THe whol scope of the blessed Apostle in this Letter of his, is, as himself teacheth us, to confirm the people of God, to build them up in that great Article of their Faith, and their great priviledge which is, the Communion of Saints. He tels you in the beginning, he writes to them that they might have [Page 2] Communion with himself and the rest of the Apo­stles, whose Communion is with God the Father and is Son Jesus Christ; presently he proceeds to shew wherein this Communion stands, which he doth ex­press,

First, More generally: It is to walk in the light; when all the world walks in darkness; they by virtue of their fellowship should walk in the light, And then,

Secondly, Explains this more particularly, in the subsequent discourse; and shews that by walking in the light he mainly intends walking in holiness, that is, to abominate and abandon the waies of sin, and to live as becomes those that are born of God in holi­ness and righteousness, and this is the plot of the whol Epistle. And then he begins with the first branch of it, and that is, to depart from the waies of sin, and sets down this conclusion, That if any man do pretend Communion with Jesus Christ and walk in sin, he is a meer Dissembler, he hath not one dram of Communi­on with God and Jesus Christ; That is a certain rule, no man that hath Communion with Jesus Christ can walk in a sinful life, but every branch of the great things that Christ bestows upon his people, the pur­port and intent of them all is, to make them leave sin­ning, that they wholly overthrow the very tenour of the Gospel, who talk of believing in Christ and walk in a Godless life. Now this first Branch the Apostle prosecutes at large, both in the first Chapter, & in this second Chapter, and begins the second Chapter thus, Now all these things do I write to you▪ that you sin not, and presently at the 3 ^d verse takes it up again, (saith he) If any man know him he must walk as he walketh, and [Page 3] so proves it by many Arguments. Now (Brethren) you shal see the intent of my Text: The Apostle knowing what an uncomfortable Doctrine this would be if it were not explained, how uncomfortable it would be even to the best of Gods Saints and people, he prevents the sad objection that every gracious heart would be ready to make; for when he hath set down this for his Conclusion: He that is in Christ cannot sin, he cannot sin, he deceives himself if he talks of Christ and sins, Why? A poor Soul would present­ly come out and say, Then am I utterly undone, I have then no interest in Christ, for I sin, I sin dayly, I cannot live without it, I cannot perform one Duty but my corruption is intermingling it self with it; wo be to me if that Doctrine go for currant, that he hath nothing to do with Christ that sins. Now by way of Prolepsis the Apostle anticipates this objection, and cleers the mind of God about it, and then proceeds further to prosecute his Doctrine, and it is laid down in these words, But if any man sin, let him know that we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the Propitiation for all our sins, and not only ours that are Jews, but through­out all the world if they be Beleevers: This he laies down to stay the hearts of Gods people in reference to that sadness, that they would be ready to be over­whelmed with. Now (Brethren) because there is but one main Doctrine that I intend to insist upon, I wil but briefly explain the words to you, and then I wil propound the Doctrine.

First, When the Apostle saith, If any man do sin, he thereby plainly implies, that there are certain sorts of sins, that even Gods Children though they dare not [Page 4] commit sin nor walk in sin, yet even Gods own Children (for them he speaks to, my little Children I write this to you, (I say) there are sins that Gods own people) are overtaken with, even after they have fellowship and Communion with Jesus Christ; that is the first thing that he takes for granted. Then,

Secondly, To that he adds, But (saith he) if any man sin, that is, when we do thus sin, when Gods people do thus sin, What then? We have an Advo­cate, (that you all know the meaning of,) one that pleadeth our cause, that is the office of an Advocate, to appear in behalf of another in his cause: We have an Advocate with the Father above in Heaven at his right hand, that is, Jesus Christ our Lord who died for us, and loved us, and gave himself for us, he ap­pears in Heaven for us, yea, he is Jesus Christ the righ­teous; that is, though he be so righteous that he wil never plead an ill cause, yet this is a part of his righ­teousness, to intercede and appear in the behalf of his own people, even when they sin against him; Je­sus Christ the righteous who is the Propitiation for our sins; that is, who once upon earth offered himself up a Sacrifice to satisfie for them, and now in Heaven pleads the benefit and virtue of it for ever in the be­half of his people. And not for ours only; that is, we that are Jews, but for the sins of the whol world, sup­posing stil he speaks of the same matter, of those that believe in Christ, that have Communion with him throughout the world, Rich and Poor, Yong and Old, Jew and Gentile, this is a truth to them all; When Gods people sin, Jesus Christ the righteous, at Gods right hand maketh mediation for them. So the words thus briefly paraphrased upon do afford us this [Page 5] Doctrine, (which is the only Lesson that I intend to handle this day,) namely,

Doct. That the Lord Jesus Christs intercession in Heaven, is the great dayly relief that al the Saints have upon Earth against their dayly sins.

A Doctrine which at the very first propounding Promiseth not only comfort to Believers, but carnal men they wil be ready to promise themselves liberty, (though I hope without cause (by that time I have done with it,) but Jesus Christs mediation in Heaven is the great relief to all Gods Saints upon earth, against the dayly sins that they are overtaken with. Now (Beloved) that I may handle this Doctrine for your profit, there are two questions which (God willing) I shal endeavor to cleer, (and that wil be the sum of all my work, the discussing of them.) First,

Quest. 1. What sins the Lords Children and People are liable to while they are in this world, what those sins are that the Children of God may be overtaken with while they live in this world. Secondly,

Quest. 2. I wil shew you how the Intercession of Jesus Christ is the great relief to Gods Children against these sins.

