them but they have arts to make their tankerds light as can be but now if they carried their water in tankards of Lead though the water were no heavier yet this would make it more burdensome so sickness poverty loss of estate they are burdensome to al that beare them but yet the corruption of sin when the heart is corrupted with sin that is as lead that makes it the greater burden and therefore sin in the heart is such a thing as makes al other things burdensome that are burdensome Though a man should loose al his estate in one night this might be some burden but he that hath sin upon him that makes al other burdens to be burdensome The Fifth property of the Burden of Corruption Fifthly Sin is a burden unto God himself much more to the saints God cries out that he is prest under sin as a Cart is pressed that is ful of sheaves it is a burden to the spirit of God and therefore it is said that the spiâ—it of God is greived and it must needs be a great burden to thy soul when thou seest and knowest it is a burden to thy father it is a burden to the spirit of God whereby thou art sealed to the day of redemption Is it not a burden to the heart of any ingenious spirit when he shal consider that that which I have done is a burden to my father to the spirit of grace any ingenious child it wil be a burden to him that he hath done any thing against his father now so long as thou hast any sin in thee thou art a burden to God and to the spirit of God The Sixth property of the burden of Corruption Sixthly As it is a burden to God so it is that that makes us burdensome unto al that we converse with al and the more Corruption that remaines in our Hearts the more burdensome we are to all that we converse withal some there are though truly godly yet they have so much Corruption in them that they are burdensome to all that they converse withal as in a family take those that are passionate though they have godliness lies at the bottome yet how burdensome are they to those that converse with them others they have extream stout and stubborn Spirits others have sullen Hearts extream sullen spirits others have slight and vain spirits others proud and envious spirits and others Covetous now there is reason they should feel the burden themselves for others feel the Burden when it breaks forth from them and therefore it much more aggravates their Burden those that are truly godly that are overcome with passion when they think thus Oh! what a Wretched Heart have I that I should break forth into passion in such and such company Oh! what a Wretch am I that I should not only be burdensome to my self but to those that I converse withal I make no Question but I speak to many that have lamented their condition in this kind alone in that they have been so burdensome to others it is true I have been a Burden to such and such but the Lord knows it is much more a burden to mine own heart and to my self therefore the remaining part of Corruption is such a Burden to the godly because it is a burden to others whenas all the people of God should be useful in the places where they live they should live so as that all that live by them and with them should bless God for them this they should endeavor to do to live in such a manner as all that come neer them should bless God that ever they came neer or had converse with them The Seventh Property of the Burden of Corruption Seventhly This Burden is such a Burden as makes those that are godly to be burdensome to themselves yea even to be weary of their lives many times Why For their Corruption in them is a great deal more grievous then Death would be to them We use to express a thing that is very grievous to us and say it is death to us those that are godly can say so of their sin and that is one Reason that Paul gave that Name to his sin a Body of Death Oh! Wretched Man that I am who shal deliver me from this Body of Death Why because the remaining Corruption that then was in his Heart was as Death to him so it is with the Saints the Corruption that remaines in their hearts it is Death to them and they can appeal unto God and speak thus in his presence The bitterness of death would not be so much to me a thousand parts as this Corruption that is in my heart Oh! this Corruption that is in my heart that overcomes me after so many resolutions so many Prayers so many Sacraments so many ingagements it is that which makes me weary of my life as Rebeccah said if Jacob should marry a Wife of the Daughters of Heth it would make her weary of her Life so saith the godly this remaining Corruption in my Heart makes me weary of my Life what shal I do that carry such a Body of Death about me so as I do There are many Men and Women that in a discontented mood say they are weary of their lives but this is in a discontented mood but when could you say so in respect of your Hearts when did you say I lookt into my Heart and I saw a great deal of sin Corruption worldliness Pride Passion and the like and this is that which makes me weary of my Life The truth is the great thing that makes the people of God to be willing to die is this because they know when they die they shal be delivered from this Burden and therefore when Death comes they entertaine it willingly because they know they shal sin against God no more There is many of you when you have lived a long time in sickness and poverty and are in great straites many waies you think if Death should come to me I could be willing to die because then I should suffer no such things as now I do I but that is no argument of Grace but this is an argument of Grace that because of the great burden of Corruption that thou carryest about in thy Soul therefore thou would'st be willing to die The Eighth property of the Burden of Corruption Eightly Sin is a grievous Burden while we have it and makes us weary of our Lives and yet it is such a Burden as we must certainly carry about with us such a Body as we know we shal never be freed from wholly while we live in this world it is true we may be freed from it in a great measure Christ saith come to me and you shal have Rest that is some Rest for the present and whole Rest in the Life to come but we cannot be wholly freed from this Burden whilst we are in this World And thus much for the properties of this Burden what
Burden to any man or Woman that heretofore had assurance of Gods love and was able to look in Gods Face with joy to have this assurance shaken Yea Many times it makes God withdraw his countenance which made David Cry out Restore to me the Joy of thy Salvation As if he should say Lord I was wont to have joy in thy company in communion with thee but thou hast estranged thy self from my Soul O Lord restore unto me the joy of thy Salvation Now is not this a burden for thee to loose the sweetness of thy Soul in communion with God That now though it may be it is through thy weakness or what it wil be yet thou canst not look upon God with that comfort as thou would'st but the thought of God comes to be a terror upon thy spirit is not this a burden Now then is there any poor Soul that understands what these things mean What a Burden the remaining Corruption of the Heart is either in regard of the sinfulness of Nature or in regard of the stirring of Corruption or in regard of the prevailing of Corruption that now they have no Rest in their souls but are Laden with such a Burden and cry out with the Apostle Oh! Wretched Man and Woman that I am who shal deliver me let such a soul know that this text belongs to them Come unto me saith Christ and I wil give you Rest from this Burden as wel as the other Burdens and our Rest is only in Christ from this as wel as the Burden of the guilt of sin the Burden of the Law and the other burdens that have been spoken unto CHAP. XVI Why the Saints feel these things so burdensome Namely 1. Because the Life of Grace is a tender and delicate thing 2. Because Grace keeps the Soul in continual acting And why God suffers Corruption notwithstanding the burdensomness thereof to remain in the Saints Namely 1. That hereby he may shew forth his own power 2. Hereby their Faith be exercised 3. Hereby they are driven unto Prayer 4. Hereby Stirred up unto Repentance 5. Hereby make known his Wisdome 6. Hereby manifest his justice in laying a stumbling block before the wicked 7. Hereby the Saints may be induced to long more after Heaven With two Consequences issuing from hence 1. The differences between the Sins of the godly and the wicked 2. Why the Saints go on so sadly in their waies NOw it must needs be that a gracious heart must feel these things to be very burdensome First Because the life of Grace wheresoever it is is a very tender and delicate thing nothing is so delicate and tender as the life of Grace and therefore it must needs be sensible of this burden of Corruption according to what degree it doth remain in the Soul As thus you know a man or Woman the more delicate and tender they are in their flesh having had very curious bringing up or it may be their natural Spirits are very delicate more then other men some men their natural spirits are more gross and can bear burdens with less sense but now those that are more finer and delicate if you lay a burden upon them Oh! How burdensome is it unto them now Grace makes the constitution to be delicate fine and pure a pure constitution it puts the Hearts into a most pure constitution and therefore it must needs be sensible of the evil of sin according to the remainers of it Secondly Where Grace is Corruption must needs be very burdensome in this regard also because that Grace keeps the Soul in continual action and stirring now look as a man that hath a Leg that is broken if he could lie stil and never stir it would not be so grievous and burdensome to him the pain and breaking of his Leg would not be so burdensome if he could lie stil but if this man whose Leg is broken must be stirring walking and going up and down Oh! how burdensome is it that his Leg is broke So it is with the Soul it is true if the Soul might be stil a sleep and doing nothing then though there be Corruption in them it would not be so grievous I but Grace whereever it is puts the Soul unto action and therefore it is called the divine Nature because it is active it puts the Soul on to be acting for God and in the waies of life now Grace putting the Soul to be acting and Corruption that being as the breaking of the bones it must needs be very burdensome that which most hinders their activity of Grace must needs be very burdensome You had need therefore take heed what you do when temptation to sin comes take heed you do not break your bones and your Leggs Why Because when you have broken them you must be stil stirring and acting for God A poor man it is a great deal worse for him if he break his Leg then a Rich man a Rich man may sit by the fire or lie in his bed a month together but a poor man if he break his Legg he doth not know what to do he must to work perhaps he cannot have that harbor that a Rich man may have so I say those that are of sluggish spirits though Corruption prevaile it is not so grievous unto them but those that are of active spirits and have Grace and the more Grace that any man or Woman hath the more burdensome their Corruptions are because the more Grace there is in the Soul the more active it wil be for God Quest But you wil say Seeing the remaining of Corruption in the Heurts of the Saints is so burdensom why doth God so order things in his providence as his own dear Saints should be so troubled with their Corruptions while they live in this world God could deliver them from their Corruptions why wil God make them cry out O Wreched man that I am who shal deliver me from this Body of Death God could as wel perfect our Sanctification as our Justification why doth God thus order things in his providence that his own dear Saints should groan under such a burden of Corruption al their daies Answ For that breifly thus Though it is true that God could presently take all our Corruptions as soon as ever we come to Jesus Christ God could deliver us from our Corruptions but the Lord wil not he hath many holy ends why he doth suffer his own people to be under this burden while they live here in the flesh As. First That hereby he may shew forth his own power the power of Jesus Christ is exceeding magnified in this that it can uphold little sparks of Grace in the midst of an Ocean of Corruption that it can uphold poor weak Creatures under such burdens and carry them on notwithstanding and bring them to eternal Life the power and Grace of Jesus Christ and the power of God is as much manifested in this thing as it is in keeping Heaven
Now this I might shew you in abundance of Scriptures in the very first commission that Jesus Christ gave unto his Apostles after his Resurrection to go and Preach throughout the world he saith unto them in Mark 16.15 verse Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature he that beleeveth and is Baptized shal be saved This is cleer that Christ would have us in our first beleeving to have an aime at our own good And so we find such a kind of promise as this is in the Text In Jer. 6.16 verse Thus saith the Lord stand in the waies and see and ask for the old paths where the good way is and walk therein and ye shall find Rest for your Souls Inquire after the good waies and you shall find Rest for your Souls So that you see God propounds duties together with promises the Lord knows what is best for us and what wil work most upon us and therefore for us to think that we must have no aime at all of any good to our selves in coming to Christ and that it is no grace but self-love to come to Christ for our own good this is a temptation I speak the rather this point because I know how useful it is unto many poor Souls whom the Lord is drawing unto Jesus Christ the Lord hath taken off their Hearts from sinful self they would not enjoy themselves in the lusts of the flesh as formerly the Lord hath made them willing to deny their own opinion their own wills their own affections their former waies to deny themselves in the comforts of the things of this world so as to prize him and Christ and his waies the way of Christ more than they prize their very lives here in this world and yet for all this there comes a temptation upon them I but you seek Christ only to free you from Hell and to save you and therefore it is but self-Love it is no true Grace because that you ayme at your selves rather than Christ the Devil cannot prevaile with a Heart that is drawing to Christ thus telling of it Oh! but you prize your lusts more than Christ or you prize your ease more than Christ or you prize your estate and your liberty more than Christ or your life more than Christ if so be that the Devil shal come thus and tempt such a soul could in some measure be able to answer and to appeal unto God and say Lord thou that knowest all things knowest it is otherwise that howsoever my Heart heretofore went after my lusts after the world after my ease and liberty and I followed the common course of the world and made those things to be my greatest good and comfort yet Lord thou knowest it is otherwise with me now my Heart is set for Christ and I can say from the bottom of my Soul with that blessed martyr Lambert None but Christ none but Christ Now when the Heart is got thus farr one would think thou mightest be above the Devil and come to get assurance I saith the Devil though you be taken off thus far that you dare not commit any known sin and you seek after Christ more than your estate and your liberty yet there is one thing more that your hearts is not taken off from you do not prize Christ most of all you seek Christ to save you from Hell and bring you to Heaven that is it that you seek Christ for and therefore I know your Heart is not right all this while this is a temptation that seizeth upon many men Now I confess it is a temptation that is beyond many men they do not know what this temptation is that I prize Christ only to deliver me from Hell and bring me to Heaven this temptation is above the highest form of the course of the world then ordinary professors Now the Spirit in the Text thus answers this temptation the Soul thus answers It is true I do seek Christ to save me from Hell and bring me to Heaven the fear of the wrath of the great God under which I saw my self to be and the displeasure of God was mighty upon my Spirit the Lord hath made my Soul to be sensible of the dreadful breach that sin hath made between him and my Soul and the Lord hath caused the fear of eternity to fall upon my soul and I come to be convinced of this that such is the breach between God and my soul that there is none but Jesus Christ the Mediator of the second Covenant that is able to make up the breach and my soul makes after him as the Mediator as he is propounded in the word in the Gospel to be a Mediator between God and mankind so my soul makes after him and closeth with him and what can the Devil say to this For my heart doth close with Christ in the way that Christ is tendred unto me in the Gospel for so he is tendered God himself saith thus God so loved the world that he sent forth his only begotten Son that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life Thus God sets forth his Son as if God should say thus Be it known unto you O poor wretched sinful creatures that are in danger of eternal perishing that I have sent forth my only begotten son into the world and tender him unto your souls to the end that your souls may not perish but have everlasting Life Thus God tenders his Son Now then when a soul shal be made sensible of the danger of eternal perishing and the Lord shall make it apeare to the soul what the excellency and the glory of eternal life is and the soul shal come to see that the being delivered from perishing and the obtaining of eternal Life is only to be had in Christ and upon this doth close with Jesus Christ and cast it self upon him and adventure it self to lay the weight of its eternal estate upon Christ the soul that doth thus receive Christ according as he is tendred in the word whatever objection may be to the contrary this is to receive Christ according as he is tendred in the word Yet further for the helping against this temptation it fals ful in this Text Come unto me and I wil give you rest Now many poor souls do come to Christ that they might have rest but then the devil puts this in Oh! but you come to Christ for your owne good Now for the helping against this temptation know 1. That the Lord at the first conversion doth ordinarily make use of the creatures self-love but it is of self-love for eternity and that is a higher degree of self-love than the most people in the world do attaine unto Some people in the world they love themselves only for this present life but when God makes a man or woman to love himself for eternity it is a good signe that the hand of God is upon the heart and
their duty only conscience hales them to it and tells them that they must do it and if they do neglect it conscience flyes in their Faces and tells them they must perish eternally and they seek therefore to pacify their Consciences only by the performance of Duties and by their obedience to the Law and so seek it by the righteousness of the Law that 's the only way that they do take to pacifie their Consciences and get rest and peace unto their souls Alas al this while they are laboring and toyling but cannot do it for while men seek Righteousness by the Law it must needs be a toyling labor that will not give rest The First Burden of the Law First The Law gives no strength at all to enable me to perform duties and therefore the Children of it must needs be under bondage as Pharaoh's Task-masters commanded so much Brick to be made but would afford them no straw no means to do it So some set forth the bondage and servitude of the Law commanding such things as it gives no strength at al to perform Quest But you will say Is this the Law of God is God so hard to his Creature as to command that which he gives no ability to perform Answ We must know that God did once give strength to perform Duties but certainly now the Law of God commands Duties but gives no strength to perform them there is no strength enabling us to perform duties until the Spirit of Jesus Christ doth come into the Soul we may perform the outward part of them but not perform duties in such a spiritual manner that they should be suitable to our hearts so as to bring ease and quiet unto our souls and though the soul do seek to get rest and ease to it self yet it wil not come that way The Second Burden of the Law Secondly The Law requires perfect obedience in every thing and denounceth a Curse against him that doth not continue in every thing that is written in the Law to do it Now when men and women are seeking to get rest to their souls by the works of the Law they cannot perform duties as they ought and therefore they have no rest but they see the Law to condemn them because they do not perform duties in a perfect manner and yet they think they must go on and do as wel as they can I but still Conscience hath matter to accuse them of you have not done enough you still come short and though you do some duties you neglect other duties so that Conscience hath them at advantage every day and they are continually under the bondage of an accusing and condemning Conscience that they can have no rest to their souls they perform duties but question with themselves how can I know that the infinite holy God wil accept of what I do and although they may get quiet for a little while yet Conscience comes upon them again and disquiets them and casts fears and doubts â—to their souls insomuch that many poor Creatures have gone seven or perhaps twice seven years under trouble of Conscience and never had any rest or peace and yet still have gone on making Conscience of their waies but withal ful of fears and doubts lest al should not be wel with them at last The Third Burden of the Law And besides Whiles the soul goes on to seek quiet and rest by the works of the Law there is an unsuitableness between the duties that are performed and the heart of such a man or woman so that the very works that they do and duties they perform are grievous and tedious unto them I but now saith Christ O! Come to me such as these are Is there any of you that have had your consciences troubled and have desired O! that there might be peace between God and my soul that I might have assurance of Gods Love what course have you taken to get it have you not sought to bring it about by the works of the Law and have thought to get rest and peace to your souls that way Indeed it is better to go on that way than in the waies of sin but to think to have rest and peace that way hath a great deal more evil in it than you are aware of if men shal think to quiet themselves that way and thereby put off the Righteousness that comes by Faith they may come to be hardened before they be aware But is there any of you that are seeking rest and peace unto your souls in such a way by the righteousness of the Law saith Christ know That this is not the way for you to have rest to your souls it 's true you must abstain from sin and perform duties O! but if you would have rest to your souls you must come to me it is by the souls rowling of it self upon the perfect righteousness that there is in Jesus Christ that only can bring true rest unto the soul Many a poor sinner that hath been seeking rest many years hath not got it but when the Lord hath been pleased to come in with one promise of the Gospel setting it home upon their souls they have got more rest and quiet to their souls in one day yea in one hour than they did before in many years there is a great deal of art and skil to get rest and quiet to the soul that is troubled The Gospel is a mystery in this thing and when God acquaints the soul with the mystery of the Gospel in this thing then rest comes on in a sweet and gracious manner It 's true it is the hardest thing in the world for to close with Christ and to get true ease and rest to the soul it is hard in it self til God make known the mystery of Faith to the soul but when that is done then the soul finds abundance of ease and rest and that in a little while As it is with a man that thinks by main strength to do some work that indeed can only be done by Skil and Art he may be toyling laboring and tiring himself but yet cannot do it whereas another man that understands the mistery of it he comes in and in a little time by his skil and art can do that with ease that the other man was toyling and laboring about a long while and yet could not do it As you know in al Trades that have a mistery in them You that are Navigators that understand the mistery of that Art if any unskilful man should come and think to do some of your work by his main strength he may labor and toyl even his Heart out and not do that work that you can do easily in a little time So many poor Souls are laboring and toyling that these troubled Souls of theirs might be but quiet they are laboring and they wil perform duties and fast and pray so many times in a day and so go on in a tiresome way whereas after the
Soul comes to be acquainted with the mistery of the Gospel that it hears the voice behind him as it were saying come to me And the Soul being inabled to answer to the cal and to come to Christ it doth now perform duties as much as it did before and makes conscience of them as much as it did before but now they come to do them in another manner than they did before and they come to be easie to them over that they were before and they come to have rest to their Souls notwithstanding their imperfections in duties When you went to prayer indeed somtimes when your Hearts were much inlarged in Prayer and your thoughts were taken up wholly with the duties that you were performing then you thought you had some comfort but when you had any wandring thoughts and distractions in Prayer then you rose up with a mighty troubled Spirit and could have no rest al the day long Now when you come to be acquainted with the mistery of God in Christ though there be many imperfections in your duties yet then you shal find rest unto your Souls notwithstanding all your imperfections But that wil come to be more clearly opened when we come to that and I wil give you rest Those that have labored under the righteousness of the Law and find it toylsome and exceeding burdensom to them Christ calls them to come to him that they may have rest The Burden under Sin Secondly Those that labor and are heavy laden under the weight and burden of their Sins The trouble of Conscience that is upon them for their Sins this is another thing besides the righteousness of the Law The other labor was from under duties but this labor is from the sense of the weight and burden of Sin and we are to know that this is a great labor and burden Oh! when the Soul comes to be under the burden of sin it works to purpose it labors then indeed The thoughts they gather together and conscience being awakened makes a great disturbance and causeth fears and tremblings in the Soul the heart of a man or woman that was before slugish dull heavy and dead when God comes to make it to be sensible of the evil of Sin then it is quickned enlivened and working You that Labor and are heavy laden you that feel the weight of Sin upon your Souls and know not what in the world to do Come you to me saith Christ and I will give you Rest The Burden of Corruption Thirdly You that labor under the power of any Corruption Not only under the Guilt of your Sins but under the power of Corruption that feel your Sins strong in you and you would fain get the mastery of them You that carry about with you such a weight as makes you to cry out with St. Paul Oh! Wretched man or Woman that I am who shal deliver me from this Body of Death You that would fain overcome those strong Corruptions that are in you and it is the great burden of your Souls that you cannot overcome them Come to me saith Christ and I wil give you rest from them also First you that labor under the burden of duties and find them toylesome Secondly you that labor under the guilt of Sin and find your Souls perplexed by it Thirdly You that labor under the power of any corruption and cannot overcome it Come to me and I wil give you Rest And then The Burden of Affliction Fourthly You that labor under any outward trouble or Affliction in this world All you that are in any sad condition that have any burdens upon you outwardly if you come to Christ he wil ease you of them though perhaps he will not take them from you though you may be under the affliction as before yet you shal have rest and ease in them Have you any burden of poverty Have you any Burden in your Children Have you any burden in your Yoke fellows Or burden by reason of weakness in Body if you will have rest you must go for it to Chirst Many when they are under any outward affliction they go no futher then the creature for rest Oh! if I had but good friends I should be happy or if I had but an Estate I should be wel But if thy poverty did work upon thy heart kindly it would drive thee to Chist and make thee to say true I am poor in this world but there is enough in Christ to make me Rich there is mercy enough in Christ to make my life comfortable to make me who am for the present in a miserable Condition happy for ever Those that are poor outwardly they should go to Christ if their poverty did drive them to Christ it were a good signe that the Lord did Sanctifie their poverty unto them Now because al these Burdens if they were handled distinctly The Burden of the righteousness of the Law The burden of the sense of the guilt of sin the burden of the power of sin And the Burden of outward afflictions in this world To open these fully and to shew how Christ cals those that are under these to himself would take up much time therefore I wil pitch upon the Second at present and handle that more throughly and that is the laboring under the burden of the guilt of Sin You that Labor under the burden of the Guilt of Sin Come to me and I wil give you Rest I wil not here stand to open unto you what the burden of the Guilt of Sin is then I should soon slip into an argument that I have at large heretofore opened to you out of the Evil of sin only thus much let us know that of al burdens in the world the burden of Sin it is the greatest it is that that is a burden to the very spirit of God God complaines that he is pressed under it as a Cart is pressed that is ful of sheaves it was that which pressed down the Angels to Hel to be reserved in Chains of darkness it was that which pressed down Christ and made him sweat drops of Blood And it is that that hath been a great weight and burden upon many thousands of Gods Saints it is that that the damned in Hel lies under now and must do so eternally Cursing Blaspheming of God It is that that makes the whole creation to groan and travel in pain However many people think â—lightly and meanly of it yet when the Lord doth lay it upon any Soul such a Soul doth find it to be a burden indeed CHAP. III. The Burden under Sin laid open in nine Particulars 1. When the Soul not only apprehendeth but is sensible of the Evil of Sin in the reality of it 2. Finds all the comfort that did attend Sin before to vanish and come to nothing 3. Looks upon it self as loathsome and is in Some measure bowed to God 4. Trembles at the least thoughts and Temptations to Sin 5. Feel Sin heaviest
al and yet you do not cry out but Paul he was delivered from the guilt of his sin yet the very remainder of sin in his heart was a burden to him there is much sin in many of your hearts and you cry not out of it Paul he was delivered and yet he cryeâ— out of it who shal deliver me from this body of death But now to open this I shal shew First how manâ— waies the remaining part of corruption is a burden to the Saints Secondly What kind of burden it is Thirdly Open the particulars shewing that sinful nature is a burden and the stirring of corruption a burden and the prevailing of corruption a burden Fourthly Why it is that God doth so in his providence order things that his owne saints shal be under the burden of corruption and so make some application of it First Then in what respect the remaining part of sin and corruption in the heart of the saints is a burden The First burden of Corruption First It is a burden of greife unto them you know grief causeth heaviness and sadness now the remainder of corruption that they find in them it is as lead and lies heavy upon their spirits in regard of greif it is the cause of their grief and trouble some wil say perhaps sometimes to others such and such that are professours of religion they go very sadly and heavily and when once you come to be so strict in your way you wil loose al your comfort for such and such are alwaies sad and pensive but do you know what is the reason of their sadness you have as much cause to be sad as they the burden is not because they are religious but because they are no more religious not because now they do more duties then they did before but because they cannot find their hearts come up to their duties as they would do not atribute their greif to their godlyness but rather say to thy self thus if they that do so much for God are yet so much troubled and greived because they do no more for God how much cause of trouble and greife have I then that do nothing at al for God The Second burden of Corruption Secondly The remaining part of corruption in the hearts of the saints it is a burden of shame greif is a burden and shame is a burden many that can beare great burdens that can beare the burden of poverty yet are not able to beare the burden of disgrace especially to those that are most ingenious it is one of the greatest burdens in the world now the saints they are ashamed of the corruption that remains in them they account it a shame before the Lord and before his blessed Angels and in regard of themselves what they know of themselves that the world knowes not of they look upon it as ashame that they do even loath and abhor themselves as the scripture speakes it may be their lives are such as others do honor and have high thoughts of them but they being acquainted with their own hearts and looking into the secret working of their own spirits they see so much evil there as they see much cause to abhor and loath themselves and to lie down in their shame before the Lord whom they know doth see into their hearts a great deale more then they can see themselves I wil appeal to any one that knows his owne heart if God should open your heart and make it known to your friends and acquaintance so much evil as is in your heart in the performing of one duty if al men should know so much evil as is in your heart at one time in praier or hearing a sermon would you not be ashamed now God knowes and sees al the baseness and vildness of your spirits and the godly knowing this they cannot but be ashamed and go under this burden of shame with heavy hearts The Third burden of Corruption Thirdly The remaining part of Corruption in the hearts of the godly it carries with it a burden of feare fear you know is a great burden as wel as greif and shame though the evil be not so great upon them yet if their be an evil apprehended to come upon them it is a great burden to them as those that dare not go out of dores in the night because of feare or dare not be in the dark because of fear when they are delivered from their feares do they not account that it was a great burden now the godly they have a great deal of fear upon their hearts and the truth is those that are godly they fear more what their owne evil hearts should bring upon them then what al the divels in hel and al the creatures in the world can bring upon them and that is a good fear but yet it makes them walk heavily others feare sometimes they fear men fear those that wil come and take away their estates and undo them feare their enemies or feare the divel but one that is godly he feares more his own heart the evil that may come to his soul by that then al the hurt that al the divels in hel can do to him for they cannot afflict more then the body I but this brings an evil upon the soul it breakes their communion between them and God and therefore they are afraid of sin before it comes they have experience of their hearts what evil it hath done to them and so are afraid of miscarrying and afraid of the evil consequences of their sin they do not know what mischief their sin might possibly bring upon them and so they goe under this burden of fear along time together even those that are truly godly The Fourth burden of Corruption Fourthly The remaining part of corruption in the hearts of the saints is a burden of care for men and women to be alwaies careful to be ful of care you know that is a great burden that many of you are acquainted with that when you have a great deal of business upon you and much lies upon you when your thoughts are ful of care is it not a great burden to you many men that have been ful of business and afterwards have got over their business what a freedome do they account it the saints they have a burden of care upon them because they find so much to do with their own hearts that they had need be watchful night and day over them they have had experience what their hearts have done when there hath not been a strict watch over â—hem and therefore there is no Child of God but if he be in a right temper he is a careful man so long as we live in this flesh our condition is ful of feares and so we must neds be ful of care in this world though there be a great deale of difference between the distracting care that wicked men have about their outward estate and the care of the godly about keeping their
