut odit nihil est tertium is in this case necessarily true of all And this is Gods peculiar that he can judge Infallibly of the inside those shadows of friendship men use one with another will not pass with him deceived he cannot be but men may easily and alas too many do deceive themselves in this matter to their own ruin We may learn hence how deep Sin goes in our Nature and consequently that the cure and remedy of it must go as deep That all the parts of our Bodies and powers of our Souls are polluted originally our very mind and conscience as the Apostle speaks for it is immersed in flesh and inslaved to flesh naturally and therefore goes under its name We are become all flesh That is the spring of our mischiefs we have lost our likeness with our Father the Father of Spirits the purest and most Spiritual Spirit till renewed by participation of his Spirit on our Flesh. And it is the Errour not only of Natural Men but somewhat of the Godly too that in Self-reformation they set themselves against actual sin but they lay not the Ax to the root of the Tree this root of bitterness this our inbred and natural enmity against God And till this be done the lopping off of some branches will do no good while the root is in vigour those will grow again and possibly faster than before Bewail every known act of sin as much as you can for the least of them deserves it but withal let the consideration of them lead you into thoughts of this seed of Rebellion the wickedness of our Nature that takes life with us in the Womb and springs and grows up with us and this will humble us exceedingly and raise our Godly sorrow to a higher tide We find David taketh this course Psal. 51. 5. where he is lamenting his particular sin of Adultery and Murder it leads him to the sinfulness of his Nature I was shapen in Iniquity and in sin did my Mother conceive me or warm me which he mentions not to extenuate and diminish his sin no he is there very far from that strain but adds it as a main aggravation Indeed the power of Original Sin in the Regenerate is laid very low yet not altogether extinct which they find often to their grief and makes them cry out with our Apostle in the former Chapter O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death The Converted are already delivered as he adds from the Dominion of it but not from the Molestation and Trouble of it though it is not a quiet and uncontroulled Master as it was before yet it is in the House still as an unruly Servant or Slave ever vexing and annoying them And this Body of Death they shall have still cause to bewail till Death release them This Leprosie hath taken so deep in the Walls of this House that it cannot perfectly be cleansed till it be taken down and it is this more than any other sorrows or afflictions of life that makes the Godly man not only content to die but desirous longing with our Apostle To be dissolved and be with Christ which is far better As this teaches us the misery of Mans Nature so it sets off and commends exceedingly the riches of Gods Grace Are men naturally his Enemies Why then admire his patience and bounty a little and then we will speak of his Saving-Grace Could not he very easily ease himself of his Adversaries as he says by the Prophet Wants he power in his right hand to find out and cut off all his Enemies Surely no not only he hath power to destroy them all in a moment but the very withdrawing of his hand that upholds their being though they consider it not would make them fall to nothing yet is he pleased not only to spare Transgressours but to give them many outward blessings rain and fruitful seasons as the Apostle speaks Act. 14. And the Earth that is so full of mans Rebellion is yet more full of his Goodness The earth is full of thy goodness It is remarkable that that same reason which is given Gen. 6. 5. of the Justice of God in drowning the World is Chapter 8. 21. rendred as the reason of Gods resolved patience ever since His Grace in finding a way of Reconcilement and not sparing his own Son his only begotten Son to accomplish it nor did he spare himself O matchless Love to lay down his life not for Friends but for Strangers Not only so but Enemies for Unrighteous and Ungodly Persons such as be at enmity against him Rom. 5. 7 8
to excite it and call it up to act in the progress of sanctification Men are strangely inclined to a perverse construction of things tell them that we are to act and work and give diligence then they would fancy a doing in their own strength and be their own Saviours Again tell them that God works all our works in us and for us then they would take the ease of doing nothing if they cannot have the praise of doing all they will sit still with folded hands and use no diligence at all But this is the corrupt logick of the flesh its base sophistry The Apostle reasons just contrary Phil. 2. 