For the first,

First, What are those sins which the Lords people, his own Children are liable to while they live in this world? And to make you the more attentive to it, be pleased to note that there are two Conclusions about sin, laid down so cleerly in the Scripture, yea, in this [Page 9] very Epistle, that they almost seem to contradict one another, and therefore it is of great weight to have that cleared. First,

1. Nothing clearer then this, That he that is born of God doth not sin, nor cannot sin, and if a man say he hath com­munion with Jesus Christ and walkes in sin, he is a Liar and deceives his own Soul; Nothing clearer then this in this Epistle; So likewise in Romans, 6. How can we that are dead to sin Live any longer therein; Sin cannot have dominion over you, you are not under it, you are under Grace; This is a clear proposition, A Child of God cannot sin.

2. Yet on the other side it is as clear, that if any man that calls himself the Child of God say he hath no sin, he is a Liar, it is rather an Argument he hath no grace; In many things we sin all; Nothing clearer then that the people of God, his dearest Children do sin. Paul in the name of them all, talketh of being sold under sin, carrying a body of sin about him; now these two must of necessity have such an inter­pretation, as to justifie the truth of God in it. Be pleased then to know thus much, that when the Scripture speakes so positivly and clearly, of the Chil­dren of God not sinning, that they cannot commit sin, the meaning is this, That whereas the way of sin (mark it, the way of sin) is the only way that al men walk in before they come to Christ, as conceive it thus, when men first fel from God, while he stood in his integrity God was his end, God was his portion, God was his rule, but when man fel from God, the whol corruption of mans nature stood in these two things, That now he was turned away from God, and fallen into the Creature, and there he continues til a [Page 7] new life be communicated, let him do what he will, let him pray, let him read, let him hear, let him walk in workes of justice and righteousness, and stil he is but within the compass of injoying the creature, and living to the creature, making himself and the good that he can find in the creature his portion, which is a turning off from God and this is one way of sin, and thus all the men in the world walk, that al­though it be true, yet some of their sins are greater then others, and aggrauated by some circumstances, yet look as it is with a man that is in prison, though the prison may be very large, and he may somtimes walk East, West, North, and South, and do some things more clean, and some things more gross, yet they are al done within that compass of the prison; So take a man not in the state of Grace, the end he aimes at is himself, the rule he walks by is somwhat that may yeild contentment to him from the crea­ture, and beyond al this no living man goes til God give him a new life. Now when the Lord vouchsaf­eth to cal a man home to Jesus Christ, and planteth in him a new principle of a new life, then the Soul re­turns home to God, now for time to come God is his portion, and the way that may lead him to the injoy­ment and knowledg of God, is his only way to which he resignes up himself, and makes it his daylie study and trade to walk in it: now here is his way, that as to an unconverted man the creature is his way, and al things that may make him injoy the creature, or set­led in the creature is his way, but the new man he hath no way but approaching to God, aspiring up to him, drawing nigher to him, being made more like to him, this is his way, but now while he intendeth [Page 8] this way, (mark it) he being converted but in part, he knows his way but in part, and therefore somtimes misseth it for want of light, he somtimes likewise stumbles in the right way for want of strength, som­times a violent temptation takes him and turnes him a little out of the way for want of good take-heed; these kind of sins Gods Children are liable to while they live in this world; So that the sume of it is this, no reigning sin, a sin that shal have dominion over him to carry him from God, and settle him upon the creature can be compatible with the state of a con­verted man; but yet frailties and weaknesses for want of strength those are his sins, and they and no other are the sins that Gods Children are liable unto. So that the thing I have brought you to is, to shew you, that the Saints while they live in this world are compassed with infirmities, and only with infirmities; concerning which (because it is a great Doctrine) I intend (the Lord assisting me) to open these three things, and that wil be the sume of this first Question, What the sins are.

Three things I will open to you about the sins of infirmities wherewith Gods people are compassed while they live; The first is,

First, I wil shew you the nature of them, the nature of a sin of infirmity.

Secondly, I wil shew you the kinds of them, what kinds of sins of infirmities Gods people may be over­taken with. And Thirdly,

Thirdly, I wil shew you how these may be known to be such, that no man may deceive his heart about them and these must needs be opened, because the latter part of our Question of Christs being a relief to them, [Page 9] is so ful of Consolation, that I would have no body have it that have not right to it, and therefore I would not have them flatter themselves about it. For the first,

First, To open to you the nature of an Infirmity: Take it thus, To enable a Soul to walk in the waies of God, (as all Gods people do in measure, but to en­able a Soul to do it,) there is required a twofold strength, the one is,

• I. An habitual strength. The other is,
• II. An actual strength.

1. The habitual strength that all Gods Saints have, it is nothing but the inclination and disposition of their hearts to the waies of God, and against the waies of sin, which is wrought in them by [...] Holy Ghost in the time of their first conversion [...] which hour the quickning Grace communicate [...] [...]o the Soul, doth once for ever make the bent of the heart stand to the waies of God, that now there is a complacency, a de­light, a suitableness to them in the waies of God, and a displacency and aversion in reference to the waies of sin. This now is habitual strength, once given to Gods people, never taken away from them. But now though this habitual strength do give them a good wil, (as the Apostle cals it) a good mind to the waies of God, yet,