instance you know that the Scripture tels us that the flesh fights against the Spirit and the spirit fights against the flesh there is a continual fighting by this Corruption against al that is good now that there should be Corruption in the Heart that continually fights against God that is a more fearful thing so it is in thy Heart Now to be alwaies in a fight or a combate it is a fearful thing we count it a great burden that there should be Wars and Rumors of Wars within our gates I but there is a greater war in thy Heart It is a thing that was not thought possible ever to be in England that there should be found such a Generation that should indanger their lives to make them and their posterity slaves and yet for this they fight who doth not see but the victory wil be this in the Conclusion But I wil shew you a worse thing then this in every of your Hearts there are such Corruptions in your Hearts as put your Souls to fight to mischeif your selves to bring your selves to be slaves to the Devil this is in your Hearts though indeed some are not sensible of this and what is the reason that if corruption be a Burden that some people â—eel it not One Reason is this because they are dead in sins if this whole building should fal upon a dead man he would not feel it and take this as an infallible argument that thou art dead in sins and trespasses if thou dost not feel the Burden of thy corruption that man and woman that is not sensible of the sin that is in their Souls I dare in the Name of God pronounce that Man or Woman dead As it is in Nature though we may loose the sense of seeing or of smelling or of hearing yet we may live yet the sense of feeling or touching that cannot be lost if we be living if we loose the sense of feeling certainly that man or Woman is dead no sense inwardly or outwardly there is some sense of feeling so long as there is life So here though there may be many weaknesses in men and Women yet when they do not feel the Burden of their Corruptions at al certainly they are dead men and Women Now you that are weary and heavy Laden come to me saith Christ And I will give you Rest know that Christ speaks to you not only out of pity as to those that Labor under the Burden of Legal performances but out of love and know that by this you come to be fitted for Christ and it is that that is as delightful to the heart of Christ to give ease and Rest to his poor Servants that Labor under the Burden of Corruption as to do any thing in the world it was a special end why Christ came into the world to dissolve the works of the Devil our Corruptions are from the Devil and are tied close to us and they easily beset us as the expression is now I say it was the end why Jesus Christ came into the world to dissolve the works of the Devil that is when he sees his poor Servants under this burden and to cry out under it as Paul did who shal deliver me then Christ comes to cut this bond and so to dissolve the works of the Devil and give ease and Rest to their Spirits You do wel when you struggle and strive against your Corruptions with all the strength you have but the great work you have to do that you may be delivered from your Corruptions is to renew your act of Faith in Christ to make use of those Scriptures wherein Christ is said to be our Sanctification as wel as our Redemption and to act our Faith upon those Scriptures and that is the way to ease our Souls of these Burdens CHAP. XV. In what respects the stirrings and motions of Corruption 〈◊〉 very burdensom 1. They continually fight against the Spirit of Grace in the Heart 2. They are sudden 3. They are ful of Confusion and disorder 4. They work very Malitiously 5. They watch opportunity to do mischief 6. They are very unseasonable 7. They are very prevalent NOw besides the Corruption of our Nature the stirring of Corruption is very burdensome unto the Soul I suppose if a Man or Woman did know what corrupt Nature is in them and though this corrupt Nature did not stir yet it would be very burdensome but we are to know that this corrupt Nature doth not lie stil but is alwayes working stirring acting and putting it self forth unto that that is evil now the motions of sin are burdensome 1. For First they are continually fighting against the Spirit of God and the spirit of grace in the heart the flesh lusteth against the spirit now to have a continual fighting and Combating in the soul is it not very burdensome as a family where there is a continual falling out never a day that you come to some families but there is falling out and fighting is it not burdensome to live in such a family now in the hearts of men and women there is a continual fighting If one should be in a family where the husband and wife is continually fighting one with an other and the children and servants flying in the face one of an other that would be burdensome now in the heart of man there is the flesh and spirit continually fighting one against another is not war in a kingdome a burden and especially when men shal fight to make themselves slaves as I said before would any man ever have thought it possible that there should be such folly in the hearts of any in England to fight to make themselves and their posterity slaves that the very victory that they should get was to bring them to be slaves now the fight with corruption it is for this end 2 And then the stirring of corruption is sudden many times a man or woman that is gracious and godly that finds their heart in some good temper and working for God suddenly their corruptions wil be stirring in them unexpectedly which is extream greife and damp to their spirits and causeth many times exceeding much trouble to them suddenly that no body can understand the cause of it but themselves 3. And then the stirring of Corruption is violent the stirring of Corruption in the hearts of the Saints are many times extream violent and outragious the divel stirs up their Corruption and indeed the corruptions themselves are as it were divels in them that do as the divel that was ready to be cast out of him that was possessed he causeth him to foam at the mouth so there is extreame violence of corruption in the hearts of the Saints It was a Lamentable conditition of the poor Child that was possessed in the Gospel when the father came to Christ for help because when the evil spirit came it cast him into the fire and into the water So corruption is so violent in
not only say in general Come to me but cals them in particular 3. You will say How shall we know it is the voyce of Christ that is the third particular Christ doth by the Spirit secretly perswade the soul that it is his voyce and not the voyce of delusion according to that in Cant. 2 8. The voyce of my beloved As it is when the Soul is departed from God and comes again to him the Lord Christ makes the Soul to know his voyce So when he was in this world after his Resurrection he confers with Mary a while and she thought it had been the Gardiner and Christ he speaks but a word speaks to her and saies Mary Rabboni saith she Master presently Christ did not tell her he was the Christ but he said Mary and presently Mary knew it was the voyce of Christ And so when the Spirit of Christ speaks to the soul there is such a secret instinct a perswasion and manifestation of God to it that it doth know indeed that it is the voyce of God I have been often at a Sermon and heard many good men preach Christ but I hear the voyce of Christ this day in my soul and I know it is the voyce of Christ Thus doth the soul that comes to Christ effectually 4. And further The invitation of Christ when it is indeed effectual as I know it is Christs voyce Christ comes and knocks at the door and the soul knows who it is that is to be applyed to his particular Call As Christ saith I stand at the door and knock that is to be referred to the second particular I stand and knock at the door and if any man will open to me I will come in to him and sup with him God doth not only proclaim pardon but comes to the door of the soul and stands at thy door particularly you cannot but find this by experience you that have the work of Grace upon you you have lived under the means a long time but God comes and knocks at your doors also which is a mighty condescention of a Prince that doth not only send sorth a Proclamation but knocks at the poor Traitors door and so doth Christ and when that is done before the soul doth indeed come and cast himself so upon Christ and commit himself to Christ there are some secret items and intimations that God doth intend love to it in particular that he hath thoughts of love and mercy to the soul though I have been very vile and very wretched yet partly I gather it by the way of God towards me that there is thoughts of mercy to me Quest You will say How doth that appear that there is any such intimation of Gods goâ—ness to a soul in particular when it is called to come to Christ Answ I will give you this Ground When the soul comes to Christ and casts it self upon Christ it doth it not at a meer venture and knows not whether he shall have mercy or no. It is true I come to Christ and there is no other help but I know not whether I shall have mercy or no or whether there be any mercy or no for me this is not the work of faith this way is neer to faith indeed when the soul can say thus It is true in the way I have been there is no mercy to me and I know not whether there be mercy for me but I wil try it it hath not the reflect act of faith but some secret perswasion of the soul whereby it doth cast it self upon God though not by a reflect act it can certainly say God intends mercy for me but though it be very weak yet some intimation the soul hath that there is mercy from God towards it because Faith is not a bare venture but Faith hath some kind of certainty though very weak for to say I will cast my soul upon God but I may perish I have no ground to think why God should save me this is unbelief the work of Faith according to the degree of it hath some kind of certainty in it though the soul for the present be not able to discern it 5. The invitation of Christ when it comes to be effectual hath together with the voyce of Christ an inward effectual power that goes along with it a prevailing power to draw the heart to him Christ doth not only speak to the heart and say to it Come but with the voyce he lets out a power upon the heart to come to him I express it thus When Christ was in the flesh he goes and calls Disciples to him comes to Matthew that sate at the receit of Custom saith he Come and follow me presently Matthew leaves his sitting at the Custom House leaves all his Friends and leaves all he had and comes to him presently And so when Christ comes to Peter and Andrew his Brother that were a fishing and saith to them Come to me they leave their old Father leave their Nets leave their Ship leave all and follow Christ Certainly we cannot but apprehend that there was a secret vertue went out from Christ with this his Word that did thus prevail upon their hearts As the poor woman in the Gospel that had the bloody issue she did but touch the hem of Christs Garment and she finds a secret vertue to cure her so where ever Christs invitation comes to be effectual it comes with a mighty power a secret vertue that goes together with his word to the soul to prevail upon it Come to me say many Why doth Christ call me am I able to come to him Christ saith Come to them as he did to Matthew Peter and others Christ did not call them and say Come only but he put vertue into his word and look what vertue was then the same is now in the ministry of the word when he speaks and saith come to Christ together with this word there goes a secret power to prevaile upon the Soul that they must come Now it may be the Father or Mother or friend of a poor yong man perswades him not to come but he must come to Chirst for all that the truth is it 's as strong a work of God to come to Christ now as it was then to cal Matthew and Peter to come to Christ Lastly He not only calls them but he reacheth out his hand before he comes to be joyned with Christ to have union with him Christ when he sees the Soul making after him he reacheth forth his hand to draw the Heart You will say what is that for Christ to reach forth his hand and invite that way By that I mean those gracious incouragements that Christ gives to all the beginnings of the working of the Soul after him the Lord Christ not only invites such but gives forth his hand to reach forth strength unto them he will not break the bruised Reed nor quench the Smoaking Flax. Thus you see what the second
delivered from condemnation They are those that walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit Shall it be cast upon this now I do challenge every Soul to put it upon the tryal to see whether they dare venture their Souls and eternal estate upon this Scripture look to it it is the word of God it is that word of God that must stand for ever when thou and I am fallen There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit Now then thy eternal estate lies upon this thy soul lies upon it that if thou be a man or Woman that doth walk after the flesh that is look what pleasure the flesh desires what lusts of the flesh are delightful to thee thy Heart walks after them thou livest accordingly and it is thy great care to make provision for the flesh the care of thy life to make provision for the flesh and when thou hast made provision for the flesh thou givest liberty to thy spirit to satisfie it self in the lusts of the flesh thou art the man and woman that yet art not in Jesus Christ and therefore art certainly under condemnation and is this a time to Rest now in Is there Rest for such a Soul that is in this condition All those therefore whose consciences tell them that hitherto they have walked after the flesh and not after the spirit not after those truths that they find in the word perhaps they can go to the word and say it is true what the Minister saith if we could do what he saith and in the mean time cast off the thoughts of those truths that are according to the word and cast off what God speaks in his word for what he speaks in his word should be as real to thee as if he spake it from Heaven and therfore thou art out of Christ and I speak in the name of God of all these things that I might the more effectually draw mens hearts to come unto Christ for Rest For I do not mean to leave you thus to tel you that you have no Rest out of Christ but I intend to tell you how you may have Rest in Christ Only first I would convince you that out of Chirst there is no Rest for the Soul and if you have had Rest all this while out of Christ it hath been a cursed a vile a wretched Rest it hath been no other but such a Rest as this of a man that is condemned to die Nay Let me tel you all out of Christ are not condemned to die a temporal but an eternal Death But you wil say they have Rest enough it doth not trouble them I answer What Rest just as if a condemned man shal go to bed and fal asleep and dream that he is at home in his House with his Wife and Children about him at home with his friends at his work at his meat and O poor man how he rejoyceth that he is at home and hath got his Wife and Children and all is safe and wel this man pleaseth himself in his dream al this while and at length poor man he awakes and he sees he is in the prison he sees the shackles about his heels and the watch at the door and for ought he knows he may die the next day Certainly this sets forth as lively the condition of natural Men in the world as can be they are al condemned but they are in a dream and they think they are out of al danger al wil be safe that there shal no misery befal them O but when the Lord shal come to awake them out of this dream they wil see themselves in prison under the sentence of condemnation and then they wil wonder that they have been so quiet al this while Sixthly Yea Let me say further if thou beest out of Christ thou are not only under the sentence of Condemnation but for ought thou knowest every moment thou mayest be plunged into the Gulf of the wrath of the infinite God it is true God hath spared thee along time God hath continued thy Life in his Patience perhaps twenty forty fifty years well but how dost thou know but that may fal out in one night or day or moment that never fel out in al thy life though thou hast been spared a long time yet thou knowest not but before morning thou maiest be among the damned in Hell and is this a condition to rest in For a man and Woman to be in such a condition as when he comes to examine how doth things stand between God and my Soul How stand I to God What reference have I to God Or what reference hath God to me How do I know but I may be swallowed up in the Gulf of the eternal wrath of the infinite God and there lie under it for ever What do I know to the contrary And if this prove to be my portion it had been better ten thousand times I had never been borne and is this a condition to rest in Certainly if God hath revealed any truth in his word these are the truths of God The condition of one out of Christ is like one that hath suffered Shipwrack and perhaps he gets one of the Bords that are broken off from the ship and is floating up and down the Sea upon it and yet in such danger that every wave coming he is in danger to be drowned do you think it is possible for any one to sleep there It s true You are not drowned yet but you see your selves in danger by every wave that comes to be swallowed up and to be sunk to the bottom It may be it hath been the case of some of you that have suffered Shipwrack that you have been dilivered in a boate I beleeve when you have been there you could hardly sleep quietly if you should nestle down in your boate and say wel here I wil take my rest would not every one think you a mad man Just thus for al the world it is with men in their natural estate they take up their rest whereas they know not but there wil come presently some dreadful wave of the wrath of God and swallow them up and so they are undone for ever certainly there is no peace to the wicked saith my God if this be so There are divers other particulars that might set forth for the opening of the condition of al men that are out of Jesus Christ no rest can come to them and al to make Jesus Christ precious to you that you might seek the happy condition that is to be had in Christ Oh! that any thing that hath been spoken might be settled upon your hearts that you might go with that poor wretched sinner that you read of in the Acts of the Apostles Chap. 16.30 and say Men and bretheren what shal we do to be saved The Lord hath shewn me my restless condition I see the rest I
Grace of the Gospel they are of all things most precious in the Eyes of God next to the blood of Christ next to the drops of Christs blood thy mourning Lamenting Spirit is one of the most precious things in the Eyes of God God treasures up every one of them and this is the Rest of the Soul the Soul may have abundance of Rest therefore in Christ when thou comest to know that thy mourning for thy offences is accepted of God Seventhly The ease that the Soul hath from the burden of the Law is this That whereas before through the severity of the Law sin did make thy Soul an object of Gods wrath take sin as it was in it self and coming from thee God having no respect in Christ towards thee sin made thy Soul an object of Gods wrath Yea and of hatred too for so the Scripture tels us plainly that the Lord hates the workers of iniquity now being come to Christ according to this invitation Come to me ye that are Laden now your sins being looked upon in Christ do rather make you an object of pitty and compassion to God not from any virtue not from any thing in its own Nature but in regard of your condition as thus let a tender Mother look upon the Child that is sick that is wounded it is true the Mother cannot Love the distemper or love the wound the Mother would not have the sickness or the wound upon the Child but doth not the sickness or wound that is upon the Child make the Child to be an object of pitty and Compassion Make the bowels of a tender Father and Mother to yern so much the more to the Child So here the Lord now looks upon thy sin being in Christ as thy sickness as thy wound and therefore doth pitty thee as under thy affliction rather then under thy sin For the truth is all those that are the Saints of God and are come to Christ they look upon their own sins as their affliction as the greatest affliction they have in the world as I shewed when I spake of the load and Burden of Corruption that remaines in their Hearts Now God therefore looks up on thy sin as thine affliction and as for any other thing that is thy affliction as it is the breach of the Law or the like Christ undertakes for that and so thou art delivered from the wrath that it doth deserve and those evil effects that should come of it through the revenging justice of God Christ hath undertaken it but yet it remaines thy affliction though thou art delivered from guiltiness and condemnation yet one that hath a gracious Heart Reasons thus Though I be delivered from my sin from the Guilt of it from the condemning power that the Law hath through my sin yet it is my affliction my trouble and so I look upon it now peace and Rest be to that Soul from what the Law can require so that as we go along we may not only see the benefit we have by Christ but who they are that are thus delivered those who though they know they are delivered from the Burden of it yet they do account their sins the afflictions of their Soul whereas others that are meerly Legal they apprehend their Souls as guilty and under condemnation but if they were delivered from it they would look upon their sins as their wounds and afflictions The Saints they see that they are now made the objects of Gods pitty and compassion towards them and hence is the Reason that Christ is willing if it be possible to find many excuses that may be made for his poor Servants thou shalt not need to find out any excuse if there be any thing that may alleviate and lessen thy sin Christ will find it our and lessen it for thee You know what Christ saith to his Disciples when they were sleeping and could not watch one hour though he rebukes them yet he saith though the flesh is weak yet the Spirit is willing Mark how Christ excuse them they do not say when Christ comes and saith cannot you watch with me one hour Alas it is true Master the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak they do not say thus but Christ saith so to them and the truth is this is the way to leave their excuse to Christ their way is to aggravate their sins as much as may be and it is the temper of those that are come to Christ it is not their care to lessen their sins but they do what they can to aggravate their sins and lay it upon their Hearts for the humbling of their Souls but Christ undertakes to excuse them And therefore you that have so many excuses for your sin just as your Grand-Father Adam had he put it off to the Woman and the Woman unto the Serpent and one to another so you it is true my Nature is passionate and I am froward by Nature and a hundred such excuses men have whereas all thy care should be to humble thy Soul for thy sins and if there be any thing to alleviate thy sin and lessen it Christ will do that and the more thou excusest thy self the greater will be thy sin and it is better for thee for another to excuse it than thy self As when a Child or servant shal offend and one that is a neer friend or neighbor shal come and excuse them this is a great deal better than if they did it themselves Now those that are under the Law they have no excuse to be made for them but those that are come to Christ they have Christ to make al the excuses for them Oh! take heed of abusing the rich grace of God in Christ this I know that this is such a pure quality that it hath not such a malignant quality in it that it wil be abused and where you see any such quality know that they have it not aright they have something else instead of the thing as sometimes you shal see two things as like one another as can be suppose drinks made with some kind of composition they shal look just like one another but one shal have some venom in it enough to kil one and the other shal be wholesome and able to recover one yet both shal have the same â—ur and the same tast so it is with the free gracâ—â—d in Christ you may have the same word spoken â—e thing exprest to one and to another the very same thing preached for the outside of it for the word for the expression in a sermon the same doctrin raised for the expression and yet they shal be so carried that one shal have a malignancy in it and the other shal have a soveraigne power in it now when the soul hath the true rest in Christ that rest hath not such a malignant power to make the heart worse by it But of that I shall speake more afterwards Eighthly When thou art come to Christ thy soul
have been at liberty so as they have been as conscientious in performing of duty as before but now their duty is made the joy and delight of their souls they have gone to them with rejoycing and made the Commandements of God to be their inheritance and the joy of their hearts and their duties are as sweet to them as the hony and the hony comb Now this is the argument that we are upon that in Christ there is rest from this burden Christ gives ability unto beleevers those that are his members to performe duties with freedom of spirit and indeed evangelical duties are duties performed with freedom that is the difference between legal performances and evangelical one is done as a burden and the other is done with freedom of spirit Now I shal shew unto you how Christ gives this freedom Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty you know the scripture I suppose now this freedom of spirit in the performance of duty comes by Christ these waies First when the soul is come to Christ it hath rest because Christ renders God unto the soul in a gracious way Christ takes off the terror that was before of God takes off that from the heart The reason why duties are performed as a burden to those that are legal is this because they tender them up to God but so as they look upon God as a terrible judg they must do what God requires I but when they come into his presence they come into his presence as a judg being very terrible Now when the soul comes to Christ Christ renders God very amiable and loâ—ely unto the soul of a Christian renders God the father as his father or her father For so Christ saies I go to my father and your father to look upon God not only as a father but our father as being the father of our Lord Jesus Christ So beleevers in the performance of duties look upon God as a father in a double relation He is my father he hath begotten me a new to himself and so he is my father he is my father he hath adopted me to be his child but he is the father of our Lord Jesus Christ too and Christ is mine two so that I have an interest in the fatherhood as I may so speak as the father of Christ I go to my father and your father So when beleevers come to tender up any service to God as a duty they come to God as their father and as to the father of their redeemer too now this brings a mighty deale of ease unto the heart of a beleever in the performance of duty a great deal of difference there is between a fathers calling the child to him and a rigid severe master or judge calling of one to him When the child heares that his father cals him he runs and loves to be in the presence of his father but when one saith to a servant your master calls you he knows not whether he be called to be beaten with stripes or no. This is the difference between legal performances and evangelical those that are in Christ when Christ calls them to duty you must go into the presence of your father and of the father of your blessed redeemer you must go to duty in him Come go to prayer saith Conscience to one they cannot but go indeed but when they go to prayer their heart is struck with feare terror and discouragement in prayer but Conscience saith to one that is a beleever come you must go to prayer what is that but come you must go before your father and injoy communion with your father the father of your redeemer cals you to have communion with him how doth your heart spring to come into the presence of such a father So that Christ renders them lovely to his father and so delivers them from the burden that they are under in legal performances Secondly In Christ beleevers when they performed â—uties they do not tender them up unto God as satisfactory for any thing that is past but meerly to be testimonies of their love and thankfulness for what they have received now duties are a great deal more easily done this way then another It is true they wil gather arguments from their former neglect to stir them up to do the more I but now they are not called upon to their duties to make God amends and satisfy for what is past for that would be a burden for such as performe duties in a legal way and are not acquainted with the doctrine of the Gospel they know not how to satisfy God but only by doing so much the more by how much the more they have neglected heretofore I have neglected God al the time of my youth and now conscience begins to be awakned and tels me I must serve God and perform duties and I had need be more diligent now that I may make up and satisfy for what I have neglected before Now when we perform duties in this way they are very burdensom As suppose a man hath run in debt and he is set up in a trade I but whatsoever he gets it must be to satisfy what debts he is run out in before this must make him go on in much heaviness he thinks that whatsoever he gets must go to satisfy what he hath run into before But now take another man that hath run into arrerages and hath a freind a kinsman that coms and layes down al the debts that he owed and gives him a stock sayes now you are a Freeman once again go on whatever you get shal be for your self this man goes on a great dealemore livelier then the other just thus it is between the consciences of those that performe duties in a legal way and the consciences of that perform duties in an evangelical way One that is legal conscience tels him of such arrerages that he hath run into with God and whatever he can do for time to come is too little to satisfy for what he hath neglected before now conscience puts him upon it do he must serve he must obey he must I but he doth it with no heart at al I work and I obey I do but whether this wil make up the arrerages for what is past I do not know Now a beleever performes obedience but it is upon other termes Christ comes and layes down a price and discharges him of al former arrerages and puts a stock of grace into the heart and says unto him now live and imploy this your stock in the service of God and trade with it get more comfort and more grace with it and you shal have the benefit and the good of every holy duty that you performe the good and benefit shal come to your souls Now such a soul goes unto duties in a cheerful way and they are no burdens at al to it because he performes them not for satisfaction of any arrerages behind
to have so much sin conveyed to us by Adam by propagation but thus As we may read in Rom. 5. By one man sin came into the world Now Adam he was the head of the first Covenant and by being the head of that al mankind are looked upon as members of the first Adam he being the head in that notion of the Covenant in that consideration Adam was not looked upon as a parent only as the first father but as the head and we are not looked upon only as the children of Adam but as members so that al men were looked upon as one in Adam and therefore the Scripture speakes but of two men the first Adam and the second Adam that look as sin is conveyed to us being members of the First Adam and he being the head of the First Covenant so grace comes to be conveyed unto the soul by our being members of the second Adam the Lord Jesus Christ being the head of the second Covenant here is the way of conveyance of holiness our union with Christ So that now the holiness that is in Christ comes to us by virtue of the mistical union As by virtue of the natural union of the members of the body with the head there comes animal spirits to the members of the body so by virtue of our mistical union with Christ our head there is conveyed holiness and grace to strengthen us against our corruptions As the oyntment did run from Aarons head 〈◊〉 â—to the rest of his members so Christ that is anoytâ—â—at hath the oyl not only of gladness but holiness too doth descend down to al his members by virtue of the union they have with him And for that end you have a most famous scripture in Rom. 8.2 For the Law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sin and death It is a scripture that hath very much in it What doth he mean by the Law of sin and death The Law that is the mighty power that there is in sin and so in death that comes by sin in the hearts of unbeleevers There is a Law of sin the strength of sin I speak of sin hath strength going along with it hath power with it So a Law of sin there is in the hearts of men they are compelled to sin as I may so speake as a man is compelled to a thing by a law a law of sin though this be no excuse to them And let them know that so far as they are compelled to sin they are compelled to death to But how shal this Law of sin and death be overcome Marke the words The Law of the spirit of life in Christ hath made me free from the Law of sin and death The Law of the spirit of Life here is two gradations that is the holiness that is in Christ that is likewise a Law as wel as the corruption that is in the heart The corruption in the heart hath a strength in it and the holiness of Christ hath a strength in it too So that when grace comes into the heart the heart goes on in a way of holiness in a holy kind of necessity We can do nothing against the truth saith the Apostle But yet there is a necessity of willingness goes along with it too there is a Law of Love and kindness but by this word of Law is meant a strong impetuousness a mighâ—y power that carries the soul on to holiness Again secondly it is the Law of the spirit and of the spirit of life the holiness of Christ it is a holiness that is ful of life First it is Life And secondly it is the spirit of Life Now the spiriâ— of life is a higher degree then life as the spirit of a thing hath the quickning of the thing in it beyond what the whol bulke of the thing is When the spirit of herbs or any such thing is extracted you know those spirits have much quickning in them beyond the things themselves so the spirit would express the mighty activity in the holyness that comes from Christ it is life it is the spirit of life and then it is the Law of the spirit of life Oh my brethren you see then here that Godliness is no dul thing it is no heavy thing no poor weake contemptible thing but it is the life it is the life of Christ it is the spirit of life and it is the Law of the Spirit of life he speakes of grace when it comes to that as the Law of the spirit of life There is but two things in sin the Law of sin and death and in grace there is life and the spirit of life and the law of the spirit of life and al this in Jesus Christ It is not in our owne resolutions purposes endeavours but in our union with Jesus Christ and this it is that brings grace unto the heart though there be much corruption before yet the soul being thus one with Christ and looking upon Christ as the head of the second Covenant and doth draw virtue from Jesus Christ a mighty strong virtue to help the soul against corruption and quicken it in the wayes of God and thus comes the rest to the soul by Christ in sanctification Carnal hearts they know no way in the world how to get grace they heare talking of grace and leaving of sin but they know not how to get it and they wil go and pray read heare and the like I but you must know that grace lies in another way then you think of for you think it must come from God I but it must come from God in a mistical way through Christ Perhaps some of you hearing the mysteries of the Gospel understand this that as God is the fountain of al grace so it must be conveyed by Christ as through the cisterne I but you must understand also that you must have it from God through Christ as he is a head unto you and you are the members through a mistical union that your souls must have with Christ so as you be made one with Christ you must be made one with Christ As the member can never receive any spirit from the head except it be united to the body it is not by being tied to the body If you take an arme of flesh and tie it to a mans shoulder it wil never receive life that way but it must have a natural union Just thus your common Professors that meerly have the name of Christians and are not spiritually united to Christ they are like to Armes tiâ—d on to the shoulder or to wooden legs that are fastened upon mens thighes that want legs they have some use of those legs to help theÌ„ a little to go I but those legs have not virtue and life conveyed from the head So your common Christians they have some knowledg of Christ they are only fastened to Christ as a wooden leg is fastened to a mans