12. It is God that worketh in us both to will and to do Therefore would a carnal heart say we need not work or at least may work very carelesly But he infers Therefore let us work out our Salvation with fear and trembling in the more humble obedience to God and dependance on him not obstructing the influences of his Grace and by sloth and negligence provoking him to withdraw or abate it Certainly many in whom there is truth of grace are kept low in the growth of it by their own slothfulness sitting still and not bestirring themselves and exercising the proper actions of that spiritual Life by which it is entertained and advanced From all filthiness All kind of sinful pollutions not as Men commonly do reform some things and take to themselves dispensations in others at least in some one peculiar sin their Mistress and their Herodias their Dalilah No parting with that yea they rather forego many other things as a kind of composition for the retaining of that Of flesh and spirit The whole Man must be purified and consecrated to God not only refined from the gross outward acts of sin but from the inward affection to it and motions of it that so the heart go not after it Psal. 131. Which under restraints of outward committing sin it may do and very often does as the Israelites lusted after the flesh pots their hearts remained in Egypt still though their bodies were brought out This is then to be done affection to sin to be purged out that is to cleanse the ground not only to lop off the branches but to dig about and loosen and pluck up the root though still fibers of it will stick yet we ought still to be finding them out and plucking them up Further These not only of the inner part of all sins but of some sins that are most or wholly inward that hang not much on the body nor are acted by it those filthinesses of the Spirit that are less discerned then those of the Flesh and as more hardly discerned so when discerned more hardly purged out Pride Selflove Unbeleif Curiosity c. Which though more retired and refined sins yet are pollutions and defilements yea of the worst sort as being more spiritual are filthinesses of the Spirit Fleshly pollutions are things of which the Devil 's not capable in themselves though they excite Men to them and so they are called unclean Spirits but the highest rank of sins are those that are properly Spiritual wickednesses These in Men are the chief strengths of Satan the inner works of these forts and strongholds 2 Cor. 10. 4. Many that are not much tempted to the common gross sensualities have possibly though an inclination to them yet a kind of disdain and through education and morality and strength of reason with somewhat of natural conscience are carried above them who yet have many of these heights those lofty imaginations that rise against God and the obedience of Christ all which must be demolisht Perfecting holiness Not content with low measures so much as keeps from Hell But aspiring towards perfection aiming high at self victory self denial and the love of God purer and hotter as a fire growing and flaming up and consuming the Earth Though Men fall short of their aim yet it is good to aim high they shall shoot so much the higher though not full so high as they aim thus we ought to be setting the state of perfection in our eye resolving not to rest content below that and to come as near it as we can even before we come at it Phil. 3. 11. 12. This to act as one that hath such a Hope such a State in view and is still advancing towards it In the fear of God No working but on firm ground no solid endeavours in holiness where it is not founded in a deep heart a reverence of God a desire to please him and to be like him which springs from Love This most Men are either strangers to wholly or are but slight and shallow in it and therefore make so little true progress in holiness Then there is the motive having these Promises Being called to so fair an estate so excellent a condition to be the people yea the Sons and Daughters of God therefore they are called to the coming forth from Babel and the separating themselves from sin and purging it out holiness is his Image in his Children the more of it the more suitable to that blessed Relation and Dignity and the firmer are the hopes of the inheritance of Glory Consider Sin as a filthiness hate it Oh how ugly and vile is lust how deformed is swelling Pride and all sin is an aversion from God a casting the noble Soul into the mire the defacing all its beauty Turning to present things it pollutes it self with them that he who was clad in scarlet embraces the dunghil as Jeremy in another sense laments Purity of things is an unmixture and simplicity corresponding with their own being and so is the Soul when elevated above the Earth and Sense and united unto God contemplating him and delighting in him all inordinate bent to the Creatures or to it self which is the first and main disorder doth defile and debase it And the more it is sublim'd and freed from it self the purer and more heavenly it grows and partakes the more of God and resembles him the more This then to be our main study first to search out our iniquities the particular defilements of our Nature not only gross filthinesses Drunkenness Lasciviousness c. But our love of this Earth or of Air or Vanity of mind our Self will and Self-seeking Most even of Christians are short sighted in their own secret evils the filthinesses of Spirit especially and use little diligence in this enquiry they do not seek Light from God to go in before him and to lead them into themselves as the Prophet had in the discovery of Idolatries at Jerusalem Oh that we could once see what heaps of abominations lie hid in us one behind another Then having searcht out we must follow on to purge out not to pass over nor spare any but to delight most in casting out the best beloved sin the choicest Idol that hath had most of our service and sacrifices to make room for Jesus Christ.