2. To enable them either to forbear any sin, or to perform any duty, there must be communicated an actual strength, and that actual strength is nothing but the immediate assistance of the Holy Ghost, who dwels in them drawing out their Graces to work, and strengthening them in their working, and when this actual strength is communicated to them by the Holy [Page 10] Ghost, then if a temptation to a sin be propounded, the Saint is too strong for it, he overcomes the temp­tation, if a holy Duty be propounded to be done, by the help of this God (if need be) he can leap over a wall. Give a Child of God the inward inclination of his heart wrought by Grace, and the actual assi­stance of the Spirit of God, when he is called out to particulars, then he walketh as becomes a Saint in ho­liness and righteousness: but when at any time the Spirit of God (for reasons best known to himself) doth withold his immediate assistance from that Soul, then their habitual inclination is never able to make them do any thing that is good: If a temptation to a sin be propounded, and a corruption of their nature be a little excited, and Satan backing it, and the Spirit of God not joyning, down they tumble in every temptation, and sin against God though never so fou­ly; and if a holy Duty be to be performed, pressed with all the moral Arguments in the world, if the Lords spirit afford them not assistance and strength, immediately they are not able, they are unfit & unable to do that which they are required: and from hence ariseth all the infirmities of Gods people; and here­in you may see there is a corrupt nature in part remai­ning. There are likwise external objects that would stir up this corrupt nature, temptations from the De­vil that would inflame it, when these stir and Gods spirit doth not assist, then are all the Lords people so weak and feeble, that infallibly they sin against him; and this is the nature of the sins of infirmity, that is the first; The second thing I would cleer is this.

Secondly, What kinds there are of them, (because that will further acquaint you, for indeed my aim is [Page 11] that all the Saints of God may see the frame of their own spirits (as it were) in a Glass, that so afterwards you may learn how needful the Lord Jesus Christ is to us, then the second question is,) What kinds of in­firmities are the people of God subject to?

To that I answer, They may all be brought to these two Heads, they are either,

First, Such as are not common to all the Saints, No, nor to any of Gods Children except upon special de­sertion; or else,

Secondly, They are such as all Gods people while they live in this world are dayly compassed about with: For the first of them,

I. There are Infirmities (I say) which are not common to all Gods people, No, nor to any of them unless when very extraordinarily deserted of God, and they are such as when the Servants of God do seem to pour their hearts out into wicked waies, and commit those sins that are publickly to the disho­nor of the Lords Gospel, to the wasting of their own Consciences, to the defiling of their own holy waies, to the scandal of Gods people: as suppose, to live in Adultery, in Uncleanness, in wantonness, Cur­sing, Swearing, Drunkenness, false dealing and the like; Now two things I would say about this.

1. That somtimes Gods own Children for a season are left under such a condition; David you know even when he was the Child of God, took his neighbors Wife into his bosome, and most wickedly plotted to take away her Husbands life, and did take it away; Peter Cursed, and Banned, and Swore and counterfei­ted himsel [...] to be a prophane person, that he might [Page 12] not be thought to be a follower of Christ: So that such things & many other instances I might give you, that in the greatest the most flagitious way, wherein a man may seem to be turned from Christ, and be­take himself into the Tents of his enemies, to fight against him, as if he would be a Ranter against him, such a thing may befal a Child of God: But then I adde,

2. But this is not the Lot of all, No, nor of any but when extraordinarily deserted, and that is cleer by this, because throughout all the tennor of the Gospel it is sufficiently declared, that these are not the spots of Gods Children, these are not the waies of the Saints, these are the waies in which whosoever walks cannot be saved, and therefore what their condition is I shal tel you by and by, (God willing) when I come to cleer it: But that is one sort, that it is possi­ble the corruption may be so strong, the assistance of Gods spirit so wholly withdrawn, and the temptation so mighty, as that a Child of God for want of strength may fall into the foulest mire and filth in the world; That is one sort.

II. There are other sorts of Infirmities, which all the Saints are compassed about with every day that they live, and it is rare that any of them spend a day either without al of them or some of those infirmities, and if you wil know what they are, I answer, There are three kinds of them, and I think all the infirmities of the Saints wil fal under one of them, and I pur­posely open them that you might have a Glass to see your faces in.

1. Some and very many of the infirmities of the Saints of God, they are meerly the infirmities of their [Page 13] understandings, that is, sins of ignorance, that they do the things that are contray to God, contrary to his will, but do not know Gods mind about them, and from this sort no man upon earth is free; Who knows the errors of his life? and I think verily under this head fals those sins of the Patriarchs, of the holi­est men that walked with God, whose hearts were perfect with God, they had their many Wives, they had their Concubins too, not knowing that this was against the Institution of God. And so likwise in the sin of omission, as you shal see there was from Joshuah's time to Nehemiah's time, one of the great solemn Feasts, that is, the Feast of Tabernacles was never kept, according to Gods institution for a thousand years together, that they were by Gods institution to keep it not in their own houses, but to go to live in Booths in the Fields for that time, & it is said expresly from Joshua to Nehemiah that that Feast had never been so kept, that either they had forgotten it or the gene­rations were unacquainted: But now when Gods peo­ple do any of them in their speeches or actions, do the things that are indeed contrary to Gods wil, but espe­cially not knowing it to be so, and yet their hearts prepared, that if the Lord would but discover his mind to them, they would follow him in all things, and yet this is one sort that all Gods people are liable to in the world: But I tel you (by the way) that were but this one thing understood, it would go a great way to make the Servants of God less harsh than they are one to another: The Lord give them so much light to own it, he sees such a thing as cleer as the Sun to be the institution of God, or the mind of God, or the way of God, in this or that Duty, of the [Page 14] first or second Table, and then because he sees it, he is ready to condemn all the world as rebelling against God, for not being of his practice, because the Lord (it may be) lets not them see it: But that is one sort, sins in the understanding when Gods wil is not known.