heat of the furnace and as the heat you know consumes stubble combustible matter put into it so there is that heat in the love of God shed abroad in the heart by Christ that consumes the lust of the heart and the soul growes up into holiness thereby It is with the heart of a Beleever as it is with the fruites of the earth you know that the frost may keep down some weeds but it is the sun-shine it is the beams of the sun and the warme beames that makes the fruit to ripen and to grow up that fruit that growes in the sun is soonest ripe your grasse that growes in the orchard is sowre and the beast wil not eate it and other herbs that grow in the shade comes to no maturity nor to be so good as those that grow in the sun fruit that growes upon the wal how quickly doth that grow ripe whereas the other that grows in the shade withers so there are some that live altogether under Legal feares and trouble of conscience perhaps they have somtimes fruite but it is sour fruit it is not so sweet fruite as comes from those that are under the sun-shine of the Gospel that have the shine of the love of God upon their hearts their fruite is sweet and they thrive better and looke more lovely and live a more amiable and lovely life then the lives of others And this is another way how Christ comes to be our sanctification in shedding abroad the love of God into the heart and that the scripture is ful of how the love of God is shed abroad in Jesus Christ Ninthly Christ is our Sanctification in this respect becaus al the promises of the Gospel are made to us in him he is the foundation of al the promises that are in the Gospel they are al made good in him they have a boundance of sanctifying power in them Christ is our sanctification I say because it is through him that the promises are made which hath a mighty sanctifying power As for the First In 2. Cor. 1.20 For al the promises of God in him are yea and in him Amen unto the glory of God by us Al the promises of God in him are yea in him amen al Gospel promises are made unto us by christ that is a very useful a notable meditation to consider of al promises that they come unto us from Christ an excellent meditation to set out the excellency of Jesus Christ that in him are al the promises they are in him yea what is the meaning of that That is they are confirmed to us in Christ in him they are made certain to us they are made good in him or as some of your books read it thus For al the promises of God in him are yea and I find it is I know not whether it be in your books but Calvin Beza and other interpreters say it is read in some copies thus Therefore in him let them be yea and Amen unto the glory of God by us Al the promises of God in him are yea that is they are made certain things in Christ as the foundation therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so Beza saith it is read therefore let them be Amen in him unto the praise of God That is as God hath made al promises in him as certain so let us look upon Christ and see the promises of God in him and beleeve in them and so by our faith say Amen unto the promises that are made in him unto the glory of God so shal we Glorifie God when we shal look upon the promises by our faith and say Amen unto our soules Now the word Amen signifies firme and sure that is the meaning of the word Amen Sometimes it signifies at the end of our prayer so be it Amen it is an Hebrew word that signifies so be it let it be O Lord as we have prayed and according to thy promise that is the meaning of the word Amen when you conclude your prayer with Amen It is a word that is used for faith and it is the expression of faith after we have made our prayer and that is the meaning here therefore al the promises in him are yea they are made in Christ and affirmed in Christ as certain therefore in him let them be Amen unto the soul let them be as firme and certain things unto us for us to rest upon unto the glory of God by us and thereby shal we glorifie God ye have so many precious promises in Christ but now they are unto the glory of God by us we by faith say Amen to them and we make them as firme and sure unto our soules by the exercise of our faith upon them So you may understand in some measure this scripture which hath exceeding much in it thus you see by Christ the promises are made to us Quest I but you wil say How doth this help our sanctification Answ I answer exceeding much there is nothing helps the sanctification of the soul of a beleever more then the promises of the Gospel those that are exercised in the promises of the Gospel they grow more abundantly in sanctification then others The promises of the Gospel are channels not only of mercy for our salvation but of holiness for our sanctification and for that you have a most excellent scripture 2. Cor. 7.1 Having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us clense our selves from al filthiness of flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God It is as ful a scripture as I know any here you may see what use the holy Ghost would have you make of the promises of the Gospel and of mercy It may be you think that seeing there is such promises of mercy you may take more liberty to the flesh but that is not the reasoning of the spirit he would not take more liberty therby but seeing we have such promises saith he let us clense our selves from al filthiness filthines cannot stand with beleeving of promises And marke he saith from al filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit So that it is not enough for you to say you have as good a heart towards God as any others I thank God my heart is right my spirit is right I but you must clense from al filthiness of the flesh as wel as of the spirit and these promises if you have the right use of them they wil be mighty clensing And marke from al filthiness it is not enough to clense from some gross filthiness that is that you do not live in the grost sins that others of the world live in and that your neighbors live in that you are not whoremungers drunkards cheaters prophaners of the saboth and the like but these promises wil cleanse from al filthiness that is there shal be no filthiness that shal stick to you as to the wicked and ungodly but it wil clense gradually by degrees from al Filthiness of
afflictions come to me and you shal have Rest Now the spiritual afflictions have been spake of much in the handling of the former burden and yet may be somwhat more afterwards when I shal come to speak about spiritual desertions those kind of afflictions that many times are upon Christians and there is Rest unto their Souls in regard of them But for the present all that I shall say now is about outward afflictions come to me and you shall have Rest The afflictions of sickness and poverty and persecution and dishonor and trouble here in this world For we are to know that there is Rest in Christ even in regard of this and abundance of Rest Those that are acquainted with the mystery of godliness and the way of Gods Grace in Christ though they may meet with much trouble in this world yet they find abundance of Rest of spirit in Christ in regard of those troubles Indeed Christ did not say come to me and I will presently free you from all trouble that you cannot expect but come to me and this I will promise you that you shall have Rest in your spirits your condition may be as troublesome in regard of outward things here in this world as any but this I wil promise I will ingage my self for that you shall have Rest unto your souls in all conditions whatsoever that you shall be put into And is not this a blessed Rest Especially in regard of these times such times as these so ful of distractions when men are spoiled of their goods and persecuted and still we are afraid every day when all these outward comforts may be wrested from us This point perhaps may be to some more seasonable than to others what to tel some of the burden of the Law this is a spiritual thing and they have no Skil of it to have Rest from the trouble of the Guilt of sin this is spiritual and they have little Skil of that to have Rest from the remaining corruption in their hearts this is spiritual still and they have no skil of that neither I but now I come to speak of that which all of you will be sensible of in regard of outward afflictions I that is somwhat that the Hearts of all men wil say it were a good thing to be in Christ to have Rest in regard of outward afflictions Now it is the way of God to draw men to his Son in their own way to shew the good that is in his Son in that way which themselves are sensible of and those that are strangers to Christ may be sensible of this as to think that if that be made out that is here promised that indeed iâ— a blessed thing to be in Christ now that I shal open to you only I will give you one Scripture more for iâ— and then proceed to the opening of it It is in the 16. of John and the 33. These things have I spoken to you that in me ye might have peace in the world you shal have tribulation but be of good chear I have overcome the world This is a ful text Christ foresaw that his disciples should have a great deal of affliction in this world and this is spoken to them but a little before Christs death a little before Christ was to die and go from them he tels them of a great deal of affliction they should have in the world But saith Christ these things have I spoken in me ye shal have peace though ye have trouble in the world I will not free you from trouble but I wil give you peace to your Souls in those troubles in me ye shal have peace though in the world you have trouble and be of good chear I have overcome the world though you shall have troubles in the world yet I will give you Rest for I have overcome the world and therefore be of good chear for all the troubles that you shal meet withal shall not take away the peace of your spirits the Rest of your Souls So that then here the point that now we are to enter upon is That in Christ there is Rest in the midst of all afflictions of all troubles that we can meet withal in this world For First A beleever coming to Christ must needs have Rest whatsoever afflictions he meets withal for when he is come to Christ he may in him come to know that there is no affliction either doth or can befal him but is at the dispose of him that is his Father and the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and is not this a great deal of Rest To know that what comes unto me though there be such and such instruments evil instruments to bring trouble upon my estate or name or otherwise yet I know that all this is by the wise ordering and disposing of that God that is the Father of Jesus Christ and in him is now my Father Were it that you could be all assured of this now that you should never hence forward have any loss in your estate any sickness in your body any trouble in your family any way or should have no affliction ever befal you but it should be at the dispose of your owne father he should dispose of it and your Father a wise and Loving Father or take the deâ—rest Friend that ever was in the world and if I say you should be made sure of this from heaven that you shal never have any affliction in this world but it shal be by his dispose would not this bring rest into your hearts though you had a disquiet heart before Would there not be a great deal of calme quiet and rest upon your spirits I make no question but if such a voice should come from heaven and you should know it were a voice from heaven and not a delusion saying be of good comfort you that are so troubled for feare of losse and outward afflictions be of good comfort thou shalt never have any one minute of an hour of trouble and affliction more than thy tender father or mother shal be willing unto would not this give rest and quiet unto thy spirit Certainly hadst thou faith to know that al comes from thy father in Christ for when we are come to him he is our father in Christ and al that comes to us is from him through Christ thou couldst not but have rest and peace Secondly By comming to Christ there is rest from outward afflictions for in him there is the taking away of the curse it is Christ that hath taken away the curse of al afflictions and therefore there must needs be rest unto the soul tâ—rough Christ Faith in Christ â—eacheth beleevers to worme afflictions as I may so say to worm them that is to get out the worm that is there The trouble that eates the heart in affliction it is the worm of the Curse for al afflictions are part of the curse in themselves in their owne nature as
affliction but if he be a beleever and have the exercise of Faith then all afflictions wil be no more but as if a poor Woman were married to a great prince and had all the nobles about him and all kind of dainties upon his table and he should hear the Rain rattling upon the tiles that is in the windy wether abroad what would this be to hinder the Rest of such a ones spirit The truth is had we but the exercise of Faith all outward troubles in the world would be no more to us no more trouble then this is If thou wert come to Christ and married to him and come to sup with him there would be that satisfaction unto thy Soul in Christ that al outward troubles would be no more at all then the rattling of the Rain upon the Tiles to such a one that hath al content within dores You are not yet acquainted with such blessed things that are in Christ who are troubled at any thing in the world certainly the soul that is acquainted with that will say it hath enough let what will become of my estate of my body of my House of my Lands yet I have enough in Christ how have the blessed Martyrs cryed out of the fulness of Rest in Christ I remember one German Martyr that suffered much from his enemies he said I verely beleeve that there is not a merrier Heart in this world then my self As Jacob had more blessed visions when he lay abroad in the night and laid his Head upon the stone So the Children of God have more visions many times of God in the times of their affliction their Veins are filled with blood and bones with marrow al the capacities of their soul is filled with spiritual joy and that keeps out affliction As if a man have filled his belly with good chear and especially if his veines be ful of blood and bones ful of marrow he can bare hardness the better So when the soule comes to Christ he fils the veins ful of blood and bones ful of marrow I mean thus he fils al the capacities of the soul with heavenly consolations and that bares out any trouble or afflictions whatsoever and thus there is peace and rest unto the soul CHAP. XLVI Containeth the conclusion of the last doctrine in the two former Chapters shewing how unbeseeming a thing it is for a beleever to be troubled in affliction THere might be divers other things named as by coming to Christ there is the spirit of prayer and so the soul hath rest when it can go and power forth it selfe to God in prayer But to conclude this You see by al this how infinitely unbeseeming it is for a beleever one that professeth himselfe come to Christ to be troubled in affliction Christ makes this promise that if he comes to him he shal have rest Surely either thou art not come to Christ or thou hast not exercised faith in Christ Either thus thou chargest thy self for one not come to Christ or one that hath not exercised faith upon Christ or else thou chargest Christ with unfaithfulness by thy discontentment For Christ here professeth to the wotld that al that come to him shal have rest that thou hast not rest but that a little trouble doth disquiet thee thou either art not come to Christ or dost not exercise faith or else thou chargest Christ with unfaithfulness now if thou hast not rest which way wilt thou have it fal Oh let it fal upon thy unbeleeving heart let it fal upon this that thou dost not renew thy act in comming to Christ for it is not meant of coming to Christ at the first but of renewing the act of coming to Christ and this exhortation belongs to Godly men and women that have already come to Christ by faith I say it belongs to them to come to Christ come you to Christ again and again Now thy disquiet and trouble in time of affliction doth argue that thou art either no beleever at al or hast not renewed the act of faith My brethren the wayes of many that we hope are beleevers are such as if so be they had no use of faith at al in time of affliction or as if faith were only of use to save their soules and not to give rest unto the soul here in this world or as if it were of no other use but as a sun dial in a garden to shew the time of the day when the sun shines but in stormy cloudy weather there is no use of it And dost thou make no more use of thy faith then of the sun dyal in thy garden to shew thee how it is with thee in the day of prosperity but the truth of thy faith should be a dyal to make thee know how it is between God and thy soul in a cloudy day And therefore you having now heard where the rest in regard of outward affliction lies Oh do you repair hither for rest you vex and fret and trouble your selves Why because you have not as others others can have rich tables fine houses and accomodations and al things for their content in this world but know that now the Lord hath presented to you a way how to have rest to your souls in time of poverty Labor to know Jesus Christ that was made poor for you There is as plain a way for you to come to Christ as for the richest in the world and Christ wil be as ready to entertain you as the richest It is likely that al your endeavours may come to help you so forward as to make you rich in this world I but to give rest in this world nothing can do it but your coming to Christ And above al this may serve to help us to lay up against the time of trouble that however things go in this world yet you may have rest to your soules in Christ CHAP. XLVII Sheweth that beleevers are often under inward affliction and spiritual desertions I Shal now speak of the rest that Christ gives unto the soul in regard of inward afflictions those inward afflictions are spiritual desertions that is when the Lord shal be pleased to absent himself from the souls of his people and leave them in such darkness of spirit though they be beleevers have interest in Christ yet they may be left for a time by God so as their spirits wil be extreamly afflicted with sorrow and feare and trouble because of Gods absence from them and indeed there is no affliction like to this affliction there is no condition so restless as this condition is Now this is that that every one is not acquainted withal carnal people think that these afflictions are only conceits imaginations and melancholly but the saints know what these afflictions are that they are the most real afflictions in the world these spiritual desertions for God to withdraw himself from his people We read of such an affliction that a godly man was
much exercised withal and that was Heman that was the penman of the 88. Psalme you read it in the title it was a song or Psalme for the sons of Korah To the cheif musician upon Mahalath Leannoth Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite a Psalm of Heman Now this Heman was one of the greatest men exercised with desertions upon the face of the earth If you read this Psalm at your leisure you shal find that though he was a man very Godly yet exceedingly exercised with spiritual desertions and afflictions the Lord withdrew the comforts of his spirit from verse the first saith he Oh Lord God of my salvation I have cryed day and night before thee verse the 3. My soul is ful of troubles and my life draweth nigh unto the grave verse the 4. I am counted with them that go downe into the Pit I am as a man that hath no strength free among the dead c. verse the 7. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me and thou hast afflicted me with al thy waves What a strange expression is this of a godly man And then there is outward afflictions mingled with spirituall afflictions verse the 8. Thou hast put my acquaintance far from me thou hast made me an abomination unto them I am shut up and I cannot come forth verse the 9. My eye mourneth by reason of affliction verse the 13. But unto thee have I cryed Oh Lord and in the morning shal my prayer prevent thee Lord why castest thou off my soul why hidest thou thy face from mee God had hid his face from him verse the 15. I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted He was acquainted with these spiritual afflictions from his youth up verse the 16. Thy fierce wrath goeth over mee thy terrors have cut me off What expressions are here for a godly man and when we read this Psalme and know it is the Psalme of a Godly man speaking how greatly he was afflicted we may be put in mind of that scripture If the righteous scaresely be saved where shal the ungodly and the sinner appeare Where shal the sinner appeare if such a man that was wise that the spirit of God saith of him that he was one of the wisest men that lived upon the face of the earth and yet afflicted excercised with inward afflictions the Lord hiding his face from him In 1. Kings 4.31 There the Holy Ghost speakes of this Heman that was thus afflicted speaking of the wisdom of Solomon it is said He was wiser then al men then Ethan and Heman c. So that it appeares by that that Heman was one of the wisest for else it could not be an argument of Solomons wisdom that he was wiser then al men and that he excelled in wisdom above any other And yet this man had the terrors of God upon his spirit Therefore let none of you when God seemes to withdraw himself and afflict you say that your condition is worser then ever any ones was when any of you have such thoughts as these are remember the 88. Psalme and when you think of the great greif sorrow and trouble that is upon you and are ready to think that it is greater then others then go and read the 88. Psalme As Luther was wont to say when they were in any trouble go and sing the 46. Psalm So when you are in trouble and sorrow and greif then say come let us go and read the 88. Psalm and remember who was the penner of that Psalm Heman a godly man and what his condition was and then thou shalt see that thy condition is not so sad as his was CHAP. XLVIII Containeth Seven Directions how a beleever may get Rest from Christ in spiritual Desertions First Look upon Christ as once in the same condition Secondly Look to Christ as ful of Grace and Goodness Thirdly Look to Christ as an advocate at the right hand of God Fourthly Look to Christ for fulfilling the promise of sending the Comforter Fifthly Go to Christ as at first in thy Conversion Sixthly Keep good thoughts of God Seventhly Resolve never to take Rest in any thing else beside Christ WELL but now though thy condition be as bad as his yet there is Rest in Christ to be had for thee and Christ cals thee to come to him that he may give thee Rest I shal not need to spend time in opening what this rest is in Christ in this particular because it is contained in what was said before as in deliverance from the guilt of sin the burden of the Law and the remainer of corruption and the like those things if they were made good to the soul they might give rest But now al that I intend to shew shal be what course the laden sinner must take in this case to have rest in Christ for the soul it is delivered from the guilt of sin and the wrath of God though it cannot apprehend the love of God and the pardon of the guilt of sin yet it hath it already but now to help such a deserted soul in this case that it might begin to have the use of the good that there is to be had in Christ therefore by way of direction to have ease in that greivous condition First Labor to exercise thy faith upon Christ as one that was once in the same condition in some degree and some measure as thou thy self art in that is a good way for one that hath spiritual desertions I say to look upon Christ as one that for the present was in this affliction for Christ was deserted and this breeds a great deale of rest to the soul in outward afflictions If one that is in poverty exercise faith upon Christ who was poor as I told you before The Foxes have holes and the birds have nests but the son of man hath not where to lay his head To exercise faith upon Christ as poor doth help to give ease and rest unto the soul under the burden of the affliction of poverty so when a soul feels the burden and trouble of spiritual desertions the soul should look up to Christ as one that was under such desertion as when he was in the garden and professeth that his soul was heavy to the very death and that he began to be amazed with the apprehension of the wrath of God Now when thou art in a combate and strife in thy spirit with temptation know that Christ was in such a combate and strife he sweat drops of blood It may be the soul is in combate and in trouble and gets to prayer and the soul is in a sweat remember what a sweat Christ was in when God withdrew himself from him and especially when he was upon the cross there he tels you plainly that he was forsaken My God My God why hast thou forsaken mee Thou thinkest that God hath withdrawn himself from thee no he wil not withdraw himself from
Lord Christ gives you Rest First For the evidences to know whether your Rest be indeed the right Rest that is in Christ First This Rest in Christ it can never be but upon great discovery of glorious things that the soul was not acquainted with before many men go on and are quiet in their way and think that their rest is Christs rest how wil that appeare that it is Christs Rest It wil appeare that they have had poor weake grounds to stand upon only that which they have in a natural way they live quietly among men and the creatures doth not trouble them and in a prudential way they are loath to trouble themselves in their owne thoughts But now I appeal to thy soul what discoveries hast thou had of the glorious things of the covenant of Grace and the covenant of life in those waies that God hath had in his eternal counsels to reconcile God and thy soul What discoveries of Gods waies hast thou had to draw thy heart to Christ Thy Rest must come from these these must be the meanes to bring thy soul to rest if thy Rest come from blindness Ignorance and deadness of spirit it is far from the true Rest in Christ Secondly The Rest that the soul hath in Christ it is that that the Apostle speakes of in Heb. 14 It comes upon the soules ceasing from its owne worke as God ceased from his verse the 10. For he that is entred into his Rest he also hath ceased from his owne workes as God did from his As God did Rest the seventh day from al his workes he gives that note of the rest in Christ There remaines therefore a rest to the people of God for he that is entred into his rest he also hath ceased from his owne workes as God ceased from his He comepares the rest that the soul hath in Christ to Gods rest upon the seventh day Now saith he as God seased from his work that he wrougt upon the sixth day the seventh day he rested so whatsoever enters upon this rest he must cease from his owne workes what is that The work that a man workes for himself as in his natural estate every man in his natural estate doth not Gods work at al but works his owne work Now saith he look as God ceaseth from his owne work and then rests they that enter into this rest must cease from their owne workes those workes of sin that they lived in and wrought for themselves for their own endes while they were in their natural estates so that then examin this hast thou ceaâ—ed from thy own works dost not thou work for thy self in al thy waies Art thou taken off from thy self and al the creatures It may be thou dost some work but materially it is nothing of Gods thou prayest and makest profession of religion I but it is thy owne worke stil But if thou beest entered into this rest thou must cease from thine owne workes not only from those workes that are sinful in themselves but thou must not worke for thy self in the best things thou must be taken off from thy self in the best things thou must work the works of God and be emptied of thy self and then thy soul shal have rest That is both an evidence that thy rest is true and a meanes to bring rest unto thy soul Take heed that thy work be not thine owne work when thou dost any work I am about such and such a work I but is it my owne work or Gods work It is true there was a time that al the work I did was for my self and then if there were any argument whereby I could see that it was for my self I could work if it was for self ends if I had self to be promoted I could work this is the way of men in themselves But now when the soul hath entred into the rest of Christ he hath ceased from his owne workes and therefore now though there be not strong arguments and ends to perswade me to doe a work yet it is enough that it is the work of God and God shal have praise in it and I can work as earnestly and and strongly in the work as ever I did any worke for my self Thirdly Another note of the true rest of the soul in Christ is this The more rest thou hast in Christ the more active thou art for God the false rest that the soul hath makes it dul secure sluggish and negligent but now the true rest that is in Christ makes the soul mighty active and stirring maks it to do great things for God never had that ability to do for God as now when it hath had rest from Christ as now we know that many people are very active stirring when their conscience is stirred then they wil rise early in the morning and hear and read and pray and mightily stir when their conscience is stirred but if they have got any quiet and rest to their spirits they grow lazy dul and secure and are less active in the places God hath set them in then before but the soul that hath true rest from Christ is more active and lively in the work of God then before As Archimedes said give me a place where I could rest my self on and he thought then he could move the earth so let the soul get but once the foot stopt upon Christ so as he can have rest in Christ he can do more for God then ever he could before And therefore I remember and you may afterward by comparing find this note to be true that whereas God commanded Moses while they were going up and down in the wilderness and had no rest to make an altar for sacrifice of such a bigness so many foot in the story you shal find that when Solomon came to make an Altar to God he made it twice as big as Moses in the time of their being in the wilderness The two several places I cannot stand to look to but you shal find this note to be true that the altar of Solomon was as big again as the altar of Moses Why for they were then in a restless condition went up and down and were not at rest But now when they came to the Land of Canaan there they had rest and there the altar is as big again noting that they should offer as much sacrifice again as they did before in the time when they were in the wilderness in their restless condition So thy soul was once in the wilderness hurried up and down and then the altar for thy sacrifice was buâ— little but when once God brings rest to thy soul in Christ thy altar shal be as big again and thou shalt do as much more for God as thou didst before Fourthly Another note of the true rest in Christ is this if so be that thou hast this rest then that which is Christs rest is thine as thus If thou hast rest in Christ