And never cease in this work for still there is â—eed of more purging one dayes work in this disposes for and engages to a further to the next for as sin is purged out Light comes in and more clear discoveries are made of remaining pollutions So then still there must be progress less of the World and more of God in the heart every day Oh this is a sweet course of Life what gain what preferment to be compared to it And in this 't is good to have our ambition growing the higher we rise to aspire still the higher looking farther than before even toward the perfection of holiness it is not much we can here attain to but sure 't is commonly far less than we might we improve not our condition and advantages as we might do the world is busie driving forewards their designs Men of spirit are animated both by better and worse success if any thing miscarry it sets them on the more eagerly to make it up in the right management of some other design and when they prosper in one thing that enables and incourages them to attempt further shall all things seem worth our pains are only Grace and Glory so cheap in our account that the least diligence of all goes that way Oh! strange delusion Now our cleansing is to be managed by all holy means Word and Sacrament more wisely and spiritually used than commonly with us and private Prayer that purifies and elevates the Soul takes it up into the Mount and makes it shine and particularly supplicating for the Spirit of holiness and victory over sin is not in vain it obtains its desires of God the Soul becoming that which it is fixedly set upon Holy resolution Christians much wanting in this faint and loose in their purposes The consideration of Divine Truths the mysteries of the Kingdom the hope of Christians yea rich and great Promises that is particularly here the motive these are all the means holy means they are as their end is the perfection of holiness Having these Promises Now consider whether it is better to be the Slaves of Satan or the Sons of God measure delight in God with the low base pleasures of sense Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God these gradually go on together and are perfected together Why then is there such an invincible love of sin in the hearts of Men at least why so little love of holiness and endeavour after it so mean thoughts of it as a thing either indecent or unpleasant when 't is the only noble and the only delightful thing in the World the Soul by other things is drawn below it self but by holiness it is raised above it self and made Divine Pleasures of sin for a season the pleasure of a moment exchanged for those of Eternity But even in the mean time in this season the Soul is fed with Communion with God one hour of which is more worth than the longest Life of the highest of the Worlds delights SERMON XV. Psal. CXIX 32. I will run the way of thy Commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart TO desire ease and happiness under a general representation of it is a thing of more easie and general perswasion There is somewhat in Nature to help the argument but to find beauty in and be taken with the very way of holiness that leads to it is more rare and depends on a higher principle Self-love inclines a man to desire the rest of Love but to love and desire the labour of Love is love of a higher and purer strain To delight and be chearful in obedience argues much love as the spring of it that is the thing the holy Psalmist doth so plentifully express in this Psalm and he is still desiring more of that sweet and lively affection that might make him yet more abundant in action Thus here I will run c. He presents his desire and purpose together the more of this Grace thou bestowest on me the more service shall I be able to do thee This is the top of his ambition while others are seeking to enlarge their Barns their Lands or Estates or Titles Kings to enlarge their Territories or Authority to incroach on Neighbouring Kingdoms or be more absolute in their own instead of all such Enlargements this is David's great desire An enlarged heart to run the way of Gods Commandments And these other how big soever they sound are poor narrow desires this one is larger and higher than them all and gives evidence of a heart already large but as it is miserably in those 't is happy in this much would still have more Let others seek more Money or more Honour Oh the blessed choice of that Soul that is still seeking more Love to God more affection and more ability to do him service that counts all days and hours for lost that are not employed to this improvement that hears the Word in publick and reads it in private for this purpose to kindle this love or to blow the sparkable if any there be already in the heart to raise it to a clear flame and from a little flame to make it burn yet hotter and purer and rise higher But above all means