2. Another sort of these infirmities when the thing is known, it is known that such a thing is contrary to God and I ought not to do it, but yet by a sudden hurry of temptation, when the violence of temptati­on surpriseth the Soul, many times before ever it can recollect it self, it is carried down with the temptati­on even against a cleer light, yea, carried against it, as if a Cock-boat should be carried down a strong stream, & they have not so much time to cal themselves to an account, to think whether these things become them or no; And thus it was with Aaron that Saint of the Lord, he could not but know that to make a Calf, it was destructive to the Covenant of Grace that God had made with them, it was a kind of implicite renouncing of God, but a sudden temptation came, all the people came saying, make us a resemblance of God, Moses is gone, we wil have it, he was surprised before ever he could recollect himself. And so Moses that holy meek man, when a sudden temptation came, that the madness of the people had vexed him, that he could not recollect himself, he speaks so unadvi­sedly with his lips to Gods dishonor, and this no man is free from, but some in one part, some in one kind and some in another, all Gods people before they are aware are many times carried away and surprised be­fore they can recollect themselves to know what their duty is; But yet there is a third sort, and that seems to go deeper, and that is,

[Page 15]3. When they do not only know it to be a sin, but deliberatly commit it, I mean, that the heart is temp­ted to such a thing, saith the soul it is abominable, it is against God, I will not do it, but betakes it self to prayer, prayes the Lord to assist and strengthen him, the temptation comes again and gathers upon him, that though he do resist it yet he hath not strength enough to overcome it, & the ground of it was, because the holy Spirit who is a free agent, communicates so much strength to him as to stir up his graces, and to draw them out into the Field in Gods Cause, and to oppose the Enemy, and gives him some strength to resist it, but not strength enough to overcome it, but leaves him unfit and without sufficient strength against that temptation; and of this I think the Apostle Paul mainly means in all his discourse in Rom. 7. where in the Person of a Regenerate man he saith, The thing I would not do, I do, and when I would do good, Evil overcomes me, I would not do the Evil, yet it is too strong for me, & then complains, Wretched man that I am, I am even sold under it: Now (I think) under one of these three fal al the common infirmities of all that love Jesus Christ in sincerity, they are either meer Ignorances that they know not Gods mind, or they are else sudden surpri­ses, hurried away before they can cal their hearts and graces to act, and have strength to assist them, or else the Lord lets out a greater measure of the power of the Enemy to assault than he is pleased to communi­cate to the soul to resist; and under one of these (I say) do all the infirmities of Gods people fal in their ordinary course: Now the third thing (which when I have briefly dispatched then I wil go to the next, which is the great question,) is,

[Page 16]Thirdly, How this may be known; and I wil speak to it the rather because I find there is no man in the world that lives, (within the compasse of the Church I mean;) but is wonderous desirous to have all his lusts and corruptions to be adopted into the name of an in­firmity, and when they have brought them under that Burrow, then they are wonderful safe in their own eyes; the man that Keeps a harlot, and nourisheth his wanton vain glory, or whatsoever it be, convince him of it, I (saith he) God helpe me it is my infirmity no man lives without his infirmities, and when they have once got them under that name of an infirmity then all that you say concerning Jesus Christ's relief a­gainst their daily sins, it is all their own, though God knows they are as far from it, as the East is from the West: And on the other side, I find many a real Ser­vant of God, that if their corruption have any thing in it that carries horridness to the Conscience, any strange distemper that is more than ordinary, and assaults them, and buffets them, and treads them under foot, Then they are ready to think that all the world can­not satisfie them that these are but infirmities, these cannot be the spots of Gods people: And so that nei­ther the Lords own Servants may be discouraged, nor wicked men get a Cloak, I would a little discover how you may cleerly know, what are the infirmities of the Saints, and wherein they differ from the rebel­lions of those that are the Lords Enemies, and for that I wil give you

• 1. One Rule that is Negative, and,
• 2. Another that is Positive.

1. Negative: You must take this, That an infirmi­ty must not be judged of by the matter of the sin, not [Page 17] one whit judged of by the matter, but only from the disposition and qualification of the Person that com­mits it; my meaning plainly is this, We are rea­dy to think that those sins that are but petty and trivi­al, they must all have the names of infirmities, and those sins the matter whereof are odious, those must not go for infirmities: Now this is a most false Rule, for a sin that is a very trifle, if it be but an idle word, vain thought, petty oath, any such thing, as it may be committed, may be a reigning sin, and a path of the way that leads to eternal damnation, according as the Person is that commits it, and on the other side even a great sin for the matter of it, should it be Murder and Adultery, (I instance in them because they both met in David) possible it is that the things may so fal out that these may be but infirmities, therefore remember that is a corrupt Rule, and all you that please your selves with this, that God keeps you from the great abho­minations, you are no Whoremasters, you keep not a Harlot, and you are no Cozeners nor Cheaters in your Trade, though it may be your Oaths are Faith and Troth, and prittle prattle, and slighting of holy Du­ties, you wil have these things pass for infirmities, No, you wil see this is no Rule. That is one, remem­ber you must not judge of infirmities from the matter but only from another Rule which I wil give you, and that is this,

2. Whosoever can but rightly judge of an infirmi­ty of the body, hath a cleer Rule to direct him to an infirmity of the Soul: Now all infirmities of the bo­dy they have all of them these three things constantly go with them. The first is,