in darkness they can have God the Father made known to them by no means but by me there is no way for them to know what is in the Heart of God the Father towards them but by me and therefore Oh! Sinners come to me Here is the dependance of the words upon the former Likewise consider what followâ— If the poor should say Oh! blessed Saviour we are vild unworthy creatures we lie under the weight and burden of the guilt of our Sins and shal such as we come to thee Yea saith Christ notwithstanding that yet come to me The word in the Greek here hath an emphasis beyond that which you have in your Books it is not Venice that is usually translated come but adeste it is a word exhortation not a meer word commanding but a word of Exhortation as one friend calls to another in a familiar sweet way and saies come hither I come to thee Oh! blessed Saviour saith the poor Sinner thou art the Holy one of the Father thou art God blessed for ever and how should I be able to come to thee now saith Christ I am meek and I am lowly come to me and I wil lay no further burden upon you no other yoke upon you I am meek and lowly and I wil shew my self to be meek and gentle and loving to you I wil not upbraid you if you come I wil not say to you as Jeptha said to the Elders of Gilead you did hate me and cast me out and why are you come to me in your distress but if you come to me you shal find rest to your Soules and be sure that whatsoever yoke shal be layed upon you it shal be but an easie yoke and whatsoever burden shal be layed upon you it shal be but a light burden And thus you have the dependance of the words and the scope of them Now further for the meaning of them come to me ye that Labor The word translated here Labor is I think in some of your books Weary al ye that are weary And it signifies a cutting Labor it comes from a word that signifies to cut any kind of trouble or vexation that is upon ones spirit that is cutting a cutting trouble somtimes it is used for any kind of trouble in the world as in Revel 14.13 Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord for they rest from their Labors from al their trouble and affliction Al you that Labor and are heavy Laden the word comes from a word that signifies the Lading of a Ship such a loade that would load a Ship heavy laden this is the meaning of the words You that are under such afflictions of spirit as you are even cut again you that Labor under the trouble anguish and sorrow of your hearts And then you that are under such a burden that even would lade a Ship that is ready to sink your souls down into the bottom of dispaire you that are in such a condition come to me you that can find no rest any where else come to me and I wil give you rest So that here in vers 28. You have these three things for the division of it 1. The discription of those whom Christ would invite to himself what kind of people they are or the condition of such as are invited and required to come to Christ the subject Such as Labor and are heavy Laden 2. The sweet and gracious invitation of Christ to such Come to me come to me you that do thus Labor and are thus heavy Laden And 3. A Gracious promise unto such as come unto Christ that Christ wil give rest unto their Souls These are the three things in vers 20. For the first I shall only speak of that at this time though the other two are the Chief that I do intend And I speake of the first only as making way unto the other two that follow For the reason why I chose this scripture was to draw the Soul unto Christ and to open the riches of this promise of rest to shew what rest the Soul shal have in Christ that doth come unto him CHAP. II. Containing a Description of them whom Christ invites to come unto him which is laid down in this doctrine That they whom Christ cals to come unto him are such as Labor and are heavy Laden Whether 1. Vnder the burden of the righteousness of the Law Or 2. Vnder the weight of their sins Or 3. Vnder the power of any corruption Or 4. Vnder any outward trouble or Affliction YOu that Labor and are Heavy Laden So that then the point is DOCT. That those that Labor and are Heavy Laden are called to Christ Such as Christ calls are Such as Labor and are Heavy Laden 1. Such as Labor and are Heavy Laden under the burden of the righteousness of the Law So Chrisostom carries the text Those that heretofore have sought righteousness by the Law and find it very burdensom to them they that are toyling and laboring to get peace and rest unto their souls by the works of the Law but find themselves tyred find that peace and rest doth not come that way are even toyled and tyred and do as it were stick in the mire but yet find no peace nor rest that way Now saith Christ unto them come unto me as if he should say This is not the right way to get true peace and rest to your souls to think to bring it about by the works of the Law you may toyl labor performe duties and not dare to do any thing against your consciences be very strict in your lives be striving to do more and more And yet this wil not bring true rest and peace unto your souls you wil never have peace and rest through the righteousness of the Law you must have it by me There are many whose consciences God hath begun to enlighten to see that there is an evil in Sin that sin wil bring death that it doth endanger their souls of damnation eternally they are convinced of this and that they might have peace with God is the thing their souls doth much desire O! that they might have the pardon of sin and peace with God O! that they might have their consciences quieted God doth awaken the consciences of many men and women who yet have no saving grace and they spend a great deal of time in laboring and taking much pains to get their Consciences quiet there is many that have been divers years laboring and taking paines to get their consciences to be quiet and cannot but their consciences ever and anon wil be flying in their faces troubling of them and yet they are such people as dare not commit any known sin dare not neglect any known duty are constant in prayer in secret attend upon the word And whensoever they heare of a duty that they should perform they labor to set upon it withal their might but alas they feel little sweetness and comfort in
the world sin is very light Well know That as Christ himself felt sin to be a heavy burden so one way or other they must feel it either here or hereafter but blessed is that man or woman that feels the weight of sin while he may be delivered from it that he be not hereafter prest under the weight of it We read of Pharoah when the people of Israel came for ease he bids them go to their burdens that that he did unjustly Christ might do to many righteously hereafter when you upon your sick beds or death beds hereafter shal cry for mercy Christ may say to you go to your burdens when any thing of the Word came to press sin upon your souls you cast it off O! 't is a dangerous Condition when men and women cannot only sin enough but now when any truth of God should lay sin upon their hearts they cast it out and they think hardly of those Truths of God that would come and â—ind their sins to their Consciences and so burden them with their sins but it should be otherwise with us If those that be thus laden with their sins be those that Christ doth call to him we should not think so hardly of those Truths of God that doth reveal the evil of sin unto us but rather let us joyn with those Truths of God and labor to burden our own hearts for you see that those that are burdened Christ cals them to him that they might have rest there is no other burdens that we are to bring upon our selves but rather seek to avoid them but as for the burden of sin we are to burden our hearts with that and to labor to lay our sins to our hearts and to press them there and to charge them upon our own Spirits with all the aggravations we can and to joyn with the work of Gods Spirit when the Spirit of God comes to lay sin upon the soul to joyn with it and to say Lord I begin to be more sensible of my sins than I was before Lord humble me through it let me be under thy hand as long as thou pleasest only work thy good work upon me Object But you wil say We may sink under the burden of Sin Answ O no those that cast off the burden of sin they are most like to sink under it now can you think that the Lord wil Suffer such a soul to sink under the burden that doth burden it self that God might have glory But those that are unwilling and are forced to be burdened that never are sensible of the burden of sin til al the props and Comforts of the creature are taken away Upon their sick beds and death beds then men are burdened with Sin and why because the props are taken away before they had comforts and estates and such things which are as so many props but now God comes and takes the props and down they fâ—l upon us That is the reason that many upon their death beds lie Roâ—ring and Crying out so bitterly for their sins and why because the Lord hath cut asunder the props and now it lies heavy upon their hearts Now Christ cals come to me you that are weary and heavy laden come to me saith Christ Know that you are in a faâ— better condition than you were when you went on with delight in sin you are now in the way that God doth use to bring them in that he hath a purpose to do good unto I remember in the Gospel where the poor blind man cryed to Christ O Son of David have mercy upon me and stil cryed at length Christ heard the cry of the blind man and asked what it was Now those that were by him they go to the poor blind man and say to him be of good comfort he calls he might say I but my eyes be not opened I but be of good comfort he calls So I say to al burdened Sinners be of good comfort troubled soul Christ calls thee he saith come to me al ye that are weary and heavy laden he doth not say thou that art so much laden Christ cals thee to him Object I but thou wilt say I have no ease if I were sure that my sins were pardoned I should be saved then I should have ease and comfort Answ I but poor soul be of good comfort thou art called he doth not say thou art a wretched wicked creature and depart from me thou cursed as he wil say to sinners hereafter that might have been thy condition but thou didst not heare the voice from Christ this day depart from me but thou doest heare this voice this day from Christ Come to me al you that are weary and heavy laden Christ is neer to you the Lord is neer to the broken heart he is neere to the contrite spirit And know this the longer thou art under the burden of thy sin there wil come the more comfort hereafter Now there is a burden of sin upon thee and there wil be a weight of glory hereafter So the Scripture speakes of a weight of glory as wel as of a weight of Sin be willing to beare the weight of sin quietly say with the Prophet I wil be willing to beare the indignation of the lord because I have sinned against him So say thou 't is fit my soul should beare a burden be content to wait now do you the same thing that Christ did when he was under his burden mark what he did in Heb. 5.7 See how the heart of Christ was affected when he felt the weight of our sins upon him In the dayes of his flesh he offered up prayers and supplications with strong Cryes and teares unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he Feared Goe thy way O Soul and get into the presence of God and tel God of thy burdens that thou feelest make thy moan unto him and let it be with praiers and supplications and strong Cryes and tel him Lord I fear least my soul should be prest down to eternal death under this burden tel him of thy feares this way and it is very probable that thy soul shal be heard and according to this invitation here surely there is rest for thee as wel as for any while thou art crying out under thy burden for ought thou knowest or any Angel in heaven the pardon of thy sins may be sealling in heaven and therefore do not make any desperate Conclusion against thy own Soul for thy pardon may be a sealing and then the Lord wil send a messenger to tel thee of this Nay do I tel thee that theâ—e wil a messenger come Behold here in this text the Lord Jesus Christ comes the Angel of the Covenant cryes to thee Come O Come come freely though thou hast no good at al in thee there is enough in me to give rest unto that soul that doth most labor under the greatest burden of sin that ever
Pharoah did increase their bondage the Scripture tels us that the people saw that they were in an ill case so when we understand what a condition we are in under this bondage we may conclude that verily man is in an ill case by nature Secondly And a second Conclusion may be drawn hence That it is a mighty work to save a Soul it is not a slight thing for a Soul to come to be saved there must be great things done by God to save a soul Many people they confess it is true they are sinners but they cry to God to have mercy on them and so they think it is presently done but did you consider of the condition that you are in naturally and of the Righteousness of God you would then conclude it is a mighty work of God to save any soul and that you had need fal upon the seeking of your Salvation betimes And then Thirdly Hence wil follow this Conclusion also That those vain thoughts of men that they have had for pacifying their Consciences and the quieting of their hearts wil stand them in no stead As thus Many they reason thus I am not so bad as others What if you be not if you be under the Law you are cast a thousand thousand times over You wil say that you do some good thing and somtimes come to Church and pray to God but what is this to the keeping of the Law if thou beest in thy natural estate thy reasoning after this manner does argue that thou dost look after Salvation by what thou hast done and for men to say I do what I can and I am sorry with all my heart that I can do no better these are not reasonings that wil inable thee to stand with comfort before the infinite Righteous God thou must know in what state thou art in under the Law and how thou art cast by the Law these are not arguings that can bring rest to thy soul if it could Christ would never have called in this manner But you must know that such is your condition that all the Angels in Heaven and men in the world cannot give rest to your souls and if you did understand this you would thereby go away convinced of this truth wel I see that there is a burden upon me howsoever I have not been sensible of it and it is such a burden as wil press me down to eternal misery and I see now by this that I have need of a Christ Certainly if congregations were sensible of this burden of the Law Oh! How would their souls rejoyce in this and praise the Lord that their eares are blessed to hear such a sound of the Gospel as this Come to me and I wil give you Rest I appeal to you whether the opening of the Law be not of use to make you come to Christ there are a great many wanton spirits that cal those Ministers of God that seek out of Conscience to do good to Souls and to draw them out of their natural estates Legal men Legal preachers and the like I appeal to your consciences upon the knowledg of these things whether you wil not come to know the way of coming to Christ better then you did before if I should have named the name of Christ five hundred times over and over again would you have come to understand the mistery of God in Christ so much as by hearing what the difference is between the first covenant of works and being under the Law and to tel you that Christ came into the world to deliver us from this first covenant he comes and takes our Nature upon him and puts himself under the Law that he might free us from such a heavy yoak and bondage and in this blessed Scripture he calls all souls that do feel this yoak and burden to come to him that so they might have rest And thus much for this first Particular what the bondage is that the soul is under that is under the Law are you sensible of this Christ cals you perhaps some of you may say we have not been sensible of this do you begin to understand it Doth God begin to let in some light to you Do you begin to feel it somthing weighty upon your Hearts Blessed be God for it you are so much the fitter to hear of the covenant of Grace Now when you come home let the Husband say to the wife we hear of two covenants as you have it in the 4. of the Galla. 22. Here are two covenants and these two are set out in this Allegory of the bond-woman and the free-Woman now til we come to understand what the other covenant is we are under the former covenant the covenant of works this is that you should labor to understand the Husband and wife to aske one another of the difference between the two covenants ask but what the covenant of works is and upon what tearms that runs and the covenant of Grace and upon what tearms that runs and so you will come especially to understand that that follows in this text with more profit and advantage to your Souls CHAP. IX Of the Burden of Legal Performances What it is With the burdensomness thereof laid open in twelve Particulars 1. There is no inward principle of doing 2. In men that are only under the Law there 's a principle contrary to the performance thereof 3. Such are wearied with doing getting no supply of strength to perform duty 4. By their performances they stil contract more Guilt upon their Souls 5. What they do in Obedience unto the Law is only out of fear 6. And with much straitness of Spirit 7. Nothing comes of such Performances 8. They that perform Duty in a meer Legal way never attain their end which is peace with God 9. They know not whether God accepts of them or rejects them 10. They are forced unto Duties instantly presently and upon the sudden though to the hinderance of other Duties of greater concernment which God requireth of them at the same time 11. Though they go on ioyling yet know they not whether they shal bold out unto the end 12. Their Humiliation and trouble for not doing what they ought to do binders them from doing what God requires NOw there is one thing more that is as an Appendix unto the Burden of the Law flowes indeed from and is tyed unto the burden of the Law and that is the burden of Legal performances not only the burden of the Law in regard of what the Law requires the perfect obedience that the Law requires that burden comes from the Law it self but now there is a burden that many are under a very heavy and grievous burden and that is the burden of Legal performances and this is that that is to be the subject of this Chapter I intend to go no further then to speak of that burden to open it a little to you and that as I told you at the
quite against those duties opposite unto them there is a contrary streame in them they go against wind and tide you know what a burdensome thing it is for the boatman to go against wind and tyde he must put to a great deale of strength so it is heere til the soul come to beleeve in Christ and to have the spirit of Christ having onely conviction of conscience and being put upon duties there are such corruptions in the heart and such evil principles in al men naturally that are as wind and tide against those duties and yet saith concience you must do them though you find your inclinations to be never so strong another way yet conscience tels you you must do them and when God is pleased to put strength into conscience it wil make a man or a woman to go on in duty though it be never so cross to their own nature you wil say if it be cross to their owne natures why do they not leave it off No they dare not notwithstanding so it is true we shal show you afterwards that even godly men and beleivers are burdened with corruptions they have contrary principles to the duty too I but they are not so prevailing as with unbeleevers that are only legal It is a tedious thing you know to cast a stone upward not onely to cause a stone to move any way that is some trouble because you keep it from its center but to put it upon a motion that is quite contrary to the principle that is burdensome because al heavy things have principles in them that work downwards therfore to put them upon those things that are quite contrary to their natural principles it is a motion that wil cause burden and that because you keep them from their owne center so conscience may keep a man and woman from their own center from those wicked courses that their natures are inclined unto and al the while they are kept from the course that their natures do so strongly incline them unto it must needs be burdensome to them until God come and sanctifie their hearts they may be a great while without any sanctification many whose consciences are convinced may goe on in duties without sanctification in them The third Burden of Legal Performances 3. One that goes on in the performance of duties in a legal way meerly is weary and tired with what he doth and yet can find no strength comming in unto him no further ability to perform what conscience puts him upon then he had at first nay rather less ability Now this must needs be burdensome As suppose a man be put upon a work and if he have no mind to it that is tedious but if it be against the haire quite opposite to his disposition that is more tedious yet he must go on and he toyls and wearies himself and yet the more he works the more grievous it is unto him for he finds no strength comming but strength wearying rather his strength wears a way and no strength comes in to assist him and yet his work is as strong as it was that work must needs be burdensome so those that are meerly legal they go on stil in duty and the work is stil as strong but they are weaker many a man when he first sets upon a work is cold and benummed bur when he continues in the work he gets warmth and then it is not so burdensom unto him but if he continues in the work and is colder and colder this is very tedious to those that performe duties in a meer legal way conscience puts them upon it at first and they go to duty with some vigour but the truth is they grow more weary and the work is more tedious and yet conscience puts them upon asmuch work as at first when a man hath been at work and growes weary and desires ease and a cruel task-master shal come and tel him there must be no decrease of your work nor no increase of your strength this must needs be tedious thus those that performe duties in a legal way conscience puts upon them as much worke when they are weary and tired as at first here is the difference between the works of sanctification legal performances though they seem to be hard at first yet while the soul sets upon them there comes in strength and the more work the more strength they do not spend their strength and throw it away and grow more weary afterwards then at first but the more they have experience of the ways the more strength they have they grow warm at their work and being warm they get further and further strength and it grows easie unto them but it is not so with one that performes duties in a meere legal way some have been seven yeares in a profesion of religion and made conscience of their duties yet after seven yeares spent their hearts no more mortified then at first and they have got no more strength then at first their lusts are less mortified and their strength is less then at first and therefore their work must needs be grievous unto them The 4. Burden of Legal Performances 4. Those that performe duties in a legal way meerely while they are striving to do their duty they are contracting stil further guilt upon their souls they strive to do that that the law requires and in their very striving they are breaking of the law You wil say so godly men while they are striving to do their duty they sin also there is imperfection in the best I but yet their sin is done away in Christ their sin is not layed to their Charge but those that are meerly legal while they are striving they sin and contract Guiltiness upon their spirits and it lies upon them and they stand charged with it But then it may be said it were better that they did not strive no not so neither conscience must have them strive it would be a greater guiltiness if they should not strive though when they strive they stand charged with further evil then before now this is a greivous burden as now if a man were rowling a stone up a hil and as soone as he had rolled it up the stone should come down upon him again it would be a mighty tiresome work it is so with those that are meerly legal while they are in duty in working stil corruption brings them down againe and they contract continually guiltiness upon their soules The 5. Burden of Legal Performances 5. Those that performe duties in a meere legal way what they do they do meerly out of feare they are put upon it in a forcible and rigorous way they are put upon al their duties in a rigorous way meerly by force and constraint if you put a man to do a thing meerly by force it is very tedious to him and especialy when your forcing of him is with rigor as those that are slaves they are not only exhorted to
do their duty but with blowes and slashes they are set upon their duty now this is very burdensom if indeed they might be put upon it with love gentle and fair cariages they should do as much as they do with a great deale more ease but when al meanes that is used is rigorous and forcible this makes their lives burdensome unto them so it is here they that are legal performe duties but how the terror of the law the flashes of hel fire in their conscience and the fear of the Judgments of God come unto them except you do this you may fear that the Judgments of God wil pursue and follow you In the night season when they are in the darke they are filled with terror and when this terror comes upon them then they must go to prayer though they have no mind to go to prayer for their conscience else wil fly in their faces in the day time these are just like the Children of Israel in Egypt the taske masters put them upon their worke with rigor that their very lives were tedious to them whereas those that are sanctified they go to performe duties out of love and so their duties are sweet and delightful to them The 6. Burden of legal performances 6. From hence follows that those that are meerely legal in their performances they do their duty with much straitness of spirit they have no inlargment of heart usually very rarely in any thing they do but they do it if they do do it in a dul manner a dead way meerly the work done and no more their spirits are excedingly strait pray they must so much time they spend in prayer but when they are risen from prayer they find their harts are as strait as ever I do not say but a godly man or woman may be so at sometimes but when duties are performed in a legal way this is constantly so and Oh what a burden is this to a soul to think that I can never go into the presence of God but I have stil a dead straight heart others have enlarged hearts but I do the duty and nothing comes of it I feel my heart altogether straitned in the duty and so I go on in the rounds but stil am straitened dead and dul in the performance of the duty The 7. Burden of Legal Performances 7. Those that performe duties in a meer legal way find nothing to come of their duties but are meerly as a horse in the mil go the rounds or as if a man were to rive or cleave a knotty peice of wood he strikes but the knottiness of the wood gives the rebound to the axe and wedges and he can make no marke of it though a man strive and work hard yet if he findes his work goes on here is some comfort but when he works and works and it continues so stil this is burdensome If a man should be set to pull a logg out of a ditch and injoyned to work from morning to night and he pulls and pulls al the day and it stirs not is no further on in his work at night then he was in the morning and he must go to it the next day and nothing comes of his work this is very tedious so it is with those that are meerely legal in their performances they find little or nothing comes of al their performances and this must needs be very burdensome you that have been thus burdened know this very text concernes you and Christ hath thoughts of you and cals you to himself and saith Come to me as if Christ should say certainly there is another way for you to have ease and rest to your souls it is true you must go on and do your duty but you must come to know me in the gospel before yo◠〈◊〉 have ease and rest to your souls The 8. Burden of Legal Performances 8. Those that performe duties in a meer legal way the the truth is let them â—oll never so much in that way they can never attain to their end let them â—oil never so much performe duties never so many increase their duties a thousand fold yet they can never attain unto their end Their end what is that you wil say Their end is that they might have peace with God live and have eternal life it is true base hipocrites look at profit many wil make a show of religion get into houses and talk of good things that they may get good cheere meat and drink and a little gain being of a poor and unworthy Spirit but I speake of those that are grown higher then thuâ— those that performe duties out of conscience and yet never attain to their end nor never wil attain to their end in this way til they come to know more of Christ I speake of such as desire rest to their souls yet in this way of legal performances never gain this rest to their souls and and therefore it must needs be burdensome unto them The 9. Burden of Legal Performances 9. Those that performe duties in a meer legal way they goe on and performe duties but whether God accepts of them yea or no they cannot tel do them they must but whether God be their enemy or their friend they canot tel tender up duties to God they do every day but whether they tender them up to an enemy or a friend they do not know sometimes they have perhaps some good hopes that God accepts them but never come to any knowledg of Gods acceptance they go up and down continually with Jealous thoughts of God fearing leaâ—â—od wil take advantage of them at the last this musâ—â—e burdensome Many poor souls have gon on in tâ—â—tion one seven yeares after another and al for thâ— of coming to Jesus Christ for rest unto their soules then comes rest to the heart of a sinner when it knowes and can say upon good ground though my heart have much corruption though my duty have much imperfection yet through a covenant of grace what I do the Lord accepts of me whereas the other never comes to know that God doth accept them though they performe their duties never so wel The 10. Burden of Legal Performances 10. Those that performe duties in a meer legal way their spirits are hurried on to do the work to do the thing that conscience requires although in regard of their weakness the doing of such a thing at such a time wil hinder the doing of other duties that God requires of them but yet do it they must I do not say duties are not to be done at this time but such things as conscience tels them are good they are hurried on to do them presently though in regard of their weakness the doing of them now doth hinder them from doing other things of more consequence as we find by experience many that are weake yet under the command of conscience and are in a legal way suddenly there comes such a thing into their
minds I must spend so much time in praier saith conscience you cannot do too much for God and why should you not spend so much time for God now by this means they are hurried on to do the duty though by the doing of it at that time they shal hinder themselvs in the performance of many other duties afterwards and I have known by experience many that have been greivously burdened this way what they presently apprehend to have any good in it that they think they must do although they by that be hindred in the performance of many other duties afterwards whereas now if we were acquainted with the liberty we have in Christ we would be able to satisfie our selves this way though I am weake now yet I can appeale to God that my heart is upright and though I do forbeare the doing of such a thing that in its owne nature is good yet my conscience tels me it is not through a wilful neglect of what may glorifie God nor because I would neglect any duty that God would have me do but because I know through my weakness the doing of this at this time wil hinder me in the Service of God otherwaies therefore I beleeve that God wil accept of me in Christ and pardon my infirmities thus the Soul can do that is in Christ but those that are Legal conscience puts them upon Duties without regarding their strength and so puts them upon strong Duties when they are in the weakest Capacity when they are weakest conscience wil put them upon the strongest Duty now this is for the want of the knowledg of their liberty in Jesus Christ for they have this liberty in Christ that Christ accepts of them according to what they are able to do the Gospel holds forth this acceptance that let them go on to do what they are commanded in uprightness and though they cannot do such Duties because they are weak yet God accepts of them for Christ sake which one that is Legal cannot do but conscience hurries him on to do rhe Duty when he is most weak and so he doth less for God then otherwise he would or should do The 11. Burden of Legal Performances 11. Those that perform Duties in a meer Legal way go on toyling but stil they do not know whether they shal hold out or no I go on and do my Duty but what wil become of me God knows I do not know whether I shal hold out or no I am afraid that when I have done al labored and toyled what I can that I shal prove an apostate a backslider at last thus they have many such jealousies of themselves as they are ful of jealousies of God so of themselves they are afraid of themselves wel if troubles and afflictions come I shal fal off and turn and manifest that I was but an Hypocrite and alwaies unsound now these very thoughts makes their lives and Duties burdensome unto them whenas one that hath the benefit of the freedome of the Gospel one that is in Christ he can go on wel though I am but weak yet I have an everlasting principle that wil hold for I do it by the strength that is everlasting though I be weak yet I am fastened to that that is everlasting I am carryed on by such a principle that wil hold on to everlasting life and Oh! what a rest is this here is rest indeed for the soul to know that though I am weak yet I shal hold on to everlasting life whenas one that is Legal he is ever jealous and he thinks what do I this for I shal fal off at last and so goes on heavily and is troubled in his thoughts and this makes both his Duties and his life burdensome stil I say Christ cals upon al these to come unto him stil there is a rest in Jesus Christ it is impossible we should speak of all these things at once but now I would only find out those that Christ cals you that find it thus that are ready to say just as it is said in the word I find it in my heart I only speak to you to raise up your Hearts to attend to what is further to be said afterwards only remember that of the poor blind man when Christ called him they comforted him with this be of good comfort he called thee so I say to you that Labor under this burden and long to know the true liberty of spirit that the Saints have in Christ Christ cals to you and saith Come unto me al ye that are weary and heavy Laden and I wil give you Rest The 12. Burden of Legal Performances 12. Those that are thus Legal their consciences put them upon performances of Duties but their Humiliation and trouble for not doing of what they ought to do doth hinder them from doing what God requires and this is a sad condition that when I have not done my Duty and am troubled for not doing my Duty that doth hinder me from doing my Duty whereas those that have Evangelical Humiliation it makes them more fit to do duty the other it makes them more unfit their hearts are more sullen fretful and untoward and this is a sad condition that not only they fail in other Duties but when they are troubled for this they fail moâ—e first they fail of their Duties and their hearts are hardned a great while and then they Complaine that their Hearts are hardened and that they cannot be Humbled for their sin after this complaint they begin to be troubled for their sin and then on the other side when they are troubled after such away as they grow sullen and discontented vexing and fretting of themselves and by this they come to be hindered as much in the performance of their Duty as by the hardness of their hearts before some are hindred by their hardness of heart from performing of Duty and others by their humility now this is a very great burden you may some of you find it in your own experience that the trouble of your Heart hath rather hindered you then furthered you in Duty as in Exodus when Moses came to the Children of Israel the text saith they did not harken unto him because of the anguish of their hearts so there is many people that have such Legal trouble in their Hearts and that for their sins as it doth hinder them from harkening unto the blessed sound of the Gospel it makes them more unfit to harken to the invitation of Christ to come unto him yea such kind of trouble they have for their sin that makes them as it were reason away the blessed comfort in the Gospel to their Soul CHAP. X. The Sad condition of such as are under the Burden of Legal Performances set forth in Six Particulars 1. That which should be accounted their happiness is their Misery 2. It is a means to cause hard thoughts of God 3. It causeth great discouragement 4. They bring an