is often presenting this in Prayer to him on whose influence all depends in whose hand our hearts are much more than in our own it follows him with this desire and works on him by his own interest though there can be really no accession of gain to him by our services yet he is pleased so to account with us as if there were therefore we may urge this Lord give more and receive more I will run the way of thy Commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart We have here in the words a required disposition and a suitable resolution The disposition relates to the resolution as the means of fulfilling it and the resolution relates to the disposition both as the end of desiring it and as the motive of obtaining it The resolution occurs first in the words I will run c. The way resolved on is that of Gods Commandments not the road of the polluted World not the crooked ways of his own heart but the High way the Royal way the straight way of the Kingdom and that in the Notion of Subjection and Obedience the way of thy Commandments This man naturally struggles against and repines at to be limited and bounded by a Law is a restraint and a vain man could possibly find in his heart to do many of the same things that are commanded but he would not be ty'd would have his liberty and do 't of his own choice This is the enmity of the carnal mind against God as the Apostle expresses it it is not subject to the Law of God neither can it be it breaks these Bonds and casts away the Cords of his Authority This is Sin the transgression of a Law and this made the first Sin so great though in a
humble Christian is better taught his falls teach him indeed to abhor himself they discover his own weakness to him and empty him of Self-trust but they do not dismay him to get up and go on not boldly and carelessly forgetting his fall but in the humble sense of it walking the more warily but not the less swiftly yea the more swiftly too making the more haste to regain the time lost by the fall So then if you would run in this way depend on the strength of God and on his Spirit leading thee that so thou mayest not fall and yet if thou dost fall arise and if thou art plunged in the mire go to the Fountain opened for Sin and Uncleanness and wash there bemoan thy self before thy Lord and if hurt and bleeding by thy fall yet look to him desire Jesus to pity thee and bind up and cure thy Wound washing off thy Blood and pouring in of his own However it is with thee give not over faint not run on and that thou mayest run the more easily and expeditely make thy self as light as may be lay aside every weight Heb. 12. 1 2. Clog not thy self with unnecessary burdens of Earth and especially lay aside that that of all other things weighs the heaviest and cleaves the closest the Sin that so easily besets us and is so hardly put off us that folds so connaturally to us and we therefore think will not hinder us much And not only the Sins that are more outward but the inner close-cleaving Sins the sin that most of all sits easily to us not only our Cloak but our inner Coat away with that too as our Saviour says in another case and run the race set before us our appointed Stage and that with patience under all oppositions and discouragements from the World without and Sin within And to encourage thee in this look to such a Cloud of Witnesses that compasseth us about to further us as Troubles Tentations and Sin do to hinder us they encountered the like sufferings and were encounter'd with the like sins and yet they run on and got home Alexander would have run in the Olympick Games if he had had Kings to run with now in this race Kings and Prophets and Righteous Persons run yea all are indeed a Kingly Generation each one Heir to a Crown as the prize of this Race And if these encourage thee but little then look beyond them above that Cloud of Witnesses to the Son the Son of Righteousness looking off from all things here that would either entangle thee or discourage thee taking thine eye off from them and looking to him that will powerfully draw thee and animate thee Look to Jesus not only as thy Fore-runner in this Race but also as thy Undertaker in it the Author and Finisher of our Faith his attaining the end of the Race is the pledg of thy attaining if thou follow him chearfully on the same encouragements that he lookt to who for the Joy that was set before him endured the Cross and despised the Shame and is now set down at the Right Hand of God When thou shalt enlarge my heart In all beings Nature is the principle of motion and according as it is more or less perfect in its kind those motions that flow from it are more or less vigorous Therefore hath the Psalmist good reason to the end his Spiritual Course may be the stedfaster and the faster to desire that the principle of it the heart may be more enabled and disposed which here he expresses by its being enlarged What this enlargement of the heart is a mans own inward sense should easily explain to him sure it would did men reflect on it and were they acquainted with their own hearts but the most are not they would find the Carnal natural heart a narrow contracted hampered thing bound with Cords and Chains of its own twisting and forging and