[Page 18]1. They never are our choyce, That that is our infir­mity never is our Choyce, that I think I shal not need much to discourse of, I have such an infirmity, I want strength in me, I, strength in my Limbs, in so much as if any body say, Come pra'y, will you walk, If I walk I must halt every step I go, But would you have it so? Do you make choyce of it to be so? Now there is a mans infirmity, he never makes any choyce of it; Though it is possible in spiritual things there may be something of the wil in temptations, yet no man ever saith, Lord, give me leave to be a Deceiver, or a proud man and the like, No, if it be an infirmity we never make choyce of it. Secondly,

2. If it be an Infirmity, it is perpetually a burden, and accor­ding to the nature of it, so the burden is greater or lesser; And so a man that hath an infirmity in his body, if it be in a noble part his Eye, Oh! it is a great burden to him, if his infirmity be in a very useful part, in his Foot, e­very step he takes goes to the heart of him, if it be an infirmity in his breast where the Lungs lie, Oh! that is a wonderful burden; According as the part or faculty is useful, so a weakness there is accordingly a propor­tionable burden: So now wheresoever any Child of God hath any passions, any corruptions stirring in him to hinder him in his enjoyment of God, or walking with him, they are his greatest burdens in the world, no affliction goes so neer to a man that hath given up himself to walk in the way to Heaven, as that that keeps him from walking in the way to Heaven, that interrupts his peace, and disturbs him in that way: So if it be thy infirmity the Soul chuseth it not; Se­condly, It is a burden unto it. And then the third is,

[Page 19]3. That in an infirmity alwaies there is a desire of curing it, that though beforehand I may know I can never cure it totally, yet if I can but cure it so as to be less bur­densome; if I could cure it wholly whatsoever it cost I would, yet, if not cure it wholly yet to keep it under: So here every Child of God whose end is God, whose way is Gods word, he finds his flesh that that hinders him he cannot walk in it, doth he make nothing of it? No, it is his dayly practice to crucifie it, to put off the Old man with all the lusts of it; No Chyrurgion more desirous to mortifie a member that must needs be cut off, than a Saint is to draw out the life blood of every corruption he bears about him: And truly because I see the time hath so prevented me that I shal be hindred I would else have stopped here, and made some Ap­plication of this, but I wil only beg of you (because I am in the next question to open a great deal of com­fort to every Child of God I beg of you) for the Lords sake deceive not your selves about it, think not that all that shal be spoken of Christs being a relief against the corruptions of his people wil reach you, you that sel your selves to unrighteousness, you that would not be made clean, and have no mind that the Lord should rend your Harlot from you, but your credit and reputation you must have, whether it wil stand with Gods or no: Flatter not your selves to think that the Blood of Christ wil be your Propitiation, and that he appears for you, No, you have nothing to do with him, you choose your waies of sin, and the Text hath told you a little before, That if any man talk of Communion with God and with Christ, and walk in darkness, that man is a Lyar and hath no truth in him: But if any of you your Consciences bear witness to [Page 20] what I have delivered, that your heart is in Gods way, Gods word is your way, your aim is at it every day in every thing, only you are surprised, you want light, and strength, and ability to stand it out when you are put to it, Now for that come we to the second Que­stion, and that is,

Secondly, To shew you how the Lord Christs In­tercession in Heaven is a sufficient relief to al his Chil­dren, against all their corruptions they bear about them: And I know (before I enter about it) I may say in so great an Assembly, all those that are the Lords they wil much more desire to have a relief about their corruptions, than about the greatest affli­ctions that betide them in all the world. For I know no such evil that the people of God lie under as their sins in their own apprehensions. Now then the Questi­on is. How doth the Lord Jesus Christ's being in Heaven serve as a relief to Gods people under their many infirmities? And to that I shal bring my Answer to two Heads, accor­ding as I laid down two sorts of infirmities, I told you there is one sort of infirmities that is not common to all, nor to any of Gods people unless when wofully deserted. Now the Question to that is,

Quest. 1. What is the Intercession of Jesus Christ unto the Saints under such abhominable fals? What Relief is the Intercession of Christ to David when he lies in Adultery? To Peter when he denies his Master? and to others when they fal into the like sins, What is the interecession of Christ to them?

Answ. That I shal dispatch very briefly, and I will [Page 21] lay you down what I have found to be the Lords mind in these two Conclusions. First,

1. That during the time that any of the Lords peo­ple do rant, after that maner against him, fal in that way against him, the intercession of Christ is so far from affording comfort to them, that it is the greatest aggravation of their sins, and Christs being related to them and so their being related to him, doth make their sin beyond al measure sinful▪ that is the first. Now, a child of God turning rebell against his Father while he lies under this rebellion, (the intercession of Jesus Christ indeed our selves know upholds him and grace wil bring him home as I shal speak by and by but during that time) he is interdicted al communion with God through Jesus Christ. Many are the eviden­ces I could give you of it in the Scripture, what was E­phraim? God saith he is his dear Child, but if he joyn himself to Idols, let him alone (saith he) let him alone, he is joyned to Idols let him alone, I wil meet him as a Bear robbed of her whelps, I will meet him as a Lion or as a Leopard, I wil tear the very Caul of his heart. And the Prodigal all the while he had run away from his Fa­ther, and wasted his goods amongst his harlots, his Father lets him alone, let him starue and giue up the Ghost, he never inquires at al after him; and had I time I could shew you abundance of particulars to make this good, that the Lords People when they fal into flagitious scandalous waies, they make them so a­bominable, that in regard of Gods glory & the good of the Church, it had bin better they had never bin born then commit them, they do so harden the wicked, so dishonor God, so deeply defile their own Consciences, [Page 22] that here is nothing can be said for any men that they have any part in Christ, while they are given up to such waies; No, (saith God) Know you not that no Whoremonger, nor Adulterer shall come into the Kingdom of Heaven? they are as it were interdicted from all right of entring into Heaven, while they are in that condi­tion, That is the first: But then Secondly,