the hearts of the godly that it is ready to cast them into the fire and into the water to do those things that are against their own inclination against their prayers against their resolutions against their vowes against their covenants though they see such a thing to be evil are convinced of it though they find a strong inclination against the evil though they have been at prayer to God to help them against it though they resolve with the strongest resolutions against it yea though they vow and Covenant yea they come to the sacrament and set to their seale so violent is their corruption that it carries and hurries them on in wayes of evil notwithstanding 4. Again the motions and stirring of Corruption are very burdensome unto the Saints in regard of the confused disorder that there is in the motions of their corruptions there is much disorder and confusion in the heart when corruption doth stir which causeth much disturbance what causeth more disturbance in a State in a Family in a Town then confusion and disorder nothing is more disorderly and confused then the corruption in our hearts and therefore burdensome it causes much perplexity in the hearts of the Saints because they find their corruptions working and stirring in such a confused way they find sometimes when they are in duty such strange confused working of their hearts that it is an extream burden upon them 5. Further the corruption of the heart works very maliciously and therefore the more burdensome that is it watcheth especially those times wherein it may do us most mischief then it wil be most stirring as a malicious enemy wil not only be troublesome to one that he is an enemy unto at sometimes but he watcheth if there be any time wherein he may do him more mischief then another I wil take that time saith an enemy so the corruptions of the hearts of men they watch when they may do the soul the greatest mischeif now many a christian may think though I find much corruption stirring many times yet if I could but be free when I get alone to have communion with God O! that it would let me alone at that time and so though I find it stirring at other times yet if it would let me alone at the hearing of the word but it comes at that time especially you wil have evil thoughts at prayer more then ever you had and at the hearing of the word light workings of spirit more then at other times and not only at the word but if there be but one truth that doth more neerly concerne the good of your soules then another you shal find your corruptions to hinder you then more then at another time and so at the sacrament and fasting there it wil be more working then at another time 6. yea and further if there be any time that through Gods mercy in a day of prayer fasting and the like if you can get your hearts to any comfortable frame brokenness of heart renewed resolutions to walk in the waies of God more strictly then before as many times it is in dayes of fasting and prayer above al times wil your corruptions be stirring after that more then any time thus maliciously when it may do you the greatest michief then it wil be most working Now what a burden is this to the soule as it is said of Christ in Matth. the latter end There you have the story of Christs baptisme and when he was baptised then came the holy Ghost upon him in the likeness of a dove and this manfestation of God from heaven This is my beloved sonn in whom I am wel pleased wel presently saith the text he was led into the wilderness to be tempted of the divel God was in the worke but the devil was malicious against him presently after a glorious manifestation of God the father to him As it was with Christ your savior so you must expect it wil be with you Christ when he had such a glorious manifestation of God the father from heaven to him then he was led aside then the divel presently came upon him so it wil many times be with you when at any time you have got your hearts up to God in a day of fasting prayer or the like and have got some sense of Gods love take heed of security at that time more then at al times and that is the reason that you shal find if you observe it that very often after a day of fasting after such a day that you have got most in if not the very night yet the next day you wil find strong workings of the corruptions of your herets to keep them down immediately after that time for the stirring of corruptions they are very malicious and watch for the time that they may do us the greatest mischief of al. 7. Further the stirring of the Corruptions that remain in us are very burdensome in regard of their unseasonableness by that I meane this to speak plainly to your hearts the stirrings of our corruptions if we shal gratifie them many times yeild to them as it were for peace sake as sometimes the heart of a man or woman is so troubled with the workings of corruption that they think they must needs yield that they might be quiet wel if thou shalt yeild to them to quiet them they wil come upon thee more and more with greater strength they wil come upon thee then before as now if any one that is troublesome to us in seeking to get such and such a thing of us and at length because of trouble to us we yield to them then afterwards they grow more and more upon us incroach more and more upon us and are very troublesome and burdensome to us it is so in the stirring of corruption if you yield to your corruption for one thing it comes more and more upon you so that the only quiet you can have is by being at open defiance with them now this is another thing wherby the corruptions of the hearts of Gods people are very burdensome to them 8. Lastly The Corruptions in the hearts of Gods people are very burdensome because they are very prevailing this is an higher degree they are burdensome in the root and then in the working they are more burdensome but then in the prevailing they are yet more burdensome If so be a Child of God that looks into his hearâ— and finds what a root of bitternese there is that makes him go heavily al his dayes but now when he finds such working and stirring of corruption this troubles him more he thinks though I have such a cursed nature though I cannot keep down the motions and stirrings of my corruption yet if I could keep them from working yea though I cannot keep them from working yet if I could but keep them from prevailing but alas they overcome me many times and this is the greatest burden of al that they prevail in our hearts
for the principle of life out of my self This is the second thing that is here noted Come to me that is first behold me see and beleeve that I am the great mediator that is come into the world to save your souls and then secondly let there be an unsetling of your hearts a taking your hearts off from whatsoever you were setled upon heretofore that so you may be removed from thence and that you may take another course for your life in Christ and happiness in him Thirdly Come unto me that is let there be a working and a stirring of your hearts after me Christ calls for the heart of sinners after he comes to be revealled to them they should be in a working stiring disposition making after the Lord Jesus Christ for union with him to the utmost that possibly they can the thoughts should be working and the conscience working and the wil opening it self to receive in the grace of God and the affection should he stirring and the whole soul should be in a working disposition after him Incline your eare and come as if Christ should say though you are under great burdens yet do not you sink under them in a discouraging way and lie down in a dul and a heavy way No but let your hearts be stirring working and acting after me continually have a care of this to keep your hearts in a stirring and working way after Christ and the grace that is offered to you in Christ this is that which young beginners should observe in a special manner if God be beginning to work upon your hearts you should have a great care to keep your hearts in a stir-working acting frame and disposition after Christ and above al things in the world take heed of a dul heavy dead spirit at this time when God cals you to come to Christ as the Apostle saith of himself in Phil. 3.14 I press hard after the mark so it should be with every poor soul that God is drawing after Christ it should be alwaies in a comming disposition and they should press hard toward the mark of the high prize of the calling that is set before them Christ is set before thee God sets his son before thee with the treasure of grace and thou shouldest press and follow hard after God as it is the expression of David in one of the Psalmes 63 8. a hard following stirring and working of the soul after the Lord as David said to his son Solomon in 1. Chron. 22.16 Vp and be doing and the Lord wil be with thee so I say to al unto whom the grace of God is offered they must not be dul and sullen but up and be doing As the Apostle speakes in 1. Phil. 20. According to the earnest expectation the word that is translated earnest expectation in the original signifies to stretch out the neck to look after some good that I would fain have come that is the propriety of the word in the original text so this should be comming to Christ that is when Christ is propouned in the gospel there should be the stretching out of the soul in looking after the Lord Jesus and a working of the soul after Jesus Christ keeping the soul working and stirring after Christ Many poor souls whom God is beginning to work his grace upon loose abundance of time and comfort for want of this of keeping their hearts in a working and stirring frame after Christ they spend their time in the afflicting of their soules but they do not keep their hearts working towards Jesus Christ As Jacob said to his sons when they wanted bread in Cannaan saith he We have heard that there is corn in Egipt and why do we stand looking one upon an other saith Jacob to his sons had you gon saith he you might have been come back again and brought us bread by this time so I say to many burdened souls hast thou not heard that there is grace and mercy in Jesus Christ had thy soul bin working stirring and kept in an acting frame after Jesus Christ thou mightest have bin returnig and have gotten rest to thy soul by this time thou standest looking unto this thing and the other thing and poring upon thy corruptions hadst thou kept thy heart continually stirring in a working frame after Christ the work might have been done by this time Fourthly Come to me that is saith Christ come and lay al your burdens upon mee come and role your hearts upon mee whatever burden it is either of your soules or afflictions outwardly what ever your feares and troubles are yet come and do you cast al your burdens upon me I am content to beare them al. That is a special work of faith for the soul to role it self upon Jesus Christ to cast it self with al its burdens upon the infinite rich free grace of God in Jesus Christ as if Christ should say is it the burden of sin I have borne the burden of sin already Is it the wrath of God that is a burden to you come and cast this burden upon me I have born the wrath of God Or is it the burden of the Law I have borne that burden for you I was made an offering for you I was made under the law to deliver you from under the law Is it the burden of any affliction That was upon me It is true the burden of corruption was not upon him but Christ wil deliver us from that too Come to me and whatever burden is upon your souls cast it upon me role your souls al your burdens upon me saith Christ and I wil give you rest Fifthly and lastly Come to me that is come and leave your soules with me and commit them to me for life for salvation for peace for whatsoever good you would have be willing to betrust me with your souls be willing to betrust me with al your comforts be willing to betrust me both with your present and with your eternal estate in al your transanctions with God and dealing with God trust me withal that is comming to Christ When Christ bids us come to him it is as much as if he should say come to me and leave your souls leave al your care and commit to me al that you have and whatsoever you are commit your selves wholly to me to be disposed of by me for al good whatsoever and I wil take charge of you I wil ingage my self and al my faithfulness to have a care of you and suply you in al your wants and strengthen you under al your burdens and carry you through al difficulties and bring you at length to life and salvation and perfect rest together with my Father and my self that is the meaning of Christ when he saith Come to me So the Apostle in 1. Tim. 2.12 I know in whom I have beleeved and that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him That which I have committed to him what is that
that is his very soul his life his peace his comfort al his happiness he had committed to him and so left al with him Now then take al these together and when Christ cals the sinner to come to him that is O! Sinner first beleeve this that I am the great redeemer that is come into the world to stand between Gods wrath and your soules and to make up peace between God and you and let there be an unsettling of your hearts from whatsoever heretofore your Souls did Rest in Creature comforts your own Righteousness Duties self respects and ends whatsoever they are let your hearts be taken off from them all and let your hearts now be in a stirring working disposition towards me let all your whole Souls be stretching forth to me and come and cast all your burdens upon me and leave your Souls with me and I will take care of them thus come to me Now then when any soul that is thus Laden shall answer to this cal of Christ and shal say Lord I come here is the very voice and answer of Faith when the Soul can say Oh! Lord I come I see thee to be the blessed Mediator between God and my Soul and for whatsoever my heart hath setled in heretofore Oh! Lord it shal be no more and my heart begins to stir after thee and I stretch forth my Soul to thee O Blessed redeemer and here I cast my burdens upon thee none can ease me but thy self and I leave my self with thee I commit all to thee and betrust all that I have or can do my eternal estate with thee Lord I come here is the soul that comes to Christ Then may the Soul be said to come to Christ when there is an answer in these five Particulars All this is contained in this word COME though you cannot apprehend it til it be unfoulded as a piece of needle work when it is foulded up there is all the work indeed within but we cannot see it til it be laid open and spread before us then we can see all that is in it So though there be many expressions in the Scripture that we understand not yet there they be but this is the work of the Ministry to spread them and to lay them before you and lay them open to you that you may see the Grace of God in another manner when they be unfolded now thus doth Christ call those that are Laden to come to him CHAP. XIX How Christ calls Sinners unto him set forth in two Particulars Namely 1. By an outward and general call 2. By a Particular call to Particular Sinners And how to know the voice of Christ YOu will say how and in what manner doth Christ call to me Christ is in Heaven I cannot hear Christ call to me Now for the call of Christ First There is a general cal in the word there Christ calls under the sound of the Gospel to come to him but this call is rather a command of Christ then an invitaion to shew unto al what is their Duty to do rather then to invite them But now there is a more special call unto those whom the Father hath given to Christ and though they make use of the general call in the word yet there is a special call to them that is Christ by his Spirit doth open the Riches of the Gospel of the Grace in him to their Souls by his Spirit inwardly he doth shew them to their Souls Others come and hear the outward cal that is when a Minister of God shal come and open the Gospel and there shew how God hath given his Son to us he hath taken our Nature upon him and died for sin and tel them that God requires all here in the Gospel to beleeve in his Son they hear his outward cal I but they whom the father gives to Christ have the Spirit of God sent together with the word to open the Riches of Christ that though they have heard it a hundred times before Yet when the spirit comes there is a shewing of the beauty and Riches of the Gospel more then ever that allures their Souls to come to Christ Secondly Not only this but the Lord when he cals such as shall indeed have mercy by Christ and have his invitation to be effectual he doth give a Particular cal unto that Soul besides the general cal God doth not only in the word cal sinners and saith Christ came to save Sinners and those that were lost but Christ comes in Particular to such and such Souls and cals them in a Particular special manner For the Ministers of God they are bound in the Preaching of the Gospel to give a general invitation to come to him but God beside the general hath a Particular cal there is a voice of God in Particular to the Soul that he intends to bring to his Son such a one hears a voice behind him as the Scripture speaks saying this is the way to Salvation the way you have gone all this while is not the way to life you will perish in that way Christ is the right way As thus I will open it in the general and Particular call by this similitude A Prince that hath had many of his subjects Traitors yet he is pleased to send forth a general Proclamation makes a Proclamation to those subjects and makes it in general tearms that though you have been thus and thus Traiterous against me yet I am content every one that will come to such a place at such a day and submit himself he shall have a pardon here is the general Proclamation and this is incouragement to come But now suppose there were some poor Traitor that because sensible of his wickedness and how unreasonably he hath dealt with his Prince and may be sits alone bemoaning his condition and troubled in his spirit and thinks with himself how shall I be able to see the Face of my Prince Oh! woe to me for the wickedness of my waies Suppose the Prince should come by and behold such a one take notice of him that is got into some corner or other and is there smiting of his Breast and lamenting his condition that he should so provoke his Prince as he hath done And should call this poor creature and say to him Oh thou poor Creature that art in such a place come thou to me For so is the work of faith God comes in particular to the soul doth not only come in general but after his general Call when he doth see the soul troubled the Lord doth give a particular Call to him and saith O! thou poor Creature thou art under this burden and thus sensible of it and lamentest that thou hast lived thus and thus and made such a breach between me and thy soul do thou come to me And the truth is till God speak in particular to the soul the proclamation of God in general will not bring in sinners so Christ doth
send forth somwhat of thy spirit that may draw our Hearts and then we will run after thee Keep thy Heart in such a frame for this is a great discouragement about coming to Christ in the Hearts of many Christ calls and we have many sweet incouragements in the word to come I but it is to them that have their Hearts stirring and working towards Christ to go to him But I have a dead and dull Heart and cannot work towards him I but if thou canst not stir and work after him yet set thy Soul in sight of Christ and look towards him and waite til Gods time come when he will let some influence into thy Heart this will be a mighty help this way And take heed of listening to any temptation that may draw away thy heart from coming to Christ It is a notable Scripture that you have in 1. Sam. 12.20 it is of Samuel Speaking to the people of Israel that had sinned against the Lord and were troubled for their sin and Samuel said unto the people Fear not you have done this wickedness yet turn not aside from following the Lord but feare the Lord with al your hearts and turne ye not aside for then should ye go after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver for they are vain You have sinned against the Lord and you are troubled what shal we do Saith Samuel though you have thus sinned yet do not turne aside to vanity So do I say you have sinned against the Lord and Christ cals you to come to him and you complain you have a dead and dul heart I but then do not turne from Christ to vanity set your selves stil in the sight of God and attend upon him in those Ordinances that he useth to present himself in RULE VIII Eighthly When thy heart begins to come to Christ give up thy self to the stream of Gods spirit for the spirit of God wil be stirring ever and anon though not at al times alike Thou art attending upon the Ordinances and waiting when the spirit of God should come to draw thy heart to Christ wait upon this stirring and if thou feel the Spirit beginning to draw thy heart to Christ in any measure Oh! then joyn with the work of the spirit of God and give up thy soul to the stream of Gods spirit do not thou draw back it may be Gods spirit is drawing thy heart to Christ and thou presently drawest back with discouraging thoughts upon consideration of thy Vileness and that thou art not humbled now when thou feelest Gods spirit stirring in thee give up thy soul to the strength of Gods spirit As when a man goes to learne to swim he is not to lay down himself and keep a padling with his hands and feet but there must be a giving up of himself to the water Sometimes a man keeps ten times more stir to keep himself from drowning then another that can swim one that hath got the art of swimming while the other sinkes to the bottom the water helpes him and he keeps himself above water Just thus is the difference between some that are troubled in their consciences for their sins and others between some that are coming to Christ and others Some that are coming to Christ and have not the right art of giving up themselves to Christ they are sinking and in mighty confusion of spirit and keep such a do with their own hearts and strange confused thoughts they have and horror of spirit and al because they fear they shal sink down to the bottom of destruction Now there are others that are afraid of sinking and drowning as wel as they but coming to understand what the way of Christ is and what it is to come to Christ though they have nothing in themselves to keep them from sinking yet they come to learn how to give up their souls to the stream of Gods spirit that carries them on to Jesus Christ in a more solid way and with a great deal less trouble they come to Jesus Christ and there they get into the arke and so are safe for ever Whereas others they skrabble on the outside of the arke as if a poor man should be skrabbling upon the ship no body lookes after him he fals down and is drowned at last So those that skrabble and do not give up themselves unto the arke they fal down again and at the last perish You have a scripture for this in 1. Kings 20.33 The Servants of Benhadad they diligently observed whether any thing would come from the King of Israel and they say thy brother Benhadad this is the thing they go in a way of seeking to the King of Israel for his brother Benhadad and this is the way they watch for any word that might pass from the King of Israel whereby they might have any hope and at last he said my brother Benhadad and they take hold of this presently So it should be with a sinner that is seeking after Christ he should diligently watch what may come from the Spirit of Christ that may give any incouragement doth the Spirit move in thee and begin to work in thee to draw thee to Jesus Christ Oh! thou mightest have got a great way thither it may be thou mightest have been in his bosom and in his armes by this time if thou hadst taken this course RULE IX Ninthly The soul that is about coming to Christ that doth not yet know whether it is truly got to Christ it should often renew the act of coming for certainly there are many that are at Christ but do not know it It may be some soule may say I had thought I had got to Christ before but I see my Corruptions prevail and I am afraid I am not come to Christ wil not these soules think that they must not come to Christ til they have overcome their Corruptions wheras the best way to overcome thy corruption is to come to Christ to renew the act of thy coming to Christ and the longer thou staiest from renewing this act of thy coming to Christ the more strong thy corruptions grow in thee Certainly do thou ly down as long as thou wilt in any sullen mood and say my Corruption is thus and thus and I am afraid I never went to Christ thy corruptions would grow stronger in thee thou must not stay til thy corruptions be subdued before thou goest to Christ but renew the act of coming to Christ again say I wil try it again may be I did not do it aright at first and if I miss it the second time I wil try it again and again and the hundredth time Do not say if I had overcome sin thus and thus I would come to Christ it is as much as to say if I were first sanctified by Christ then I would come to Christ for justification and is this the right order No thou must come first to Christ that thou mayest have thy corruptions subdued
worse then his If the King were going in his Robes to the Parliament a long the streets and should see such a poor creature lying by the Walls and should take special notice of him and call him to him and say let that poor creature come to me it would incourage him exceedingly this invitation from Christ is just the very same for the Lord Jesus Christ sees thee lying in thy gore blood as it is described in Ezekiel 16. where the miserable condition of them that are in their Natural estate is most elegantly set down they lay in their blood none Eye pittyed them then I came saith God and said unto thee live and this time was the time of Love so when thou liest in thy poor wretched miserable condition in thy filth in thy baseness in the Gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity this blessed Redeemer this great Prince of al the world he cals to thee and saies Oh! thou poor creature Come to me I You will say this is the discouragement of all I would be glad to go to Christ the Lord knows this is that my Soul pants after that I might go to Christ but I am such a poor vile creature so Wretched so Miserable that it is impossible for me to be accepted you tel me that for an argument that is the greatest discouragement of my Heart because I am so vile and because I am so Wretched this is that discourageth me from coming to Christ ARG. VII To that I answer in the Seventh place Come to me and I will certainly receive you whatever you are Christ will certainly receive all those that come to him whatever they are and for that consider these three things that may make it plain First The Solemn expression of Christ for this purpose that you have in John 6.37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out He doth not say he that hath been such a great sinner such a vile wretched sinner but he speaks indefinitly he that comes to me I will in no wise cast out Now this that is translated in your Books In no wise cast out it hath a greater force in the Greek there is two Negatives for though we in English say two Negatives make an affirmative it is not so in Greek for it is for a stronger confirmation of a thing and so it may be read He that cometh to me I will not not cast out as if so be Christ should say he that comes to me I will not I will not cast out As we when we would express the fervency of our Spirits we double our speech so doth Christ he would express the Fervency of his spirit and therefore he saith he that cometh to me I will not I will not cast out Secondly Whoever thou art upon coming to him he will not cast thee off for this was the great errand that Christ came into the world for to receive poor troubled souls and to ease poor Laden sinners it was the very business that Christ came into the world about it is the work that God the Father hath sent his Son into the world about that he might receive such poor wretched sinful creatures as thou art and if it were not that he should receive those that come to him he should lose the end that he came into the world for and therefore he will receive you when you come for Christ saies I shal else lose the end of that that was the greatest work that ever was done since the world began or shal be done to al eternity that is my undertaking the Mediation between God and you if I should not receive poor Souls that come to me that great work would be lost that work wherein my Father and my self is so much glorified for this is the glory of Christ to do so and Christ saw there was so much glory to be had this way that it did move Christ to come into the world to take such a course as this is to save Souls Christ knows that he should to all eternity be magnified by Angels for the saving such Souls as thou art Yea Christ knows that the Father wil love him more for he saies The Father loves me because I laid down my life for the Sheep John 10.17 It is that that will delight God the Father it is that that wil make God the Father to delight in the Son it is that whereby Jesus Christ gets the very end of his death til he had laid down his life till he had made his Soul an offering for sin he was not satisfied This is it that satisfied him that he should see his Seed and amongst others thou art one thou that comest to Christ thou art of the Seed that Jesus Christ is so satisfied with that he gaines the very end of laying down his life for thee and certainly Christ will not cast thee off but wil receive thee and therefore come to him Thirdly He will receive thee for he hath heretofore received as vile wretches as thou art You will say There was never any so vile as we are It s true we may and ought to judg our Selves as vile as the worst though we have not committed such vile sins outwardly as others have yet because we know not the Hearts of other men nor do we know what means others have had therefore we are to judg ourselves as vile as any but know that Christ hath received as bad as thou art those that pierced Christ that shed his blood Christ received 3000. of them in one day he received three thousand in one day of those that had inbrued their hands in his blood and the story stands in the Scripture for an everlasting Monument to incourage poor sinners to come to Christ And besides though thou art a vile sinner and a wretched creature yet know the greater thou hast been in thy sin the more will the Grace of God in Christ be magnified and certainly there is in Christ such a Grace as is able to swallow up great sins as well as little as the infinite Ocean of the Sea is able to swallow up great Vessels as well as smal were it not a silly thing when we were to cast a Vessel into the Sea to say it is too great a Vessel God is willing to have his Grace magnified to thee though it be to the hardening of many thousands If there is an infinite Ocean in God to swallow up great as well as smal sins so long as this keeps thee off from coming to Christ so long thou dishonorest this infinite Grace of God in Christ Were Gods mercy only such as his common bounty is to other of his creatures this might keep thee off but now it being the infinite Ocean of mercy in his Son and purchased by Christ it is an infinite dishonor to the Grace of God in Christ to stand upon tearms and not to come to
afterwards that there is no rest nor peace to any wicked men in the world though they seem to others to live in never so much ease rest and peace Further there is no peace to the wicked saith my God it is not I saith the prophet but God that saith it wherby he would teach us this note That when any ministers of God preacheth that which is hard to us we should consider that it is not their words but Gods that speakes to them that God that wil make al good that he speakes by them which is according to his word according to what he saith in his word there is no peace saith my God Further there is no peace saith my God it may be that many would flatter you and say there is peace and these ministers do but trouble people trouble consciences and what needs so much stir what needs so much a doe no question the prophet did aime at these false prophets as there were many that we reade of in Isaiah and Jeremiah that cryed peace peace when there was no peace There was many false Prophets that lived in those times that said the prophet Isaiah preacheth to you things that are too hard God is merciful and have we not al infirmities and therefore it is but trusting in Gods mercy and do we not do as others do and we hope it shall be with us as with others at the last and it is but repenting at last now in opposition to al these saith the prophet Isaiah there is no peace saith my God let all the fals prophets plead what they will let them say what they please yet my God saith to every wicked and ungodly man and Woman there is no peace to their Souls Further It may be there are some that their own Hearts would say peace peace as many men and Women that when they hear out of the word those things that are very dreadful and do come very near to their Consciences their Consciences tel them this word of God neerly concernes them yet they will be ready to bless themselves in their own thoughts and say notwithstanding it shall be peace to them just as we read in 29. of Deut. 19 and 20. verses saith the Lord It shal come to pass that if any man when he heares the words of this curse shall bless himself in his Heart and say I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of mine own Heart the Lord will not spare him but then the anger of the Lord and his Jealousie shal Smoake against that man and all the curses that are written in this Book shall lie upon him and the Lord shall blot out his Name from under Heaven How dreadful doth God speak and to whom To that Soul that shall hear out of Gods word that there is no peace no Rest unto them in that condition in the way that he is now in yet it may be saith the Lord when you shall hear pronounced this day in my word against them you shal have many in your auditory shall say I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of my own Heart Now we do not find such a dreadful expression in all the Book of God against any as we do against those that shall say they shall have peace though they walk in the imagination of their own Heart Now hear saith the prophet may be some of you will say in your own Hearts I shall have Rest I shal have Peace but saith the Prophet there is no Peace to the wicked saith my God though your own Hearts say you shall have Peace and what need we trouble our selves with the Ministers words but my God saith there is no peace to the wicked methinks here we have a place that speakes of wicked men directly in opposition to that which the Church speaks of her self in Lamen 3.24 The Lord is my portion saith my soul therefore wil I hope in him Now let us observe at this time when the Church speakes this and saith the Lord is her portion she was in a very afflicted estate and condition and it may be that her enemies would say that the Lord had forsaken her and neglected her I but against al the enemies in the world her faith prevailes and sayes Let al the devils in hel say what they wil let al the world say what they wil yet my soul shal say the Lord is my portion that is that faith that Gods spirit hath wrought in my soul shal inable me to say that the Lord is my portion So on the contrary when wicked men are in prosperity and feel not the hand of God upon them perhaps friends may flatter them false prophets wil flatter them may be their own hearts wil flatter themselves but now to answer al saith the prophet there is no peace to the wicked saith my God my God saith it Further there is no peace saith my God no rest to any out of Christ this is to note from whence it comes that wicked men can have no peace why they can have no rest it is from God it is God that wil not give it God is against them There are many wicked men and women whose consciences are begun to be inlightened and they many times have trouble of spirit and when they awake in the night they are troubled and when they go about their business in the day they are troubled and when they come home they are troubled and so troubled as they scarce know what it is that troubles them Now perhaps you have not known what it is that troubles you but this text in Isa 57 and the last verse tels you what it is that troubles you it is the Lord that is out with you it s the anger the displeasure of the almighty that is upon you in those wayes that you have walked in and therefore it is that the prophet brings the name of God to shew whence it is that wicked men can have no peace Further It is observable that he adds it is My God he doth not say there is no peace that God saith though that had been enough but my God that is thus as if the Prophet should say through the mercy of God the Lord hath revealed this mercy to me and my Soul hath some interest in this God and since I knew God in Jesus Christ my soul hath found peace and Rest in him and he is my God and hath revealed himself to me he whose mind my soul is in some measure acquainted with my God saith there is no Peace to the wicked And though however others may think it is a strange thing to tel ungodly men that they are in a condition wherein they can have no peace when they hear of the dreadful wrath of God against all ungodlyness to be revealed out of the word yet those who are acquainted with the waies of God those who know the holiness and justice of God those who understand the mind