so incapable of walking much less of running in this way of Gods Commandments till it be freed and enlarged The Heart is taken generally in Scripture for the whole Soul the Understanding and Will in its several affections and motions and the speech being here of an enlarged heart it seems very congruous to take it in the most enlarged sense It is said of Solomon that he had a large heart the same word that 's here as the sand of the Sea shoar that is a vast comprehensive Spirit that could fathom so much of Nature greater and lesser things He spoke of Trees from the Cedar in Lebanon to the Hysop in the Wall and of great Beasts and small creeping things Thus I conceive the enlargement of the heart compriseth the inlightning of the Understanding there arises a clearer light there to discern Spiritual things in a more Spiritual manner to see the vast difference betwixt the vain things the World goes after and the true solid delight that is in the way of Gods Commandments to know the false blush of the pleasures of Sin and what deformity is under that painted Mask and not be allured by it to have enlarged apprehensions of God his excellency and greatness and goodness how worthy he is to be obeyed and served This is the great dignity and happiness of the Soul all other pretensions are low and poor in respect of this Here then is enlargement to see the purity and beauty of his Law how just and reasonable yea how pleasant and amiable it is that his Commandments are not grievous that they are Beds of Spices the more we walk in them still the more of their fragrant smell and sweetness we find And then consequently upon the larger and clearer knowledge of these things the heart dilates it self in affection the more it knows of God still the more it loves him and the less it loves this present World Love is the great enlarger of the heart to all obedience Then nothing is hard yea the harder things become the more delightful All love of other things doth pinch and contract the heart for they are all narrower than it self it is framed to that wideness in its first Creation capable of enjoying God though not of a full comprehending him therefore all other things gather it in and straighten it from its natural size only the Love of God stretches and dilates it he is large enough for it yea it in its fullest enlargement is infinitely too narrow for him Do not all find it if they will ask themselves that in all other loves and pursuits in this World there is still somewhat that pinches The Soul is not at its full size but as a Foot in a straight Shoe is somewhere bound and pained and cannot go freely much less run though another that looks on cannot tell where yet each one feels it But when the Soul is set free from these narrow things and is raised to the love of God then is it at ease and at large and hath room enough 't is both elevated
and dilated And this word signifies both a high raised Soul and is sometimes taken for proud and lofty but there is a greatness and height of Spirit in the Love of God and Union with him that doth not vainly swell and lift it up but with the deepest humility joins the highest and truest Magnanimity it sets the Soul above the Snares that lie here below in which most men creep and are intangled in that way of life that is on high to the Just as Solomon speaks Good reason hath David to join these together and to desire the one as the spring and cause of the other An enlarged heart that he might run the way of Gods Commandments Sensible Joys and Consolations in God do encourage and enlarge the heart but these are not so general to all nor so constant to any Love is the abounding fixed spring of ready Obedience and will make the heart chearful in serving God even without those felt comforts when he is pleased to deny or withdraw them In that course or race is understood constancy activity and alacrity and all these flow from the enlargement of the heart 1. Constancy A narrow enthralled heart fetter'd with the love of lower things and cleaving to some particular sins or but some one and that secret may keep foot a while in the way of Gods Commandments in some steps of them but it must give up quickly is not able to run on to the end of the Goal but a heart that hath laid aside every weight and the most close-cleaving and besetting sin as it is in that place to the Hebrews hath stript it self of all that may faulter or intangle it it runs and runs on without fainting or wearying 't is at large hath nothing that pains it in the race 2. Activity Not only holding on but running which is a swift nimble race it stands not bargaining and disputing but once knowing Gods mind there is no more question or demur I made haste and delayed not as in this Psalm the word is Did not stay upon why and wherefore he stood not to reason the matter but run on And this love enlarging the heart makes it abundant in the work of the Lord quick and active dispatching much in a little time 3. Alacrity All done with chearfulnes so no other constraint is needful where this over-powering sweet constraint of love is I will run not be hail'd and drawn as by force but skip and leap as the Evangelick promise is that the Lame shall leap as an Hart and the tongue of the dumb sing for in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desart Isaiah 35. 