2. When the Spirit of God awakens them to repen­tance, that they grow sensible of their unworthy and unchild-like walking; then the intercession of Christ so far is for them, that there is a free access to come to the Lord, to be in his Book, and to enjoy Peace with him, as if never any such thing had been commit­ted by them at all. Though the sins of Gods people, when they are thus egregious, are beyond al measure sinful, and do exceeding mischief to others, notwith­standing all this if once the soul be but humbled, and that they consider what they have done against God, and how they have provoked him and injured him, Christ in Heaven prevails that there is no bar in the world against their acceptance, but the Lords Arms stand open to receive them as freely, as if the things had never been done by them; and of this you have a world of Evidences. I wil give you but two instances of it, and one is that of Ephraim, The Lord saith to him he was his dear Child, but all the while he walked after that manner the Lord spit in his face and would not own him, but you shal read of him in Jer. 31.18. saith the Lord, I saw Ephraim bemoaning himself; mark there, Ephraim was come home by weeping Cross, What did he do? (saith he) I saw him bemoaning himself: Oh! I have been an untamed Heifer, the Lord hath chastised me and I was chastised, but I was [Page 23] like a Bullock that would not bear the Lords Yoke, Turn thou me, and I shal be turned, for thou art the Lord my God, surely after that I was turned I repented, and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my Thigh, I was ashamed yea even confounded because I did bear the reproach of my youth; When this Spirit had seized upon him, mark what follows, The Lord stands behind the Curtain and hears his Child thus bemoaning, and what saith he? Ephraim is my dear Child, he is a pleasant Child, for since I spake a­gainst him I do earnestly remember him stil, therefore my bo­wels are troubled for him, I will surely have mercy upon him saith the Lord; He breaks out, he can bear no longer, when once he had a Christ and Mediator in Heaven, and when once he was but sensible of it, the Lords bowels yerned towards him presently: And that other Instance is the example of the Prodigal in Luke 15. that the Lord intended to be the Pattern of those Children that should run away and be brought home again by Grace, all the while that Wretch ran away and spent his goods, his Father regarded him no more than his elder brother did when he came home, but when the man was broken, I have a Father (saith he) And I wil go to my Father and confess I am not worthy to stand be­fore him, and when he came tattered and lousie home, the Text saith his Father ran to meet him, as if he should have said, No more of that (Son) come bring him in, kill the fatted Calf, and put a Ring upon his Finger; and quiets his Elder Brother, and it is fit it should be so, thy brother is come home again; I speak this the rather because if there should be any one here to hear me this day that hath run a­way from God, and the Lord hath touched thy heart and thou beginnest to think how thou hast wronged [Page 24] him, the Lord Jesus Christ hath made thy peace, the door is open that thou maiest come freely to him, as if there had never any such thing been. As in Hosea 14. the latter end, When Ephraim shal say, Come take words and say, Father receive us gratiously: I wil heal him freely (saith he:) There is the first Question answe­red. I was the shorter in this because I would gladly hope there are none such here so wofully deserted of God, as when they have received a new life that they should give up themselves desperately to walk in waies contrary to him.

Quest. 2. But now for the other question which is the lot of al the Saints of God, I know there is no man heares me this day that hath any thing of the life of Christ in him, but he carries a body of death about him, whereby he is surprised one way or other; or for want of sufficient strength he is over­come, now such an one must know that when it is thus with him he hath a great reliefe by Christ Jesus his appearing at the right hand of God for him; wherein lies that, I wil open in four or five particulars with a very short application added. Four conclusions I would set you downe about Christs being a reliefe to his Children against their daily corruptions their infirmities, The first is.

1. That Jesus Christ doth pitty in heauen, he pi­ties his Children under their sinful infirmities, as much as any Parents pity their Children under their bodily infirmities; that is the first. That the Lord Christ who is their high Preist, their suretie? he hath com­passion upon them in their infirmities, and pitties them under them, as Parents use to pittie their Chil­dren that lie under bodily infirmities; no body I hope [Page 25] wil mistake me, when I say pity, I mean not such workings of bowels and passions in Heaven, which we poor men are subject to upon earth, but somewhat that is like to it, somewhat that carries the thing in it and that you wil find cleerly in Scripture, the Psal­mist saith, in Psalm. 103. when he cals up himselfe to blesse the Lord there for al his goodnesse, and tells us the Lord heals his infirmities, surely he means his spiritual infirmities, and there he blesseth God that pities them even as a Father pities his own Children. And we have an high Priest (saith the Apostle) that cannot but compassionate our infirmities, though he was without sin himselfe, yet he hath a compassionate heart And there is one passage which if you will but read when you come at home, it would give you abun­dance of satisfaction, it is in Ezekiel 34. in the midst of the Chapter, the Lord there quarrels with the wret­ched Shepeard that goared some of his Sheep, and trod others under foot, and killed some, and fleeced some, and when he comes to reckon with him, he tels him that he would send the Lord Jesus, and that he was the good Shepeard, and what he would do, and there he sets down all the infirmities that Sheep are subject to, I seek them that are lost, some of them wan­der, I seek them that are lost, others of them are dri­ven away, by a violent temptation, I wil fetch back that which is driven away (saith the Lord,) then others of the Lords Sheep are wounded, I will heal that that is wounded, wounded in their Consciences with guilt, the Lord wil heal them, others of them their very Limbs are broken, I wil bind up that that is broken; and compare that with another place where some of them are unable to stir, I wil lay them upon mine own [Page 26] Shoulders and bring them home; Mark, If they wan­der, be driven away, wounded, broken, lamed and spoiled, he hath a heart sutably compassionate to them all; that is One, Jesus Christ compassionates us under our sinful infirmities, as we Parents do our Children under their bodily infirmities, we are far from loving them the less for them: But if any one (by the way) should ask, If he do so, Why doth he not heal them? Stay but while I come to the last Conclusi­on and that wil satisfie you; that is the first. Second­ly,