of God those who are acquainted with the secrets of the mind of God those men know that there is a reality in what is declared against such and such wicked men they can say that to such there is no Peace they can wonder how it is possible that such men can go on quietly in their way they wonder how they can eat their meat in quiet they wonder how they can sleep in quiet they that know what a breach sin hath made between God and the Soul and know what a wonderful work it is to make up the breach between God and the Soul that sin hath made those men can understand this and so wonder at their security That is the meaning of the prophets words in Isaiah There is no peace to the wicked saith my God as he instanceth in those words in the relation he hath to God saith my God because he knew the way of God he knew a wicked man could have no peace others that know not the way of God they think wicked men may have peace as now come to some men and speak of the natural mans Estate and how we are all Children of wrath and of sin and of the severity of Gods justice and holiness now a carnal heart who knows not God he thinks strange of this and thinks people are troubled more than needs but now come to another that understands what the way of God is and knows what the way of God is in making peace between God and them come to one to whom God hath made himselfe known in Christ such a one wil presently subscribe to al that is revealed of the wrath of God and of the holyness of God and of the righteous judgment of God thus the prophet doth My God that God that hath revealed himself to me he saith there is no peace to the wicked Further there is yet a further note there is no peace to the wicked saith my God there is this note from it That it is a sad thing when such as are wise Godly and gracious that are acquainted with the wayes of God shal think others conditions to be naught when such men shal be suspicious of it much more if they were able to say certainly what their estates are but when such as are wise and holy and walk close with God when they shal say to you there is no peace you had need look to it is there any godly friend of yours whom in your conscience you beleeve is truly godly that walks close with God and faithfully with him and enjoyes communion with him if such a friend shal but think your condition to be naught it is a sad thing thus it is when the prophet saith there is no peace to such and such wicked men saith my God that is through Gods mercy I have an interest in him and in his name pronounce this that there is no peace to such and such wicked men CHAP. XXV Six Reasons of the former Doctrine 1. The soul out of Christ is departed from God 2. Every man by nature is an enemy to God 3. Every man by nature is bound over to the justice of God to answer to what he can charge him with 4. In a man out of Christ there is every thing to disquiet him 5. Every one out of Christ is condemned 6. Such every moment may be Plunged into a Gulf of Wrath. WELL Because this text hath taken up some time in the opening of it and hath much in it I wil name no other than this for this indeed is sufficient to prove that al out of Christ can have no peace nor rest unto their soules Would you know why and how it comes to pass that None that are out of Christ can have Rest unto their soules I shal not spend much time in opening what I have to say but those that are to be delivered for the opening of this point are exceeding dreadful they speake dreadfully to those that are out of Christ but now because you have already heard so much of the willingness of Jesus Christ to be reconciled to you and his invitation of you to come to him and I have so much afterwards to deliver to you about the true rest that a beleeving soul hath in Jesus Christ therefore I may take the more liberty to shew unto you the restless condition that every soul is in that is out of Jesus Christ I wil do it very breifly in these particulars First Certainly a soul out of Christ can have no rest because it is departed from God know this and Oh! that the Lord would make you to know it that every man and woman naturally is departed from God is gone from God from the womb we have departed from him there is a great distance between God every one of our souls naturally al the union we come to have with God it is in his son it is in Christ therfore til we come to be in Christ there is a great chasma a gulf a depth a vast distance between God and al our soules and this is one of the first things that the Lord is pleased to shew and to convince a soule that he is about to save of the great distance that there is between God and the soul natturally now it is impossible for a soul to have rest that is departed from God for God is the proper Centre of an immortal soul as Moses saith in Psalm 90. Thou art our habitation the soul can have no rest but in God for God is the proper place of an immortal soul the true good of an immortal soul it is the injoyment of an infinite good now if the soul be separated from that which is the true good and proper place of it it is impossible it should have any rest In the 12. Psalm the latter end it is said of the wicked The wicked walk round about the words are termed in the old Latin in a circuit up and down but now a godly man walkes in a strait line he goes to the center in a strait line to God as the center and there it finds rest but when it is in its natural condition it walkes in a circle up and downe seeking for rest and finding none as it is said of the uncleane spirit in the Gospel that walks up and down seeking rest but finds none so it is with men in the world they would fain have rest and seek somewhat that is good but finds none for they are departed from God that is the only rest of an immortal soule Secondly not only so but every man by nature is an enemy to God and therefore cannot look upon God the infinite eternal first being of al things without terror if he knowes him no man or woman that knowes what God is that is able to look upon him without terror in his natural estate and therefore it is not possible they can have any rest so long as they continue enemies to God
most in the world do live and die and perrish in blindness and in woful disperate hardness of Heart for where almost is the Man and Woman that is convinced of this Restless condition That ever were in this Restless condition This I dare undertake to aver concerning every one that you were once in such a condition as I have now spake of how you have got out of it that you must look to and what argument you have that you can be able to rest your Souls upon for your deliverance out of this condition do you examine but this condition every one is in naturally Abraham Isaac and Jacab was in this condition once and therefore every one must look unto it now while this Rest is opening unto you and here indeed is the Reason of the tumultuousness of spirit that is in most people What is the Reason that people hurry up and down in seeking after the things of this world That they are in a Restless condition Their Souls have not union with God in Jesus Christ and therefore they are hurried up and down here in this world to seek after comfort this way and that way but the truth is as with the unclean spirit in the Gospel they seek for Rest but find none as I tould you before the Dove sought up and down for Rest but she found none til she came to the Arke and so the Reason of the disturbance of the Spirits of Men and Women is from hence that they are not acquainted with the true Rest that there is in Christ but we let this pass Only one thing more in this point before we shal come unto the next and that is to shew the insufficiency that there is in al things in the world to give Rest unto the Soul til we come to Christ Al men out of Christ are in a Restless condition There is an insufficiency in al things in the world to give Rest til we come to Christ And for that I shall give two or three Reasons I. First Because the Rest of an immortal Soul must needs be in the reference it hath to God Now al the Transactions between God and us are only in the hand of Christ it is not committed unto any creature to transact any thing between God and us for any good but through Christ now then if al our Rest must needs be in our reference unto God and al the Transactions between God and us must be in the hand of Christ the Mediator then certainly there is an insufficiency in al things in the world to give Rest unto our souls II. Secondly There is an insufficiency in all things in the world to give Rest unto the Soul because the misery that we are in is so deep and the happiness that our Souls are capable of is so high that it is impossible that any creature can reach the one or the other either to deliver from the one or to raise up unto the other only Jesus Christ in whom we have Rest can do it because that there was never any thing that came to that depth of humiliation nor hath that height of Glory put both together Christ hath subjected himself to the lowest degree of humiliation that ever creature could subject it self unto and Christ is in the highest degree of Glory that it is possible for any creature to be in above al creatures his subjection unto sorrow and trouble was such as no creature can subject unto and his glory is higher than any creature is capable of therefore he and only he is able to deliver from the depth of misery in which the Children of men are and raise them to the true happiness and Glory that their Natures are capable of III. Thirdly There is an insufficiency in all creatures to give Rest unto the Soul because all ceatures here in this world that we have to do withal except the Angels in Heaven are under the curse and the Angels are only ministring spirits to attend upon Christ and to be sent upon Christs errand they do nothing but in order to Christ now all other creatures are under the curse and being under the curse through mans sin it is impossible that those creatures that are under the curse should give Rest unto our Souls and I do not know any argument in the world of greater strength to take off the Hearts of men from resting in creature comforts than this to understand cleerly that al creatures here in this world are under the curse through our sins the whole world that is under the curse by our sins cannot make us happy and therefore there is an insufficiency in al things in the world to give Rest unto our Souls Do but consider then what are the things that most people Rest in Particularly and then we shal see the vanity of men in seeking for Rest out of Christ CHAP. XXVII The insufficiency of every thing besides Christ to give Rest to the Soul is further enlarged with several Choice Considerations FIrst There are some that are so vile as the cheifest Rest and comfort of their Souls is in the pleasure of sin in the delight that they do take in satisfying of their sinful lusts that is the comfort and Rest of their Souls if they be troubled at home Wife Children or Servants do but trouble them what do they do to ease themselves they go abroad among company and there drink and play and swear and perhaps be unclean And others when they are crossed how do they ease themselves by venting their passion and the truth is it is a most holy truth I am speaking of Oh! That ever it should enter into the Heart of a creature to make it to be the greatest quiet ease and Rest of his Soul to satisfie himself in sinning against the blessed God and yet I appeal unto you do not your consciences tel you some of you that this is your condition And do you not know Men that the greatest comfort ease quiet and Rest of heart that they have in this world is in the satisfying of their sinful lusts How far is this from seeking out Rest in Christ in the Son of God in the great Mediator of the Covenant yet this is the condition of most people take away the satisfaction of their Souls in their sinful lusts and they have nothing to quiet their Hearts with but when they are there now they are safe now they are quiet Do but consider of this one thing that now I am speaking of That to have Rest and quiet in any way of sin it is no other but just as if a man had a burning Feaver and he cals for a pot of Water gets it to his mouth and drinks it up every drop now in the very time he is pouring this down his Throat he hath some Rest some ease he finds some ease from the fit of the feaver while he is drinking down the pot of Water but do you think this wil be Rest
to him Do but stay a quarter of an hour or may be an hour or two then you wil find him in his scalding burning fit then he burnes ten times more than he did before and it is like to cost him his life but he finds trouble and disquiet and that gives him ease and therefore he drinks it down and this indangers his Life afterwards So it is with men that seek after ease and Rest unto their Souls in any way of sin thy pleasure in thy sinful waies take all the pleasure of thy Life from thy youth to the day of thy death and put it altogether yet in respect of eternity it is but just like the ease that a poor man in a Feaver hath while the water is going down his Throat all thy pleasure is no more and thou art like to be scalding and burning in Gods wrath to al eternity for that one draught of thine for the ease and Rest that thou hadst in the way of sin I am sure when Christ had the burden of our sins upon him he found it no Rest and therefore it cannot be ease to thy Spirit Secondly There are others though not so vile yet they Rest not in the act of sin but in the creature if they can have good trading quick voyages and have as their neighbors have then they are ready as the rich man in the Gospel to say Soul take thine ease eat and drink for thou hast goods laid up for many yeares and this is the rest that most people in the world do seek after they think that if they might have as such and such have then they had rest enough but be it knowne unto you that this is an argument that thou doest not understand nor savor the things of God if thou thinkest that al the creatures in the world yea if God should give thee the possession of al the creatures in heaven and earth if thou shouldest think that they would give thee rest I say thou dost not savour at al the things of God but those that understand what God is yea those that have but one sparke of true saving grace this spark of grace doth so inlarge the soul that al the creatures in heaven and earth cannot give rest cannot give quiet but stil it hath a higher good to seek after than al the creatures in al the world There is a notable text of Scripture which we have in the book of Job in the 26. of Job and 7. verse He Stretcheth forth the north over the empty place and hangeth the earth upon nothing Wilt thou seek thy rest in that which hangs upon nothing the whole earth hath nothing to rest upon and therefore nothing in the earth can be rest unto thy soul In Micah 2.10 as it is said there in that place so I may say of creatures Arise ye and depart for here is not your rest The whole world is as a wheel in a continual motion and therefore in James 3.6 Where the text speakes of the course of nature or the wheel of nature the whole world is as a wheel running up and down and therefore there can be no rest in the enjoyment of the creature Wel but there are some yet would fain have rest there having got good estates some of you have got good voyages and God hath prospered you in your young dayes and having got great estates now you would have rest that is to live idlely and to live uselesly and to keep at home and let al things go which way they wil it is good to be quiet in ones old dayes when God hath delivered you from many dangers at sea now you think the only way is to live quietly at home and to meddle with nothing and this is the rest of your souls this is the rest that many men have after their yonger time is past and how then to live and do nothing this is their rest now Oh! that God would but speak to the hearts of these men 1. Do but consider this That by living thus idlely and unusefully thou comest to have al thy parts and thy spirits to corrupt just as a standing water as waters in a pond do corrupt and putrifie by their standing so men that live uselesly and are not active for God and for the publique good according to the opportunities that God puts into their hands their hearts do putrifie and grow corrupt there is a corruption that comes upon al their parts the beauty the excellency the quickness the liveliness of their parts are taken away and they begin to putrifie more and more because they are not imployed for God what ever we have that we imploy not for God and are not active in for God it putrifies and however many men think it a great happiness because they have estates and they may live and do nothing there is not a greater misery to a gracious heart than to be useless for God and for God to lay them aside as such as are useless not to use them in his service it is the greatest affliction to a Godly heart in the world if God should take away their estates it would not be such a great affliction as to lay them aside and do nothing for God and therefore let no man think because he hath got a great estate that therefore he may ly stil do nothing Oh! what wil this man do when he shal be called to account for al his time for al his opportunity for al his estate certainly this wil not be sufficient that he can say he did no hurt no but thou shouldest have been active for God God is active for thee in saving thy soul al the Atributes of God is working for thee and al the passages of his providence is working for thee if thou be saved and therefore this is a wretched condition for men to think no higher rest but meerly freedome from outward trouble and if there be any whose conscience tels them this is the truth this is my condition and God speakes to my heart this day this is the rest that I have sought after know that thou art not acquainted with the wayes of God for certainly the rest of an immortal soul is a high thing Jesus Christ came into the world from the bosom of his father and laid down his life to purchase rest for the soul and dost thou think that Christ did this only to purchase this that thou mayest be freed from some outward trouble in this world and that we might sit in the â—himny corner and do nothing Oh! there is another rest for the Children of God than this Object I but some go further some wil say We trust in the mercy of God for rest for our soules Answ Now for that though this be better than al the other yet a man and woman may mistake in this thou trustest in Gods mercy for rest to thy soul what hath God revealed to thy soul concerning the mediator
Law a bondage unto those that are Godly being the law of God Ans It is a bondage not in it self but in regard of our inabilâ—ty for it requires of us now considering what estate we are in such things as we cannot do and that is a bondage to be put upon more than we are able to do as the Israelites were by their taskmasters but yet stil God is righteous in this because it is not more than God did at first inable us unto in our first Creation but in regard of that estate that now we are in it is a bondage in that it puts upon us what we cannot do and that upon pain of eternal death too Thirdly we are delivered from the binding over power as I may so say the power of binding over the soul to the justice of God upon every breach of the Law Now the binding-over power the power of binding them over to answer to Gods justice upon the breach of it that beleevers are delivered from in Christ as a man that is bound over to the assize and sessions to answer afterwards when he comes to take out his bond he thinks himself at much ease and at quiet when the bond is taken out by which he was bound to answer so Christ comes and takes out the bond by which beleevers were bound to answer to Gods justice for al their sins Fourthly They are delivered from the condemning power of the law that the law hath not now power to bring a beleever that sins through frailty unto condemnation this is cleere from scripture as I might shew several texts as we go along You are not under the law saith the Apostle And there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Lastly we are delivered from the Law as the covenant for life the law at first was given as the covenant that God made with mankind for life for God deales with the rational creature according to the nature of it because it is capable of a covenant with God therefore God deals with it in the way of a covenant and as soon as man was made the Lord entered into a covenant with mankind now the covenant was no other than the law Do and live that was the covenant that God did enter into with mankind and made our first parents Adam the head of that Covenant Do and live upon thy doing shal thy life depend saith God thy present and thy eternal life Now we are delivered from the law by Christ that is that now it doth remain no more unto beleevers to be the covenant of life unto them they being once in Christ but they are brought under another Covenant a better Covenant So that in these five respects we may be said to be delivered from the Law by Christ from the rigor of it from the bondage of it from the binding-over power that is in it from the condemning power and from it as the Covenant of life Now here is enough one would think if so be that the spirits of Men were not very wild and wanton for the quieting of the soul in the deliverance of it from the law CHAP. XXX The Rest that beleevers have from the Burden of the Law by coming to Christ laid out in Ten particulars 1. They do not stand or fall for life by the Law 2. The Law-giver is the Redeemer 3. The least spark of Grace is accepted 4. Their wil shal be accepted as the deed 5. Obedience is required in a sweet and gentle way 6. The Grace of God in Christ doth melt the heart 7. Their sins make them an object of Gods pity 8. They have Christ to undertake for them as a surety 9. They are delivered and yet satisfaction is made to the law 10. They have assurance that they shal never forfeit the covenant of Grace they are under by Christ NOW then from al these we shal lay downe several propositions wherein you may see what is the ease and rest that beleevers have in Christ in being delivered thus from the law Take the ease that comes by Christ from hence in these several particulars O! thou beleever that art under the load of the law and come to Christ First Know That thou dost not stand and fal for thy eternal estate by the law that is the first Ease and Rest the law indeed may threaten thee and dreadful things may be revealed by it against thee but be of good comfort in this thy eternal estate shal not be cast by it it is ful of severity but thou art so far free that whereas before thou didst depend and rely upon that for thy eternal condition now thou art out of the power out of the reach of it so far that it hath not to do with thee to cast thy soul for thy eternal estate we would not be at the dispose of any man that we look upon as ful of severity and rigor in matters of great consequence but we do desire rather to be in such cases at the dispose of men who are ful of pitty and compassion know O! thou beleever who art in Christ that thou art not at the dispose of the Law that is ful of severity for thy everlasting condition but thou art at the dispose of the Gospel of the covenant of grace that is fild as ful with mercy and compassion as an infinite wisdom could devise it hath that fulness of compassion more then possibly al the wisdom of the angels in heaven and men upon earth could ever have devised or thought on beyond their imagination Now for one to be at the dispose of a man in matters of the greatest concernment that hath as much mercy in him as ever man had in this world yea as much mercy in him as were in al the men in the world If al the mercy that were in al the men in the world were put into one the heart of one man and you were to be at his dispose in a matter of the greatest concernment you would think your selves wel whereas before you lay at the mercy of a man that is very rigorous and ful of severity now you come to ly at the mercy of a man that hath al the bowels and tender compassions of al the men in the world would you not think this a good change this is the change and the rest that thou hast when thou comest to Christ wheras thy soul thy eternal estate lay at the dispose of the Law that is ful of rigor and severity now thy eternal estate doth depend upon a Covenant that is as ful of grace and mercy as thy soul could desire thy soul cannot desire a covenant to be fuller of grace and mercy then that covenant that thy everlasting estate depends upon and must be cast by and is not here rest now for a beleever if he doth understand this aright that is the first thing wherein the rest of a beleever consists by Christ as being freed from the Law 2
may have rest in him for in Christ there is an undertaking by a surety through the grace of the gospel in him thou hast revealed to thee that there is an undertaking by surety this is a deliverance from the Law whereas the Law requires perfect obedience at our hands in our owne persons their Law requires of the soul that it shal pay the debt in its own person the soul that sins shal die Now the grace of the Gospel comes and tels thee of a surety and such a surety as God himself professes he is wel pleased to accept of and is as contented with him as he is to have the debt paid by the creature by the debtor himself and this is a great ease Would it not be a great ease to any of you that when a creditor shal come upon you for a debt layhold upon you or put you in prison and afterwards the debt should be paid by another and layd upon him and the creditor shal accept of him and the creditor shal say wel wil this man be your surety and pay the debt if so then saith the creditor I am satisfied I am contented what ease is this unto the debtor Thus it is with the soul that comes to Christ when he hath been laden under the Law and the Law comes to the soul for the payment of the debt now coming to Christ imediately Christ is entertained as the surety by God the father and so there is the transaction of the debt upon him th◠ease from the Law in this relation Ninthly 〈◊〉 al this there is this ease from the Law that the sinn◠〈◊〉 Christ is delivered from al this rigor bondage and other things that I spoke of in the Law and yet so delivered from the Law by satisfaction to the Law and this is further ease to the soul I am delivered from the Law But how by satisfaction to the Law there is satisfaction to the Law that is such satitfaction as the Law-giver himself doth accept of which is only in Christ not al that I can do can possibly do it if I could conceive that God were so merciful as to accept of any thing I can do yet it could not be satisfaction to the Law but now our deliverance from the Law is in a way that is satisfaction unto the Law and here now is ease that the soul is freed so as the Law is satisfied too Tenthly Wheras the law required constant obedience and if there were obedience to the end to the last act and the last act were sin al the other would be forgotten so as the soul would yet perish notwithstanding and the Law could not assure any man of continuance to the end the law could never do it could not assure any so long as they were under the power of it though they had ability to obey and they went on according to their ability went on divers yeares yet they could never have assurance but that they might fal at last and so perish Wel but now coming to Christ there is not only satisfaction for what is past but an assurance of holding out unto the end an assurance that this covenant that thou art now come under in Christ that there shal never be any forfiture of it and that is a mighty ease and rest the ground and foundation of divers of these things were opened before when I shewed how in Christ we were freed from the guilt of our sins but now these are things that do flow from thence and the presenting of these further shewing the consequences of what then was said may be further rest unto the soul For though I did al the other things as the principle of them yet every poor soul is not able to draw forth every of these particulars now that is the help of those that are weake to see the several steps of Gods grace in Christ not only to see it in the lump but see how it streames in the particulars of it to have these presented before their souls it is a mighty help to their faith and comfort and this last that I have spoke of it is not less then the rest but indeed it is the compleating of al the former that the soul that comes to Christ hath this rest in Christ that it is brought into a covenant and with assurance that there shal never be any forfiture of that covenant for it is a part of the covenant that God should give Grace unto the soul so as is shal never come to forfeit to loose the blessing of the covenant they may for the present loose some comfort of the Covenant but to be put from the blessing of the Covenant it shal never be It is a part of the purchase of the blood of Christ that al that come to him shal never be cast off from him again it cost the blood of Christ and this is a priviledg that beleevers have more then ever Adam had Adam was under a covenant of workes and he was able to keep the Covenant I but Adam never had this promise from God that he should never forfeit it that he should never so break the Covenant as to be undone Adam never had that promise But now all beleevers that are come to Christ they have this ingagement upon a sure ground for it is upon a dear purchase Christ hath laid down his blood for thee for this thing as well as any other thing that thy Soul may come into an everlasting Covenant never to be forfeited And now if all these Particulars be put together and these things be made cleer to the Soul by the Eye of Faith if there be an Eye of Faith to behold the reality of all these things that I have persented to you I appeal to you is there not Rest to those that come to Christ Is it not worth a great deal of pains to come to Christ Is there not that that will recompence all at last whatever trouble there is at first the work of humiliation and the like yet when you come to Christ there is that that wil recompence al your former trouble As I said before in the concluding of the other Particular so may I say of this as it is in Psalm 116. And now my Soul returne unto thy Rest So may all beleevers say upon good ground if these things be true that we have now heard Then my Soul returne unto thy Rest for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee indeed Oh therefore be in Love with the Gospel study it much look unto the depth of it and prize Jesus Christ that hath purchased such a Rest unto your Soul And you who are about coming to Christ be Restless in your Spirits til you come to have this Rest and it were a lamentable thing that any thing in the world should meet with you in the way and quiet your Hearts that any thing should quiet your Souls but Christ And you that are beleevers improve this
of the name of God there was a time that my soul was under these as wel as any but now the Lord hath delivered me and brought me under another Covenant brought me to his son to Christ and he hath undertaken to satisfie the Law for my soul and so the beleever stands upon the shoar and prayses God and this makes him love Christ so much the more prize Christ so much the more and bless the name of God that ever he heard the voice of the Gospel sounding in his eares and therefore it is not tedious and grievous to him to heare the dreadful threatnings of the Law he knowes how to make a holy use of them his heart is drawn neerer to God by it as wel as by the promises of the Gospel It is an ill signe when men and women cannot indure to heare the threatnings of the Law a dangerous signe that they are under those threatnings if they were not under them it would not be troublesome to them to heare them but they that are delivered from them they know how to make use of them Many men and women wil say when they hear of the terrors of the Law what doth this but harden us the hearing of the terrors of the Law doth more harden us but if thou wert acquainted with the Gospel thou wouldest be softened by hearing of the terrors of the Law because thou wouldest prize Christ more And therefore beleevers must not look upon them as things that no way concerne them though they be not under them to be cast by them yet they do concerne them nearly and therefore God would have those things revealed even to beleevers because of many gracious uses that beleevers are to make of those things The 2. Lesson Secondly from what hath been delivered both from the burden of the law and the rest in being delivered from it this Lesson may be learned Here we may see how beleevers are in the course of their lives to mix humility with confidence they may learne how to be humble and yet how to be confident how to rejoyce and yet how to tremble there is no such way to learne the mixture of humility with faith and confidence and the mixture of joy and trembling as this is know the Law and the bondage under it and then the rest that is to be had in Christ this wil teach thee to be sensible of thy own wretchedness and what a condition thou art in naturally and yet how to be confident in the grace of God in Christ This wil teach thee how to feare in regard of what thou art in thy self and yet to rejoyce in regard of what thou art in Jesus Christ in the rest thy soul hath Got in Jesus Christ Many people do not know how to mingle these two together if so be they be humbled for their sins then they are dejected in their spirits they cannot tel how to exercise humiliation for their sins and faith and confidence in Gods grace together they think the humiliation for sin wil hinder Gods grace and therfore they cannot indure to hear of such things as tend to beat them down to humble them for their sins but they say they must beleeve altogether in Gods grace aad the other wil bring them to despair Certainly thou art not acquainted with the mystery of Godliness if thou doest not understand how these two may stand together to be deeply humbled for thy sins and yet at the same instant of time the soul to be raised with the Mercy of God in Christ both together It is true vices are opposite one to another but graces are never opposite one to another those that understand the Mistery of Godlyness they know how to mingle these two together at one and the same time You know that the scripture saith that Godliness is a mistery Great is the mistery of Godlyness and indeed Godliness consists in the skil that a Christian comes to have to know at the same time how to be humbled and yet to be confident yet to be beleeving and one the other side to rejoyce and yeat to feare many cannot rejoyce but they grow loose and wanton with their joy and others cannot feare but their hears grow lumpish and dead if they do feare now the heart that understands what it is to be under the Law naturally and what rest Christ hath brought unto us in delivering us from the Law can tel how to rejoice in trembling and to beleeve in humiliation and there is no such way to make such a mixture of both as to understand what it is to be naturally under the Law and what the rest is that we have in Christ I confess these things wil not perhaps come so ful upon the hearts of those that do not in some measure remember what we have said hertofore both from the burden of the Law and the rest that we have in Christ those wil not be able to make so much use of this that I am speaking of I could wish these things would have come altogether but we cannot do al things at once The Third Lesson Thirdly A further thing that is to be learned from the deliverance we have in Christ from the Law it is this here appeares plainly that the way of Life and salvation is above nature it is supernatural for that that I have opened in the rest we have in Christ from the law teacheth you that beleevers are not to stand or fal for their eternal estates by any worke of the Law if they performe any worke of the Law this doth not bring them to eternal life if they breake the Law this doth not cast them down unto death therefore the way of life and salvation is supernatural for nature can teach a man no further then this that he must serve God if he do thâ— God wil bless him and love him and if he sin against God God wil afflict him and chastise him nature can tel of no way how a man should be saved but only by serving of God and by doing the workes of the Law nature teacheth a man nothing else but this together with the other that if he doth that that God forbids he must expect the wrath of God and to ly under Gods wrath and beyond this nature cannot go Now then for to heare of such a thing as this is that my soul shal not depend upon what I neglect nor my eternal life shal not depend upon what I do that is a high mystery that is infinitely above nature I do not say what the neglect of Gods wil doth deserve of eternal perishing yea even in beleevers but now they are under the Covenant in Christ they have the rest in Christ that their souls shal not be cast one way or other by what they do or what they leav undon though if they neglect his wil the Lord may make them to know it here while they live in this world And if upon this any