6. The Spouse desires her Beloved to hasten as a Roe and Hind on the mountains of Spices and she doth so and each faithful Soul runs towards him to meet him in his way It is a sad heavy thing to do any thing as in obedience to God while the heart is straightned not enlarged towards him by his Divine Love but that once taking possession and enlarging the heart that inward principle of obedience makes the outward obedience sweet 't is then a natural motion indeed the Soul runs in the ways of God as the Sun in his course which finds no difficulty being naturally fitted and carried to that motion he goes forth as a Bridegroom and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race This is the great point that our Souls should be studious of to attain more evenness and nimbleness and chearfulness in the ways of God and for this end we ought to seek above all things this enlarged heart 't is want of this makes us bog and drive heavily and run long upon little ground Oh! my Beloved how shallow and narrow are our thoughts of God Most even of those that are truly Godly yet are led on by a kind of instinct and carried they scarce know how to give some attendance on Gods Worship and to the avoidance of gross Sin and go on in a blameless course 't is better thus than to run to excess of Riot and open Wickedness with the Ungodly World But alas this is but a dull heavy and Languid motion where the heart is not enlarged by the daily growing Love of God few few are acquainted with that delightful Contemplation of God that ventilates and raises this flame of Love petty things bind and contract our Spirits so that they feel little joy in God little ardent active desire to do him Service to Crucifie Sin to break and undo Self-love within us to root up our own Wills to make room for his that his alone may be ours that we may have no Will of our own that our daily work may be to grow more like him in the Beauty of Holiness You think it a hard saying to part with your Carnal Lusts and Delights and the common ways of the World and to be ty'd to a strict exact Conversation all your days But oh the reason of this is because the heart is yet straightned and enthralled by the base Love of these mean things and that is from the ignorance of things higher and better One glance of God a touch of his love will free and enlarge the heart so that it can deny all and part with all and make an entire renouncing of all to follow Him it sees enough in Him and in Him alone and therefore can neither quietly rest on nor earnestly desire any thing beside Him Oh! that you would apply your hearts to consider the excellency of this way of Gods Commandments our wretched hearts are prejudiced they think it melancholy and sad Oh! there is no way truly joyous but this They shall sing in the ways of the Lord says the Prophet Do not Men when their eyes are opened see a beauty in Meekness and Temperance and Humility a present delightfulness and quietness in them whereas in Pride and Passion and Intemperance there is nothing but vexation and disquiet And then consider the end of this way and this race in it rest and peace for ever 't is the way of peace both in its own nature and in respect of its end Did you believe that Joy and Glory that is set before you in this way you would not any of you defer a day longer but forthwith you 'd break from all that holds you back and enter into this way and run on chearfully in it the perswasion of these great things above would enlarge and greaten the heart and make the greatest things here very little in your eyes But would you attain to this enlarged heart for this race as you ought to apply your thoughts to these Divine things and stretch them on the promises made in the Word above all take Davids course seek this enlargement of heart from Gods own hand for it is here propounded and said before God by way of request see what is my desire I would gladly serve thee better and advance more in the way of thy
Commandments Now this I cannot do till my heart be more enlarged and that cannot be but by thy hand When thou shalt enlarge my heart Present this suit often 't is in his power to do it for thee he can stretch and expand thy straitened heart can spread and hoyse the Sails within thee and then carry thee on swiftly filling them not with the vain air of Mans applaufe which readily run a Soul upon Rocks and splits it but with the sweet breathings and soft gales of his own Spirit that carry it straight to the desired Haven Findest thou Sin cleaving to thee and clogging thee cry to him help Lord set me free from my narrow heart I strive but in vain without thee still it continues so I know little of thee my affections are dead and cold towards thee Lord I desire to love thee here is my heart and least it fly out lay hold on it and take thine own way with it though it should be in a painful way yet draw it forth yea draw it that it may run after thee All is his own working and all his motive is his own free Grace Let who will fancy themselves Masters of their own hearts and think to enlarge them by the strength of their own stretches of speculation they alone they alone are in the sure and happy way of attaining it that humbly suit and wait for this enlargement of heart from his hand that made it SERMON XVI Rom. VIII 33 34. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect It is God that justifieth c. OTher Men may fancy and boast as they please but there are none in the World but the Godly alone that are furnisht with sufficiency strong supports and comforts against all possible hazards and of these doth the Apostle treat most freely sweetly and plentifully in this Chapter He secures Believers in their Christ touching these two great evils After Condemnation and present Affliction that the one cannot befal them and the other cannot hurt them For their immunity from the former they have the clear Word of the Gospel and the Seal of the Spirit and that former Priviledg made sure as the far greater doth secure the other as the lesser They are freed from Condemnation and not only so but entitled and insured to a Kingdom and what hurt then can affliction do yea it doth good yea not only it cannot rob them of their Crown but it carries them on towards it is their High way to it if we suffer with him we shall also be glorified together Yea all things to the Children of God do prove advantage severally taken in their present sense they may seem evil but taken jointly in their after issue their working together are all for good In their simple Nature possibly they are Poison yet contempered and prepared they shall prove Medicinal All these things are against me said old Jocoh and yet he lived to see even all these were for him The Children of God are indeed so happy that the harshest things in their way change their nature and become sweet and profitable This much by their Prayers that have a Divine Incantation in them they breath forth the expressions of that their Love to God by which they are Character'd them that Love God And that is put on their hearts the impression of his Love to them to which they are here led by the Apostle as to the Spring-head of all all their Comforts and Priviledges flow thence yea all their Love and their Faith appropriating those Comforts and Priviledges Yea the very Treasury of all together Jesus Christ himself is the free Gift of this free Love he as the greatest ascertains all things besides an unspeakably less verse 32. These two are such mighty Arguments that no difficulty nor grief can stand before them The Love of God He is with us who then against us All the World it may be but that all is nothing once it was nothing it was that God that is our God that loves us and is for us that made it something and if he will it may again be nothing and as it is at its best it is nothing being compared with an other gift that he hath bestowed on us and having bestowed that sure if there be any thing in this World can do us any good we shall not want it He that spared not his own Son but gave him to the Death for us will he not with him give us all things And to close all he makes these two great Immunities good to us in Christ he fixes there we are freed from all fear of Condemnation or of being hurt by Affliction No Accusation nor Guiltiness can Annul the Righteousness of Christ and that is made ours no Distress nor Suffering can cut us off from the Love of God and if it cannot do that we need not fear it all other hazards are no hazard that being sure And in confidence of this the Apostle gives the Defiance casts a Challenge to Angels to Men to all the World upon these two points Who shall Accuse Who shall Separate Accuse to God or Separate from him Whatsoever times may come the hardest that any can apprehend or foretel i◠these two be not sufficient furniture against them I know not what is Men are commonly busied about other events concerning them and theirs what shall become of this or the other and what if this or that fall out but the Conscience once raised to this enquiry the Soul being awake to discern the hazard of Eternal Death all other fears and questions are drowned and lost in this great Question Am I Condemned or not Is my Sin Pardon'd or no And then a satisfying Answer received concerning this all is quiet the Soul reposes sweetly on God and puts all its other concernments into his hands Let him make me poor and despised let him smite and chastise me he hath forgiven my Sin all is well That burden taken off the Soul can go light yea can leap and dance under all other burdens Oh! how it feels it self nimble as a man eased of a load that he was even fainting under Oh! Blessed the man whose Sin is taken off lifted from his shoulders that 's the word Psal. 32. 1. laid over upon Christ who could bear the whole load and take it away take it out of sight which we could never have done they 'd have sunk us for ever That one word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jo. 1. signifies both and answers to the two Isai. 53. He hath born our grief and carried our sorrows lifted them away Oh! how sweet a burden instead of this is that ingagement of Obedience and Love to him as our Redeemer and that is all he lays on us if we follow him and bear his Cross he is our strength and bears both it and us So then this is the great point the hearts ease to be Delivered from the Condemning weight of Sin And