2. Jesus Christ at his Fathers right hand prevails that the sinful infirmities of his People, make no breach in the league of love that is betwixt God and them; mark what I say, his Intercession prevails for them, he bearing their names, and pleading their cause, prevails that there is no breach made in Gods good will towards them: But even as it is with us that have a poor Child that goes about to do our work, and oftentimes spoils it when he would fain do it, and somtimes forgets to do it when yet he had a mind to do it, we knowing the frame of the Child, we kiss it notwithstanding; So God is such a gracious Father through Jesus Christ to his people, that notwithstan­ding al our infirmities the Lord never breaks his league of love, but we may go to him and pray to him, and call him Father, leave our supplications with him, and make that use of him as the Covenant of Grace holds him out to all his people, as freely in the midst of all our infirmities, as if we were quite delivered from them: Now this the Scripture is wonderful plain in, I could turn you to a great many, That Speech of Micah is admirable, Who hath such a God as we [Page 27] have? Why, what is our God? He passeth by the trans­gressions of the remnant of his Inheritance, he never looks after them, or if any one shew him them, he casts them behind his back, drowns them in the depth of the Sea, never laies them to the charge of them that fear him: Thou art a dead hearted Creature and canst not pray without wandring, and do nothing as be­comes thee, but thy own flesh rangles with it, that al is an abhomination in thy own eyes that thou doest, thou hast a friend in Heaven that presents all to God as if there were no blemish in them: Thou art all fair, my Dove there is no spot in thee. Is not this good news to all those that endeavor to walk with Christ in sincerity? The first is, He pities them under them; The second is, He prevails that there is no breach made betwixt God and the Soul because of them; Thirdly, Another which is a very great one, and that is.

3. Jesus Christ gives his Spirit unto his People to relieve their infirmities; The Spirit it self helpeth our in­firmities, you have that expression in Rom. 8. That the Lord Christ our Mediator doth give his holy Spirit to help us against our infirmities, What is that? I humbly conceive that Christ helping his Saints against their in­firmities signifies these three things, possibly it may signifie more, but these three (me thinks) are very cleer, The one is,

1. The Lords Spirit helps the Lords People so a­bout their infirmities, that they shal not be quite o­verrun with them; I, he doth as he said to the Sea, the proud waves of it when they come roaring, hi­therto you shal go; there you shal stop; So the Spi­rit of God keeps our corruptions in bounds, otherwise [Page 28] he whose corruption is gotten loose and taints his un­derstanding with a speculation, that would carry him on to action, and so to an habitualness; No, (saith the spirit of God) here I wil stop you, you shal go no further; that is one. It is through the help of Gods Spirit only, that the strength of every corruption that assaults us, makes us not act it to the very height of it; As when I walk with a man that hath overthrown me, then I am in his power, he may cut my Throat if I had not some friends to succor me; Gods Spirit succors us that Satan and our corruptions should not totally subdue us. Secondly,

2. He raiseth us up again when corruption hath brought us down; for you must know (Brethren) and that you wil easily understand, that the nature of sin is such that when a man is committing it, that he would rol down to the bottom of the Hil, and when he is there the waight would lie upon him that he should never rise again: Now the Spirit of God doth like the friend of a Wrastler by him when he hath thrown a man down, he plucks him up again and sets him up­on his feet again: So when any thing hath overpou­red the Soul, it would never rise again were it not for the Spirit of Christ, but Christs Spirit that is sent to relieve us, sets us again upon our feet; Yea, Thirdly (which is more)

3. The Spirit of Christ so assisteth all his people, that notwithstanding their corruptions be too strong for them, they shal again oppose it, yea, and by degrees get strength against it, Crucifie it, and Mortifie it all. As the Apostle expresseth it in Rom. 8. that when our corruptions are most potent, by the help of the Spirit you shal mortifie and crucifie the deeds of the Body; [Page 29] thus doth Christ for all his people, he doth not only compassionate, and keeps peace with God for them, but keeps their corruptions in some bounds that they do not quite over run them, or when they have pre­vailed in part; sets them up again, yea, and gives them strength to get up again: And then Fourthly and Lastly, (and then I draw to a Conclusion,) which is the Mystery of all the rest, and that is this,

4. The Lord Jesus appearing in Heaven for his People doth not only thus succor them, but like a Heavenly Physitian maketh Treacle of these Bites, he doth his Children Good by their Corruptions, and helps them more on in their way to Heaven, even by the opposition of their corrupt natures. This I acknow­ledg to flesh and blood is a mystery not to be opened, but you will see it cleerly to be so, only understand me thus, When (I say) the Lord wil do his people good by their sinful infirmities, I mean not that there is any thing in the nature of a corruption that can con­tribute to it, No, all that is in a corruption is deadly and poysonful, and dishonorable to God; but as one of the Fathers said of Adams fall, Oh! happy fall that did obtain such a Redeemer! So (you will say) hap­py are the People of God in the midst of their cor­ruptions, when the Lord Jesus doth them so much good by them: Now if you will know what is the good he doth to them, I acknowledg I want strength and time, and you would want Patience if I should discourse of them at large, I wil name but four Parti­culars and the naming of them wil confirm you in the truth of them, if you compare them with the experi­ences of all Gods people. The first is this,