look upon their faith as legal As thus because their faith doth not come up so fully to the perfection that they do desire yea to that perfection that the Law requires in any thing that we tender up to God For though the Law doth not mention any thing of our beleeving in Christ yet thus much the Law requires that what we do should be tendered up to God and what we tender up to God With perfection Now beleevers looking upon what they tender up to God as imperfect this makes them to make their faith Legal The Sixth Lesson Sixthly another Lesson that beleevers are to learn from the Rest that they have in Christ from the burden of the Law is this that if they find any way or meanes to be delivered from the terrors that come by the Law certainly then they need not be troubled with al the terror that possibly can come from any creature from any men If thy faith can deliver thee from the terror of the Law and give rest to thy soul notwithstanding al the terrible things in the Law threatned against thy sin then thy faith may deliver thee much more from the terror of men for take al the rage and power of al the men in the world and devils in hel they are not so terrible as the threates of the Law Now if God hath given thee such a grace into thy heart as thou by that comest to know a way to deliver thee from the terror of the threatning of the Law and to give Rest unto thy soul from that then thou needst not be afraid of al terrors from wicked men do but set that grace of thine a work set it in exercise upon such promises as have given thee Rest from the Law and this wil free thee from the terrors of wicked men in the world Truly if beleevers did understand the reality of this point there is nothing in the world could be terrible to them but they would have â—est in their souls in the midst of al the terrors in the world for they might reason thus through the grace of faith that God hath given to mee my soul hath rest when I heare the terrors of the Law dreadfully in my eares yet I have that within me that gives me rest from them and I am sure that al the terrors of al the men in the world and devils in hel cannot be more terrible than the threates of the Law therefore as thou hast made use of thy faith to believe in Christ to get Rest from those terrors in the like manner put forth thy faith when thou hearest the terrors of wicked men to deliver thy soul from them let there be never so much rumors in the world yet thou mayest say my soul returne unto thy Rest The seventh Lesson Seventhly Another Lesson that beleevers are to learn from their deliverance from the law which is of marvelous use to them in their life and conversation is this That certainly it is the most unbecoming thing in the world to see a beleever to be rigorous towards his brethren Christ hath delivered thee from rigor then wilt thou be rigorous Christ hath given thee Rest wilt not thou do what thou canst to give thy brother rest too If Christ hath delivered thee from great troubles burdens and bondage that thou wert under why shouldest thou not endeavor with al thy might to deliver thy brother from burdens troubles any thing that might grieve thy brother Oh! what an unworthy thing is it that a Christian that hath received so much rest from Christ yet should be a troublesome man or woman to his brother or sister Christ doth therefore give Rest to thee that thou mayest be of a quiet disposition towards others that thou mayest be pitiful towards others To see one that professes to have deliverance from the Law and to have Rest in Christ to be rigorous to those under him rigorous to his servants rigorous to his Children it is miserable remember what rigor Christ hath delivered thee from and remember to be quiet spirited to thy brother Hence it follows in the next words to my text Learn of mee for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shal find rest unto your soules I wil give rest to your soules that so you may be of a meeke and quiet disposition towards your brethren but of that when we come to those words that follow we shal then speake of the weakness and quietness of spirit that should be in Christians Now these things are necessarily the consequences that do follow upon the rest that we have in Christ from the Law many other things might be raised but because they are but consequences of what hath been delivered I resolved not to be large upon them CHAP. 33. Of the rest from Legal Performances and the several waies how this rest comes from Christ viz. duties are delightful to the soul because Christ renders God unto the soul in a gracious way 2. They are not performed as satisfactory but as testimonies of love and thankfulness 3 Christ himself offers up the duties to God 4. They are performed from the Law in the heart 5. They have the Promises joyned with them NOw to make some entrance into the next thing which hath great affinity to the other aad that is the rest that is in Christ from the trouble of spirit that there is in many in regard of Legal performances that you know I opened at large the great burden that there is in the spirits of many people who have convinced Consciences and there Consciences pul and hale them to duty and they dare not but performe duty but when they do their duty their very duties are a burden to them for they do them in a legal way There are many I know that are acquainted with this it is impossible to speak of such a subject but that there are divers that know what I meane though others know not to be under so much power of Conscience as not to dare to omit a duty though the duty be burdensom to them There be many that are not under so much command of Conscience but though conscience require them to do such a duty they dare omit the duty and they are not troubled at it but but there are others who have not felt the Grace of the Gospel to set their souls at liberty they are under so much command of conscience that they dare not but do what Conscience requires and yet the Lord knows the duties that they have performed have been girevous burdens them they have gone under the command of their Consciences as under a grievous burden Now to these Christ speaks come ro me and I wil give you rest in the beleeving in Christ in the exercising of faith in Christ there is deliverance from this burden and many poor souls that for many yeares have gone on under this burden whom the Lord hath opened to them the grace of Christ their hearts
water So it is with a heart before it comes to Christ when it hath only conviction of conscience though it have some illumination that is as the water that beats the heart up and down and it cannot be at quiet but is ready to be burst in peeces I but it sticks in the mud stil and therefore duties are very hard and Conscience doth but only tire the heart and beate it and trouble it I but now when it is come to Christ it ls like the Ship a float upon the water and now upon any touch of Christ it is ready to be put upon this duty and the other duty and the motion of the soul now is without any danger or trouble it moves up and down with ease when the heart is got off from it self and the world and the creature it moves in the waies of God with aboundance of ease set such a one upon the hardest duties you wil and he goes on with a great deal of ease and quiet and Rest of spirit he doth not think the Commandements of God hard doth not look upon the commandements of God now as hard commandements whereas one that is legal in performing of duty though he do the duty he looks upon the comand of God as a hard commandement You have an excellent scripture for that in the first of John 5. and the 3. Speaking of beleevers that when once they come unto Christ the commandements of God are not greivous unto them This is the Love of God that we keep his commandements and his commandements are not grievous But one that is in Christ a beleever upon any commandement though it be never so greivous and hard to flesh and blood before they come to Christ as in the commandement of Restitution I wil mention that I might mention others as to pray in your families to be constant in prayer morning and evening and to keep your heart constant in praier to God ' it s perhaps grievous to those that perform duties in a legal way but when once the heart comes to God then the commandement of God is not grievous I do not say but corruption may now and then prevail and then they are burdensome but when the heart hath got grace the commandements of God are not burdensome at al but they are easie to the soul for so Christ saith in a few words after my text My yoake is easie and my burden is Light Many people complain of the way of God Oh! the way of God is so hard and duty so strict to live so exactly who is able to do this I confess in the way you are in it is tedious and hard but if you had the spirit of Christ and were come to Christ those duties that you account now hard would be easie you would never have more comfort more ease and quiet then when you are performing of duty You wil think this a riddle to say that the soul should never have more ease rest quiet and comfort then when a man walks more strictly and exactly and keeps to the rule Now saith a carnal heart this is a miserable bondage that ministers cal for strictness what a bondage and weariness is this as they in Malachy say now you think this so Why because you are but legal al this while and if you did performe duties stil in that way they would be a burden to you but you mistake in this you think there is no way to keep Gods Commandements but in a Legal way I but know this there is an evangelical way to keep Gods Commandements Gods Law and that makes every duty to be easie and light unâ—o the Soul· You think there is no such quiet and content of heart as to be at liberty and to satisfie the flesh and have your minds fully pleased but were you acquainted with the mistery of Godliness you would find that those things that now are so easie and give you so much quiet and comfort would be the most troublesome things in the world the strictness of Gods wayes that you think so burdensome you would find to be the most easie and comfortable things in the world And therefore let not the Devil steal you away from the strictness of Gods wayes by this delusion certainly he doth but delude you O! that ye had but the spirit of the Lord Jesus in you and that you were come to Christ you would find then ease in the most strict and difficult duties in the world you would find your souls to be at ease in the performance of them Fifthly Duties are not burdensome unto those that are come to Christ because that in Christ al duties have joyned together with them the promises when duties are performed in an evangelical way when the soul is come to Christ then it looks upon evey duty that God requires as having some promise annexed unto the duty to inable the soul to do what God would have it do and by this it hath now Rest in performance of it Doth God require such and such things of me then the soul doth not only look upon the commandement but how a promise goes along with the commandement As how I might â—ance in divers scriptures how promises go along with commandements I wil give you but the comparing of one scripture for the present Compare the 10. of Deuter. with the 30. of Deuter. In Duter 10.12 there you shal find it thus And now O Israel what doth the Lord thy God require of thee but to feare the Lord thy God to walk in al his waies and to Love him and to serve the Lord thy God with al thy heart and with all thy soul to keep the commandements of the Lord thy God and his statutes which I command thee this day for thy good Then at the 16. verse Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no more stifnecked Here you see what God requires they are great things that God requires that we should feare the Lord and walk in his wayes and love him and serve him with al our heart and keep his commandements and statutes and circumcise our hearts and the like these are hard duties being performed in a legal way But now when the soul is in Christ see what a promise the soul finds together with these commandements In the 30. of Deu. and the 6. The Lord thy God wil circumcise thy heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with al thy heart and with al thy soul that thou mayest live Here God requires them to circumcise their hearts that they might love him and feare him and keep his commandements but that is the Law were there no more it would be a very heavy burden for a poor soul to have this ly upon it that I must love the Lord with al my heart and with al my might the Lord knows what distractions I have in my soul and in my heart God requires me to cercumcise my
poor troubled souls whose consciences pul them on to duty but why do they performe them because conscience accuseth them for their sins and they know what need they have of Gods mercy they stand guilty before God and therefore they perform duties that they might get a pardon and they know that they were made for eternity and therefore they make conscience of duties that they might get eternal life by them as I when I opened shewed the burden that there was in legal performances But now when the soul comes to Christ it hath rest in this for the very first thing that is done in Christ is that al thy sins are discharged the pardon is granted and thou art put into an estate safe for thy eternal life and al the hazard of eternal life is now over Now then that that is required of thee is only as the fruit of the pardon of thy sin and as a fruit of thy safe condition that thou art put into for thine eternal life and here is a great deal of difference between performing of duties that I might have pardon that I might get eternal life by it and performing of duties as a fruit of my pardon and as a fruit of the assurance of my wel being to al eternity As for instance a man that is in danger of his life stands before the judg and there is no way for pardon for him but he hath his book given to him as you know the way is to have the benefit of the Clergy as we use to cal it now when he knows if he reads he shal have his life but life lies upon it and the judg is strict and sets one by him that the ordinary shal not prompt him and he wil have him read out and his life lyes upon it I suppose you have heard of some that were able schollers and able to reade wel enough at other times yet at such a time were not able to read one word for a world But suppose this man now have his pardon and you then put him to read then he can read with delight he hath freedom enough now to read his eyes that were bound before are loosned Now suppose he were to read a Psalm of mercy before he had his pardon and when he had his pardon there is a Psalm of thankfulness for his life given him to read he could read it then with delight just thus it is with those that performe duties in a legal way they stand before God as their judg and look upon what they performe as that which their souls depends upon that if I do not do such and such things that is commanded me my soul lyes upon it alas this straitens the heart and it is put into a condition of feare But now when the soul is come to Christ and the Lord hath granted pardon to it and hath quieted it by the blood of his son now sayes God read performe duties and let al the duties you performe be in way of blessing my name and praising of me for giving of you your lives And indeed this is the principal ground of al that God requires of such as are come to Christ meerly that thou shouldest go out before the Lord in way of thankfulness for pardoning thy sins and accepting of thee in his Son And so likewise if so be a man were amongst his enemies and should be set to do some work and business and is set so to it that if he do not do it he is a dead man they wil have his life if he doe not do it alas he goes about it with a great deal of dread and fear But now if this man should come home to his fathers house and his father sets him about a work and he doth it so that though he would not do the work yet he should not loose his life he should go about it with a great deal more freedom of spirit Thus it is with beleevers when they come to Christ they come to their fathers house and their father sets them about workes but so as he wil not lay their lives upon it their soul doth not ly upon their duties thy eternal estate doth not lie upon duties as heretofore you have heard in being freed from the Law so now make use of it in deliverance from legal performances That the Lord though he wil be strict to mark what is done in every duty he wil not be strict to take advantage of thee It is true it is said that the Lord spared not his owne son but he wil spare thee In Malachy 3.17 The Lord wil spare them as a man spareth his own son hat serveth him And so in the Romans it is said God did not spare his own son and yet in Malachy that he wil spare thee as a man spareth his only son that serveth him What should be the meaning of this That God should not spare his only begotten son the Lord Jesus Christ he wil not spare him but thee This is the reason he did not spare him that he might Spare thee here is the reason why God wil so spare thee in the performance of thy duties because he would not spare his son he was so exact to him that he might not be so exact to thee Indeed when Christ came to performe duties the life of al the world lay upon that that if Christ had failed in one thing the life of al the world lay upon it yet so they lay upon him that they were not grievous to him because he was most able to perform it But thou must make use of Christs performances in way of obedience so as to give thee rest ease in performance of thy duties think thus I come now to performe duties and thankes be to God my life my eternal estate lyes not upon it but Christ what he performed my soul and al the world lay uyon what he did and the weight that Christ was willing to take upon him in his obedience is that which makes any obedience so easie and comfortable to me I remember we read in the Law that in peace offerings a female was accepted in other cases ordinarily God required the male but in peace offerings the female now peace offerings was for thanksgiving and indeed the whole life of a Christian is nothing else but a peace-offering his whol conversation al the duties that God requires of any christian it is nothing else but a peace offering to offer an offering of thanks-giving for the mercy he hath received from Christ in this peace offering the Lord accepts of a female though it be but weake And this is the sixth thing wherein the rest of the soul in the performance of holy duties when it is once come to Christ doth consist Seventhly As the soul doth not performe duties that it might get life thereby it is not in that way now so the performance of duties when the soul is come to Christ is a part of
eternal life it self and therefore there is rest in it it is so far from getting eternal life by it as it is rather eternal life it self then so much as any way to eternal life for this may be said though I performe duty it is true God hath taught me so much that now under the Gospel we must not think to get eternal life by our duty by our works this is popery yet it is the way to eternal life the way that tends to it it is via ad Regnum the way to the kingdom though not the cause of Raigning Nay I wil shew you a further thing then so the wayes of obedience and holiness in a Christians course they are rather eternal life it self then the way to it they have more excellency in them then being the way to life It is true it were a great deal of ease and rest to ones spirit to consider of holy duties but as the way to heaven if a man were going a journy and knew the ende of his journy should be very glorious to him if it were to receive a crown a kingdom though it were a boysterous day and stormy weather and the way were very foul he would not be troubled at it but he would account it very comfortable to know that he is in the right way for he thinks this wil lead me to my journeys end and when I come there that wil make amends for al. And the truth is there were ease and rest enough in the waies of God if God did reveale no more unto a soul then this these are the wayes that lead thee to life and salvation that lead thee to a kingdom to glory especially considering that before we were out of the way we were wandering in the wayes of death and destruction and God by his Almighty hand hath brought us into the right way When a man is going a Journy of great consequence and he is gone out of the way and God by his providence hath brought him into his right way O! what ease is in his spirit Before when he was out of the way what distraction and disquietness of heart but now when he comes into the way Oh! what ease and quiet is in his spirit so I say this were ease and rest enough of spirit to know that whereas before the soul was wandering in the path of death now it is in the path of life But I tel you further then so that when thou art performing of holy duties and exercising of the grace of God in the performance of those duties thou art not only in the way of eternal life but thou art in eternal life it self not only in the way to the kingdom but in the kingdom not only in the way to heaven but in heaven it is eternal life This is eternal life to know thee the true God and thy son whom thou hast sent into the world And that place in the Epistle of St. John he speakes of a murderer one that did hate his brother in the first of John 3.15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him Then it appeares that one that loves his brother and is Godly and gracious hath eternal life abiding in him for that must needs follow if this be the evil condition of a wicked man that hates his brother that he hath not eternal life abiding in him then by the rule of contraries it must needs be a truth that he that hath holiness and loves his brother he hath eternal life abiding in him and therefore such a one he hath eternal life already to come downe to him he is in heaven already So the scripture makes grace but the beginning of glory it is no other but the very beginning of heaven in the soul And therefore in that golden chain in Rom. 8.30 Whom God hath predestinated them he also hath called whom he hath called them he hath justified whom he hath justified them he hath also glorified Marke but where is the link of sanctification It is not whom he hath predestinated he hath called and whom he hath called he hath sanctified and whom he hath sanctified he hath glorified One would have thought the chain should have gon along in that linke but there is no mention of sanctification Why because sanctification is nothing else but glorification begun and glorification is nothing else but the perfecting of sanctification Now I beseech you observe this as a most special thing that belongs to a Christian the best duties that we performe are nothing else but the life of heaven to us nay the truth is it is the life of God And therefore it is said of ungodly men before they come to Christ they are strangers to the life of God therefore when thou art come to Christ thou hast the life of God in thee and the life of heaven in thee and the beginning of Glory Glory and eternal life thou doest live whilst thou art in performance of holy duties What is the happiness of heaven but for the Saints and Angels to be exercised in magnifying the riches of God and of Christ now thou beginnest it here and therefore if thou knowest what this is thou art not I say to look upon any duty that thou performest meerly as a duty but thou art to look upon it as a priviledg yea as part of thy wages That is a certain truth that Gods work it is wages and the improving of that principle would help us very much in our Christian course if thou didst live and account every duty that thou performest to God to be wages Oh! with what sweetness wouldest thou go on in the performance of those duties that God requires of thee thou art receiving thy wages when thou art performing of duties In Rom. 6. and the last The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ At the 22. verse it is thus But now being freed from sin and become servants unto God you have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. You have your fruit unto holiness it is the fruite unto holiness which is the gift of God and holiness it is nothing else but the gift of God and the beginning of eternal life the fulness of eternal life that indeed is the end of it but the fruit that you have for the present it is holiness and that holyness that is the gift of God it is the beginning of eternal life here in this world Then indeed is a christian wel improved in Evangelical obedience when he doth account duties to be mercies and when mercies are turned into duties as when we turne Gods mercies into duties that is an argument we receive Gods mercies from a Covenant of grace and there wil be linkes of Gods mercies towards
us so when we account our duties to be mercies that is an argument there is evangelical obedience in the heart and there wil be a constancy in the heart in performing of them Those that performe duties in an Evangelical way they look upon them as a golden chain about their necks for ornament and not as a chain about their necks as bonds and Fetters to tie them to them Here is the difference between one that performes duties in a legal way and one that performes duties in an Evangelical way One that performes duties in a Legal way he lookes upon duties as bonds about his neck he is bound to them as with a chain but the other that performes duties in an Evangelical way his duties are as ornaments as chains of Gold about his neck And the ground of this similitude I have in Prov. 3.22 My son keep sound wisdom and discretion so shal they be life unto thy soul and grace unto thy neck The wayes of wisdome that is the wayes of Godlyness they are life to the Godly and they are a grace to the neck that is they carry Gods commandments about with them not as a prisoner carries his chaines but as one that carries a chain about his neck and he glories in it That place is very observable likewise for this that you have in Deuter. 33. comparing ver 2. with the words that follow after Verse the second The Law of God is called a fiery Law From his right hand went a fiery Law for them But marke verse 4. Moses commanded us a Law even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. From hence this note plainly results that let there be never so much seeming severity in any Law of God in any commandement that requires duty yet even this commandement of God is accounted an inheritance unto the soules of the Saints of God to be as the joy of their hearts they account their riches to be in Gods commandements not only to be in heaven but the very commandement they account their riches and their happiness Many men and women take upon them the commandements of God and the duties of obedience as necessary burdens they must do them I but the Saints those that come to Christ they take the commandement of God upon them as that wherein their riches their glory the joy of their heart doth consist and therefore how often do you heare of David saying that the commandements of God were sweeter to him then hony and the hony combe That they were more delightful to him then gold and riches And so in the Proverbs Better then Rubies and precious stones He doth not say the glory of heaven is better then al these but the way of Wisdom and the commandements of God are better then al these So that here is the life of a Christian he performes duties not onely as a way to heaven but as an injoying of heaven while he is serving of God and this is the seventh particular wherein the rest of the soul in Christ doth appear in the performance of holy duties Eighthly When a Christian is brought to Christ Christ gives him rest in the performance of holy duties because that Christ doth elevate and raise his spirit to be some way proportionable to whatsoever God requires of him ther 's an elevation of spirit a strengthening of the spirit in Christ to come to some kind of proportionableness to what the Law of God requires of them It is true set a poor weake man a sick man about any hard worke and Oh! how tedious is it unto him for a sick man to go and carry such a burden or to do such a hard work it is very irksome unto him but now when this man comes to be healthy and strong to have his veines ful of blood and his arteries ful of spirits now he goes along in his work and accounts it no burden at al because he hath got strength in him So the commandements of God they are hard to those that performe them in a natural way from a natural conscience notwithstanding al the strength that can come in by a natural conscience the commandements of God are very hard unto them but when once the spirit of Christ comes there is strength As it is said where the spirit of Christ is there is Liberty so where the spirit of Christ is there is strengâ—h As the holy Ghost speakes in Isa 11.2 The spirit of the Lord shal Rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledg and of the fear of the Lord. The spirit of counsel and Might shal Rest upon Christ and so in the measure of it the spirit doth rest upon every member of Christ the spirit of Life of Might and of counsel And therfore the Apostle St. Paul saith in the 2. of Tim. the 1. and the 7. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power of Love and of a sound minde This spirit of power is in those that are come to Christ there is a power of godlyness in them They are said in Coll. 1.11 To be strengthened with al might according to his glorious power The Apostle at least prayes for that to intimate thereby to us that there is that to be had in Christ there is a strengthening with al might according to his glorious power unto al patience and long-suffering with joyfulness giving thanks to the father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light Though they be weake yet they have a union with one that is strong wherein they may come to be strengthened with al might not only according to Gods power but according to his glorious power unto al patience and long-suffering with joyfulness The duties of patience long-suffering are as hard duties as any hut in Christ there 's the glorious power of Christ let out to strengthen them to the duties of patience and al long suffering with joyfulness CHAP. XXXV Two other wayes whereby the former point is cleered with some consequences from the same and the use of the whol The First way is that whilst the soul is performing duty the strength of it is continually renewed Secondly The soul hath the love of God shed abroad into the heart The first Consequence is happiness of a Christian here Secondly Hence cometh the perseverance of beleevers The use of al is to exercise much faith in Christ Ninthly The Rest that the soul hath in Christ that is to goe on in duties with freedom of spirit without making them burdensome to it is this when the soul comes to Christ it hath not only strength to do the duty but whilst it is performing of duty it hath this strength renewed and it receives in sweetness and good and strength from Christ while it is in action while it is in the performance of duty and his duty is very easy sweet and comfortable
body they make some use of Christ some profession of Christ can speake of Christ what they heare spoken of Christ is somewhat serviceable and useful to them I but they have not life from Christ and hence they have not holiness from Christ they have not the true holiness that comes from the Law of the spirit of life that is in Christ Sixthly Another thing that is to be considered of in Christ how the rest of sanctification comes to the soul through him is this In Christ there are the greatest arguments for holiness that possibly can be imagined and Christ comes to be a rest of sanctification that way when the soul comes unto Christ and knowes Christ in the right way the soul sees in Christ enough against sin and for holiness if it never saw any thing else there is enough in Christ to help against sin and for the furtherance of of holiness that that is discovered in Christ hath a mighty power to help the soul against sin and to further it in the way of holiness as now to instance the mighty arguments that there are in Christ against sin and for holiness as CHAP. XXXIX Containing two strong Arguments in Christ for holiness First In him the soul sees the greatest breach between it and God by reason of Sin Secondly In him it sees the greatest Hatred of Sin in God FIrst in Christ there the foul sees the greatest breach that can be imagined that sin made between God and the creature it is true when we preach the Law to you and tel you of the curse of the Law that is due to sin this acquaints you with somewhat of the breach that sin made between God and you and this may terrifie you but the truth is the breach between God and a soul by sin is never throughly seen til you come to Christ the soul never throughly sees sin til then when it comes to Christ and sees Christ indeed sees Christ so as one that hath union with him then it understands the evil of sin after another manner then ever it did before And that is the reason that faith doth more purge the heart from sin then al the terrors of the Law possibly can do yea if God should let a crevis into hel and let you see into al the torment that is there they could not discover so much the evil of sin to you as when you come to have a real sight of Jesus Christ how sin made such a breach between God and us as can be made up no other way but the son of God must come and take upon him mans sin this is the greatest discovery of the evil of sin that possibly can be Object You wil say Others know this as wel as beleevers It is true they know it after a sort but none can know this throughly but those that through faith have the real sight of Christ and so have the real sight of the evil of sin in Christ Secondly another strong argument of the evil of sin in Christ is this the infinite hatred of sin in God that God should so infinitly hate sin that he would not spare his owne son this shewes the evil of sin We heare much of hell and of the terror of the Law now when I come to consider the fruit of Gods hatred of Sin in his son this shewes me a great deale more the evil of sin And therefore though the terror of the law may restrain men from sin I but when the soul comes to know the infinite wrath of God against sin that he would give his son to satisfie for sin this shewes the evil of sin and this shewes the infinite holiness of God that he would send his only son to purchase holiness And in this we see the infinite love of Christ to die for sin the infinite price of the soul to purchase it and the infinite difficulty in the deliverance from sin and nothing can prevail upon the heart more then the viewing of Christ There is so many things that I cannot speak of them that when the soul comes to Christ makes the soul hate sin and makes it in love with holiness The knowledg of Christ in any common way hath as much power to restrain sin as any thing but now the knowledg of Christ in a spiritual way in a saving way it hath an infinite efficacy in it And the truth is the special way for a soul to help it self against its own corruptions it is much to dive into the knowledg of the Gospel look into the Gospel pry into the mystery of the Gospel be much conversant in the mistery of the Gospel and there consider what argument thou maiest draw against thy sins They are poor low arguments that common people draw against their sins they have a temptation to sin and they think Oh! let me take heed I do not do it for my master and mistris wil know of it or such a one wil know of it or if I do it I shal be brought to punishment these are poor low arguments But saith a beleever Oh let me not commit sin Why It is that that brought the son of God down from heaven to be made a curse for man It is that that made the greatest stir in the world that ever was it is that that Gods soul infinitly hates and it is that that made such a breach between the soul and God as only can be made up by the son of God These are the arguments that a beleever hath against sin and a beleever being conversant â—n these arguments and often exercising faith in Christ they being made real to the soul They must needs have a mighty power to overcome any corruption whatsoever As we read in the Gospel when the husband man that let out the vineyard sent for fruit and they took the servant and beate him and killed another at length saith he I wil send my son surely they wil reverence him So may I say there is such and such arguments against thy sin to overcome thy Corruption and to put thee on to the way of holiness perhaps those arguments thy corruptions break and they are but like Sampsons cords thy corruption snaps them asunder like flax I but saith God I wil send my son and reveale the glorious misteries of the Gospel in my son I wil shew to their souls what my son hath done and what the deep counsels for the salvation of their soules in my son are and these shal prevail upon you And here is the reason of al their fearfulness of sin and strictness in walking with God when the Gospel hath convinced them you wonder why they wil be so strict and fearful to offend do you wonder at it Oh my brethren they have arguments perhaps that you know not of God hath revealed much of his son to them the wonderful misteries of Godliness revealed in his son and they are the arguments they go upon They do
not go upon such mean and low arguments as you do meane and low arguments may keep men in an orderly course to live quietly with their Neighbors and keep them from thievery drunkenness swearing and the like arguments that the heathen had skil of may keep them from those things But the saints beleevers that are acquainted with the wayes of Christ they have higher arguments they behold him with the eye of faith and so they come to have power against their sin and to have ease in their souls Thus saith Christ come to me you have Corruptions prevailing over you and you perhaps strive with them with such and such arguments but come to me and I wil give you such things you shal see so much against sin and so much for holiness as that that I shal discover to you shal help you against your corruptions and further you in the way of holiness and so you shal have rest unto your souls CHAP. XL. Shewing how Sanctification comes from Christ in six Particulars more 1. It is he that reveals the Father to the Soul 2. Through Christ the Love of God is shed abroad into the heart 3. All the Promises are made to us through him 4. In him all the Ordinances are effectual 5. He sends the Spirit into the heart 6. Christ Rules in the heart SEventhly Christ comes to be our Sanctification we have the rest of sanctification in Christ thus It 's Christ that doth make known the Father unto the soul No man knows the Father saith Christ but the Son and him to whom the Son reveals him I suppose you know the Scripture And if you have seen me saith Christ you have seen the Father in John 14. It is Christ that makes known God unto the soul and there is a mighty power to work Holiness in the heart by the knowledg of God Saith the Apostle St. John in 1 John 2.4 He that saith I know him and keepeth not his Commandements is a lyar The knowledg of God cannot stand with the neglect of Gods Commandements There is a mighty power in the knowledg of God for the Sanctifying of the heart the very looking upon Gods Holiness hath a great deal of power to sanctifie the heart and the reason of al the wickedness and prophaness in the world it is because men know not the Lord know not what an infinite blessed glorious God they have to deal withal They that know thy Name will trust in thee saith the Psalmist So may we say Those that know thy Name O Lord will fear thee they will serve thee they will walk before thee in obedience and Holiness Now the knowledg of God it is in Christ there may be some kind of Natural knowledg of God out of Christ in beholding the Works of God we may know somwhat of him But as the Scripture saith in 1 Cor. 1.21 After that in the Wisdom of God that is in the Creature in the Glory of God that shines in the Creature the World by Wisdom knew not God The World by Wisdom that is the World by all their Natural Understanding by al Learning that Phylosophers had that saw much of the Glory of God shining in the Creature yet saith the Text by al their wisdom they knew not God but yet it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that beleeve And what preaching was this verse 23. We preach Christ crucified c. So that there is no saving knowledg but only in Christ when the Soul comes to Christ then the Lord Jesus Christ reveals the Father to him reveals the Counsels of God unto the Soul reveals the very heart of God unto the soul and hence it is that many poor people that are very ignorant before they come to know Christ know little or nothing of God at al but had strange thoughts of God yet as soon as ever the things of the Gospel come to be revealed to them they begin to have high thoughts of God high and honorable thoughts of God and those high and honorable thoughts of God do mightily prevail upon their hearts to purge out sin and sanctifie their hearts exceedingly Do but consider of those places where the preaching of the Gospel hath been but very little what poor thoughts they have of God they know not God and therfore they live in all manner of Ungodliness But now when the preaching of the Gospel comes to any place and God comes to be known there the Devil is cast out and the hearts of people being filled with the knowledg of God they come to be sanctified unto the Service of God That is another thing It is Christ that reveals the Father unto the Soul and so comes for to sanctifie the heart Eighthly It is through Christ that the love of God is shed abroad into the heart of a beleever and that hath a mighty power to sanctify the heart the shedding abroad of the love of God into the heart this only can be in Christ There may be though out of Christ common fruites of Gods bounty general patience goodness and the like but the special love of God that hath a sanctifying power that goes along with it it is that only that is in Christ and when the soul comes once to have union with Christ there flowes the sweet sence of the love of God unto the heart it is shed abroad according unto the scripture Phrase that the heart being filled with the sweetness of Gods love and comes to be sanctified thereby then al base love of the creature and the love of sin comes to be eaten out and the heart comes to be carried on in a blessed sweet and gracious manner after the Lord. Al the terror of the Law cannot sanctifie so as the shedding abroad of the love of Christ in the heart can Indeed by the terror of the Law sin may be restrained but by the terror of the Law the heart can never be sanctified This is a certain truth the terror of the Law may restrain from sin but it can never sanctifie the heart the terrors of the Law are useful to be preached in that way for to restrain Sin but when we preach them we do not think that we can thereby possibly sanctifie the heart corruption may be restrained for a while but that which must sanctifie the heart must be the love of God in Jesus Christ As I remember Fulgentius compares the love of God in Christ in the heart of a beleever to the fire that is within the furnace and the love of God in his common bounty to a few sparkes that fly out at a distance from the mouth of the furnace take al the love of God that is in the creature suppose the Lord should give unto you the possession of al the world and should make a thousand worlds and give thee possession of them al this were but as a spark from the furnace but the love of God in Christ is as the
that have true holiness and Sanctification Your civil man and moral man he hath restraining Grace that keeps in his Corruption and what he doth it is through strength of Reason he sees in Reason that to live in such a wicked course as others do to Lie Swear Drink be unclean Cheat and Cozen the light of Nature teacheth that this is a sin And so the Heathen the moral Philosophers that is those that by the light of Nature saw the evil of such notorious vices and saw what the Rules of Nature were for the guiding of their manners So I say your civil men they have improved somwhat of the light of Nature they see by the light of Nature that they must not live in such and such sins as others do and it is better to live justly yea and to be bountiful to the poor many reach so far I but all this goes no further then the common light of Nature then the prudence and Reason of a man as a rational creature may carry him to Quest You will say what is more Answ This is more there must be Sanctification of the Heart through the Mediation of Jesus Christ there must be a principle of Grace that must come into the Heart as a fruite of the Second Covenant that God hath made with sinners in Jesus Christ through the mistical union that the Soul hath with Jesus Christ this is higher Now when a Soul comes beyond civillity it is wrought upon by God after this manner I come now to see the breach that there is between God and my Soul what my estate is by Nature that I am a Child of wrath I am dead in sins and trespasses though I have not lived so wickedly as such and such have done yet I see my self a Child of wrath and an heir of Hell and death notwithstanding all that I have done And I see that only through the blessed Mediation of Jesus Christ this breach is made up and I can only have union with God through him and his Spirit of Sanctification that must come to my Soul through the Covenant of the Gospel I must have my Heart raised up to God in an other manner not only to live civilly but holily to have the Image of God renewed in me through the Spirit of Christ and so to live the life of Christ and feel continual supply to come to my Heart through Christ to feed upon the promises through the Covenant of Grace and thereby to have my Heart Quickned more and more and to perfect my holiness in the fear of God through the promises of the Gospel This is more then the civil and meer morral man can come unto Your civil man is known First In this that what he doth is meerly according to common prudence and light of Nature Secondly The cheif of his Religion it is in Negatives that he is not so bad as other men And Thirdly If he have any thing positive it is but in outward actions serving of God but as for being acquainted with the mystery of Godliness and power of holyness of the necessity of a Mediator of the need of continual supply of Grace from Jesus Christ this he seeth not And further This civil man he is not burdened with Corruption with the remainer of corruption but thinkes himself in a very good condition Indeed he saith he must be saved by Jesus Christ but I put this to any civil man in the world what need doest thou Find of Jesus Christ for thy sanctification art thou so burdened with those inward corruptions in thy spirit that the world can take no notice of And dost thou goe groaning under thy Corruption so as to see the need of the mediation of Jesus Christ a supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ to help thee against thy Corruption and sanctify thy heart this thou art not acquainted withal this is a point above thee and therefore in this point we come to see the difference between civility and true holiness We come to see by this that Godliness and holiness it is a mystery The scripture speakes of a mystery of Godliness and of the power of Godliness and Godliness is therefore powerful because it is a mystery If we must have our holiness from Christ as a mediator that Christ is first filled wsth holiness and our soules by faith must draw our holiness from him then certainly Godliness is a mistery the Godliness that must save soules is a mystery beyond that which ordinary men of the world understand Few understand what is the way of God in conveyance of grace unto the soules of those that he intends eternal life unto The way of God in conveyance of grace unto the soul is not this in giving you reason to understand that such and such things are naught and therefore for your own ease and quiet in the world you must live civilly but the way of God is to reveal his son to you and reveale a necessity of union with Christ to be made a member of him and to draw virtue from him as from a head and to see a fountain of life from him flowing into thy heart continually so as to repaire to Jesus Christ the second person in trinity made man for thy soul I say to repair to him as the fountain of al grace to be conveied from him unto the soul here is the mistery of holiness that is beyond al the civility and morality in the world Oh that you did but by this point understand somewhat of the mistery of Godliness and that it might cause but some suspicious thoughts in the hearts of those that have lived but civilly and morally that for many years together it may be have bin good neighbors pay every one their own and no body can accuse them for wrong but Oh that they would bethink themselves wel I have lived thus and thus long but hath my soul bin acquainted with the mystery of the Gospel to fetch virtue from Christ as a mediator And have I a stock of grace from him to trade by that what I trade by I have from him Have I found the burden of my inward corruption And have I got ease and rest by virtue of the promises of the Gospel And have I searched into the Covenant of Grace and found there promises to convey comfort unto my soul Hath my heart been exercised after this manner Certainly if thou hast not thou knowest not what the way of the Gospel is what an evangelical life is what is a true evangelical life When the soul is inabled to live upon Christ that thou feelest thy heart live upon Christ sucking and drawing virtue from Christ for the mortifying of thy corruptions and quickning thy heart in the way of holiness this is a true evangelical life and that is another consequence drawn from this That Godliness is a mystery and beyond civility and morality III. Another Consequence that may be drawn is this Hence then we may
that it shall not abide one moment longer than it hath wrought out the Corruption wrought out evil and brought good unto thee now this is a mighty Rest unto thy spirit If so be a patient is to deal with a Physitian that is learned and wise and experienced that I know he understands the state of my body to the ful to a hair in every thing and I know that what he gives he is very careful about and what he gives he doth it himself doth not trust the Apothecary but goes himself and sees how many drams is put into it and hath it weighed before his Face trusts not others but weighs it himself and so observes every circumstance that is suitable to his patient now would not this be quietness unto thee Perhaps the potion may be bitter but if thou knowest that it comes from the hand of such a Physitian that is thus careful and thus skilful and thus experienced this causeth Rest and quietness in thy Spirit So truly by the Eye of Faith thou mayst behold God though God useth creatures as instruments yet the Lord will not trust them but stands by and looks upon every dram that is put into the cup. If a man should give that which is Poysonous or ratsbane to a dog he cares not how he gives it but now if there should any venemous thing be put into Physick then the Physitian needs to look to every dram that it be proportionable to the state of the Body So I say when God distributes his afflictions to the wicked he cares not for any proportion he cares not for doing them good by it But now when he comes to beleevers in Christ God is careful to proportion every dram for the time of it that it shal come but just when God would have it and continue not one moment longer than God would have it That Scripture is enough to quiet the soul in regard of any affliction Which you have in Peter 1.6 Wherein ye rejoyce though now for a season if need require ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations Though now for a season for a little time now so the words are though for a little time now it is but now and it is but a little time and then too if need be Mark what a blessed parenthesis this is it is worth Gold this very Parenthesis is wherein ye greatly rejoyce though now for a season you are in heaviness it will not be much it shal be but for a little time and that if need be as if God should say were there not need you should not be for one instant of time in heaviness this is that you must learn from this Scripture Would it not be Rest to your Soul if you could hear God out of his word this day speak to every one of you and say did not I see thâ—re was need you should never have any minute of sickness in all your life this were enough to give Rest unto the Soul and though there be need it is but for now for a little time I do not find in the original that the word signifies season but a little now and if need be so that you shall not be in heaviness no not for a little now unless there be need this is a great deal of Rest CHAP. XLV The Rest beleevers have from Christ in outward afflictions discovered in four Particulars more 1. They shall be to good ends 2. They shal be sanctified to the good of beleevers 3. God is present with his people in Christ 4. There is abundance of present good in affliction FIfthly Come to me saith Christ and you shal have Rest in your affliction for your afflictions shall have very good ends God will never bring affliction upon you but he wil have gracious ends that he will aim at in your affliction God hath somwhat in his Eye that he aimes at more than you imagine and the thoughts of this may bring a great deal of Rest unto the Soul we cannot alwaies understand what those Particular ends are that God hath in the tryal of his people but we must satisfie our spirits in this certainly God hath very gracious ends what a great deal of trouble is there now in the nation how many godly people are spoiled of their goods and wounded and made havock of we think it is nothing but the rage of wicked men certainly God hath gracious ends in it and God is about to bring to pass some glorious thing though we cannot understand it now it is only one that is acquainted with the mind of Christ that can be satisfied with this that when God brings tryalls he hath glorious ends to bring about and why should not I be willing to be serviceable to Gods ends to those great ends that God hath to bring about Wherefore was I made and brought into the world but only that God may serve himself of me and therefore if God hath need of my affliction as I may so speak why may not I be quiet in my affliction for my affliction may be serviceable to God Now this is that I profess that I may be serviceable to God and his ends now if thy heart be right in this that thou wouldst be serviceable to God and his eâ—ds then thou must not choose the way how God shal fetch about his waies and ends upon thee Somtimes God may serve his own ends in thy prosperity I but at other times he wil serve himself in thy affliction now if thy Heart be gracious indeed thou wilt be as willing that God may fetch about his praise in thy affliction as in thy prosperity in this a gracious heart rejoyceth Now if thy heart be right in this then if God take away thy estate and bring thee into affliction thou mayst be quiet in this that God wil be served by my wants and bring about his ends that way though thou mayst think that God may be better served by thy prosperity then by thy affliction I but know this that God hath glorious ends to bring about and must have his people suffer to bring about those ends and therefore this may Cause Rest and quiet of Spirit Sixthly Come to me saith Christ you shal have Rest in trouble and affliction for not only you shal be serviceable to God for his ends but al your afflictions shal be Sanctified for your own good to you God intends it and you shal have a Sanctified use in them and this is more then removing the curse the Sanctified use notes a mighty operation of God in the affliction to fetch out good unto thy Soul Now this were a large thing to shew what is the Sanctified use of affliction the purging out of Corruption the quickening of Grace yea if it were but the tryal of Grace it were enough to bring quiet to the Soul for the Scripture saith the tryal of Faith is more precious then Gold the tryal of Grace the exercise of Grace
then look what Christ hath rest in that is thy rest too as now what is the rest of Christ Christ hath rest especially in three things there are three things that are the rest of Christ Gods rest in his Saints His rest in his Ordinances And his rest in his Sabbaths Now those that are partakers of true rest for their Soules in Christ look what Gods rest is thy rest is As now for the Saints the soul hath rest in them that is thy soul hath content and rest in them in their company Marke what is said of them in Zepha 3.17 Saith the Holy Ghost The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty he wil save he wil rejoyce over thee with joy he wil rest in his Love he wil joy over thee with singing Is the society and company of the saints a rest to the or rather a trouble to thee Oh to many the company of the saints it is a trouble to them but when they get into their own company amonst their own Companions then they have some Rest And then for the ordinances for that you have a text in the 132. Psalm and 14. Speaking of Zion For the Lord hath Chosen Zion he hath desired it for his habitation this is my rest for ever here wil I dwel for I have desired it Oh in Zion in ordinances in duties in the worship that is tendered up to thee here is my rest for ever and here is my delight Lord let me have rest this way my spirit is never so much at rest as when I am in the duties of Gods worship when I am exercised in Gods ordinances here my soul is at rest what ever I have else If I should have peace again and enjoy estate quietly yet except I have Gods ordinances I cannot have rest Now doth thy soul enjoy more rest in the ordinances then in any other way then thy rest is Christs rest And then for the sabboth you know what the scripture saith what a sabboth is it is nothing but rest and is the saboth a day of Rest unto thy soul do not many people think the sabboth day most troublesome to them especially if they be kept to holy duties prayer hearing the word the like Suppose you be put to pray in your closet then to pray in your family and to aske some questions to your servants children and then come to the publick and there to sanctifie the name of God and then when you come home again to examin your family over what they have learned and so prepare your selves again to the ordinance and so to spend your self in prayer and hearing and excercising al the day would not this be a weariness to many of you And would not many of you say as those in Malachy When wil the sabboth be over Men indeed count the sabboth a rest Why because they cease from working and they put on fine cloths and go abroad and walk in the feilds and upon this they count the sabboth a rest surely such are not acquainted with the rest that is in Christ but if thy soul be acquainted with this rest then the sabboth is but a tipe of that rest that thou shalt keep in the highest heavens it is but a tipe unto thee and a forerunner of that Glorious Rest that thou shalt enjoy hereafter Fifthly If thy soul have true rest it is such rest as wil abide examination of the word of God though it doth touch to the quick and the more the word doth touch to the quick the more it comes to thy soul the more rest thy soul hath In Heb. after the Holy Ghost had spoken of the rest that is to the people of God in 12. saith he The word is quick and powerful and sharper then any two edged sword peircing to the dividing a sunder of Soul and spirit and of the Joynts and Marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the Heart As if he should say if you enter into the Rest of Gods people you shal have such a rest as wil abide the most narrow and quickening searchings of the word of God the word of God will search you through and through and your rest shal be such a rest as wil abide the search A rest that comes by the word the more the word searcheth the more it increaseth quickning it searcheth between the marrow and the bones and the more rest a true gracious Heart finds CHAP. LI. Eight means to get and keep Rest in Christ 1. Beware of secret sins 2. Be thankful for what good God hath given thee 3. Judg not thy self in time of temptation 4. In trouble wait upon God in the use of means 5. Meditate much upon the promises 6. Proportion humiliation to thy comfort 7. Be throughly grounded that thou art in Christ 8. Improve the Rest thou hast to God by doing much work to him OBJECT BUt you wil say notwithstanding al this you have spoken yet many of the Saints of God though they have been careful to do what you have said yet they do not find this Rest you speak of in Christ Answ It is true it is not enough for you to be a beleever for one may be a beleever and yet not have the evidence of the Graces in Christ so as to have Rest unto his Soul You will say what should we do then First Take heed that there be no secret sin abide in your spirits you had need examine and look to that for that wil be a thorne in the flesh that wil trouble you if there be any secret sin thou livest in it wil be as a thorne in the flesh that thou canst not be quiet Secondly Another thing that will hinder the rest of beleevers is That because they have not so much as they desire they wil not take notice of what good God hath granted to them because they have not al they would have they think they have nothing at al. Now take heed of that though thou hast not all yet take notice of what God hath done for thee and be thankful for that We read of the Women in the Gospel that went â—o seek Christ they found the Angels and heard news of him though they found him not at first So though thy soul find not Christ for the present and the rest thou desirest yet if thou hast any news of him any beginning of Gods work in thy Soul take notice of that Should the Women have said what is that to us that we find the Angels and that we hear news of him it is Christ that we seek No they said not so And therefore I say bless God for what ever thou hast it is more then others have bless God for it and that is the way to have more Thirdly Never judg of thy self as thou feelest thy self in a time of temptation it may be thou art under a temptation or spiritual desertion now do not judg of thy self as
thou findest thy self at that time As now if so be a man when he hath been long in a Quartan Feaver or one that hath layen long in the Disease of the Pox if he shal at last look upon his visage and judg of the constitution of his body according to his countenance this would discourage him but he must judg of his constitution at that time when the distemper is not upon him So many poor Christians they judg of their condition then when they are under the greatest temptation No you should rather judg of your estates as you are when you injoy your selves most when God and your souls are together and most free from temptation If a man would weigh Gold perhaps the Gold hath one grain more then the weight yet if you come to weigh it and hold it in the wind the wind may toss up the scale and make the Gold seem to be too light and you wil say the Gold is not weight Why Because the wind tosseth up the scale the other way But now if you would see whether the Gold be weight indeed hold it steady where the wind comes not So if you would weigh your condition aright do it at that time when your spirit is most setled and staied and do not do it when temptation tosseth you up and down Fourthly Another help to beleevers to prevent another hinderance of their rest is this That their spirits because they have not what rest they would have many times grow impatient and trouble themselves more then God would have them Now this is a Rule labor to quiet your hearts by waiting upon God in the want of comfort and Labor in the use of what means God shal give you for a waiting frame That Text is very notable for that purpose in Isai 30.7 For the Egyptians shal help in Vain and to no purpose therefore have I cryed concerning this their strength is to â—it stil And than at verse 15. Thus saith the Lord God the Holy one of Israel in returning and Rest shal ye be saved in quietness and confidence shal be your strength but ye would not And so in Isaiah 52.12 For ye shal not go out with hast nor go by flight for the Lord will go before you and the God of Israel wil be your rereward There shal not be a tumultuous hurrying hasty Spirit You wil say can a man make too much hast to get assurance of Gods Love in Christ The truth is you make the best speed when you can in the quiet and calme of your spirits waite upon God while he wil please to speak to your Souls when we can go on in the use of means til God seal up by his spirit of assurance to your Souls Many Reasons might be given to put on the Soul to waite upon God but I pass on Fiftly Another Rule is this be much in Meditation upon the promises swallow down promises do not let them role upon your Tongues Wicked men they role the promises upon their Tongues but they do not take them down But now as when we take bitter Pils the way is to swallow them down whole when we take sweet things the way is to chew them if a man should chew his Pills he would suddenly throw them out of his Mouth So a Godly man should not chew the Pills that is by Meditating upon the threatnings of the Law this is not the way rather swallow down the Pills by Meditating upon the Gospel and the Covenant of Grace and so thy soul may come to find rest in Christ this way And when thou hast done al that thou canst yet stil the only way is for thee to depend upon God in his ordinances and to pray for the spirit no evidence that can be given can quiet the Heart till that comes to pass But now if so be the soul hath gained this what a thing is it for the soul to loose it again In Isaiah 26. â—0 Come my people enter thou into thy Chambers and shut the doores about thee hide thy self as it were for a little moment until the indignation be overpast What is it to come and enter into our Chamber To get into Christ our hiding place and then shut the dores that is take heed of parlying with temptation As thus now when as the Lord hath given thee rest and thy rest comes in by the word by applying the word to thy soul now shut the dore against temptation there wil arise some fears and Jealousies at that time now therefore shut the dore against al surmises â—eaâ—es and Jealousies and call for the word let the word be the rule for thy fear as wel as for thy comfort and rather depend on one Scripture for thy comfort then upon a thousand Jealousies for thy fear And this is now to shut the dore against temptation resolve here will I venture here is the word of God which is sure and certain and for temptation the Devil will trouble me with the Rapping and knocking at the dore but let him Knock as long as he will I have got a promise here and I will venture my Soul upon this promise And for want of this though thou hast gotten the promise yet upon every temptation thou openest the dore You know in time of danger when any come and rap at the dore wil you open the dore presently No you bid your Servant ask who it is and they must give a good account what they would have and from whence they come before you wil open the dore So when any temptation raps at thy soul inquire what it would have and whence it comes doth it come from God or no or from the Devil Many people they think the word to be a rule for their Faith but they think the word is not a rule for their fear you must have as good a warrant for refusing any comfort that is tendred to you as wel as for the taking of any comfort and if you would observe that rule that you wil never refuse comfort but you wil have a word to warrant you If the Lord come to you and say why did you refuse such comforts and you say I was in fear and Jealousies I but if God should say what word have you for it What were you able to answer Oh This is that that God wil require of you for it is a dishonor to the truth of God that whenas there is a word to ground thy Faith upon and nothing but Jealousies to ground thy fears yet thou wilt make thy Jealousies and thy fears to weigh down the word Sixthly Again according to the degrees of thy inlargment so let thy Humiliation be as thou findest thy Heart inlarged with joy at the same time let thy Grace work downward in way of Humiliation observe a proportion betwen thy joy and Humiliation many people are inlarged upon the joy they have in Christ but they are not humbled and therefore they vanish Seventhly Again Be not satisfied meerly that thou art in Christ and a beleever but labor to be throughly grounded that thou art in Christ for who knows what troubles and desertions thou maist meet with al labor to roote thy soul be established in Christ grounded in Christ to be a grounded Christian aâ—d therefore not to live upon sence but to live by Faith when thou hast sence Eightly Lastly Improve thy rest for God be sure to do much work when the Lord gives thee Rest as we use to say of outward peace it brings plenty so the truth is the peace thaâ— God gives in our consciences and the rest that we have in Christ should make us plentiful in all good works And by these rules if thou dost keep the dore shut against temptation if according to the degrees of thy inlargment thy Humiliation is If thou art not satisfied meerly that thou art in Christ and a beleever but laborest to be throughly grounded that thou art in Christ if thou dost roote thy soul in Christ and if thou dost improve thy rest to God to do much work for God when he gives thee Rest Thus doing thou shalt have rest an abiding rest unto thy soul thus thou shalt be in thy Chamber of Rest with the door shut while the indignation is overpast thus thou shalt have rest in the time of evil and all the troubles in the world shal be but as the rattling of the Rain upon the Tiles while thou art in the House Yea and the rest thou hast in Christ is but the forerunner of the glory that thou shalt have with Christ which thou oughtest to long for when thou hast fears and troubles thou oughtest to pray O Lord Jesus Christ fulfil the things thou hast promised to thy Servants and give Rest and Peace unto my Soul FINIS * See my Treatise on 2 Cor. 5.19 20. See my Treatise of the Evil of Sin See the treatise of the evil of sin