1. By the Corruptions that the Saints of God carry a­bout [Page 30] them, the Lord keeps them in a continual self-abhorrency, which is the most excellent frame on this side Heaven. I know what I speak, that there is no frame of Spirit in this world so excellent as a self-abhorring Spirit, taken but with the next branch that you shall hear of presently, now nothing laies all Gods people so low as their corruptions; I tell you if the Saints of God had all the afflictions in the world lay upon them, were it not for their own corruptions they would ra­ther be proud of their afflictions, they are ready oft-times to murmur against God, as David and Job were tempted to it, I have walked with God in my inte­grity and simplicity, and yet I must thus be made worse than others; Oh! that would be grievous; but now when the Soul is sensible of its own corruption, dead heart, unprofitable Spirit, and the like, then wretched man that I am who shal deliver me from it? I say again, nothing in the world keeps Gods people so low as their corruptions, and that is a great gain; Augustin had a Speech That God would rather allow Lust to keep his Grace humble, than Grace to make his heart proud; Oh! nothing so abasing as the relicks of corruption, which exceedingly advantages Gods Children; The Second Advantage is, That as it makes us very low in our own eyes, so,

2· It wonderfully magnifies Christ, Oh! it maketh Jesus Christ most precious nothing makes Christ so precious to the Saints of God, as the Corrup­tions that they bear about them: Nay, I will add more, that had Jesus Christ forty years ago done the work, satisfied for sin, and made me stand in Gods fa­vor, and now I had no more need of him, I should quickly forget him; As suppose a man had forfeited [Page 31] his estate, and his Life forty years ago, and some dear friend buys all, and gives him all, and sets him up again, now forty years after he hath traded and grown Rich by his own Wit and strength, surely he cannot but remember how he was beholding to that friend, forty years ago; I, but he would never re­member him so well, as he would that friend that should do that every day for him, I live upon his Table and Almes every day, and yet he Loves me never a whit the less: So when a Soul remembers I was a dead Man, an enemy, and Christ brought me, and not only so but every day I forfeit all, and grieve God, and shall bring ruine upon my self, mark how Paul con­cludes it in Rom. 7. when he said, Oh wretched man! Who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death? I thank God through Jesus Christ; Oh! Christ Jesus his appea­ring it was dear to Paul. Now here is a wonderful gain beyond all the Righteousness of this world, if the Saints of God had in their course as much Righte­ousness as the glorified Saints in Heaven, and the An­gels in Heaven have, it were not so glorious to God in this administration, as a spirit that magnifies Christ and abaseth it self, and this is wonderfully advanced by the reliques of corruption that we bear about us; Thirdly, Another great benefit is,

3. Hereby doth the Lord temper his People, to make them submit quietly, to every bitter Cup the Lord gives them to drink; Nothing makes the Soul so Patient under affliction, so quiet in the loss of all other things, nothing doth it like to this, Oh! had I my deserts, should the Lord mark mine iniquities, it would not be the loss of a Child would serve my turn, it would not be the clipping off of a piece of [Page 32] my estate, it is mercy I am not destroyed, nothing makes the Soul lay its hand quietly upon its mouth, and quietly submit to every dispensation of God though never so bitter, as the sence of corruption we daily bear about us; And in the last place.

4. Hereby doth the Lord, wonderfully make his People long to be dissolved and get to Heaven, where they may leave sinning against him; for whatsoever carnal People may think, there is nothing so grievous to the people of God as sinning against him, and when they shal come to die, when they shall put off morta­lity and leave off dishonoring his name it is more wel­come to them then to be rid of afflictions, and that made Paul long to be in Heaven, because I know while I am in this Body I shal never be with the Lord as I should be, but I long til that day shal come; Now here is gain, when that corruption, those reliques of it abase thee, and magnifie Christ, and fit thee for every dispensation, and make thee long to be at home with the Lord, and (I might add) in the mean time make thee attend conscionably upon all the means that may bring thee to him, and is not here wonderful gain? So that you may see of what use the intercession of Christ is to al the Saints in the middest of all their sinful infir­mities that they bear about them; I will now dismiss you presently with two short Uses of it. First,

THe dependance of the Words stands thus. First, You have in the beginning of the Chapter a most glorious Description of Jesus Christ, both of his person, and of his Natures, and of his Office, under the Name of the Light that inlighteneth every one that cometh into the World. Then,

[Page 36]Secondly, You have a description of his Entertain­ment in the World, when this great Lord submitted to this work, and manifested himself: What was his entertainment? First, He came into the world, and though the world were made by him, Yet the world would not know him, he came amongst his own, that is, his own nation and kinred, who had been instructed a­bout a Messiah that was to come, and had long pra­yed for him, Oh! that he would bow the Heavens and come down amongst us; he came amongst them, and they would none of him, they would not receive him. Truly, this is the ordinary lot of Jesus Christ whereso­ever he cometh, but yet there were a remnant that did receive him and shal receive him, even those that belong to the Covenant of Grace. And what get they by it? That Remnant, that handful that do receive Christ, make the best bargain that ever was made in the world: As many as did receive him, to them he gave this priviledg, that they should become the Sons of God; and so here you have the comprehension of all the happi­ness that Beleevers do receive by Jesus Christ, they are made the Sons of God; so that the Text hath two things in it. First,

1. Here is the Means whereby Souls are made par­takers of Christ; that is, upon receiving of him, that is the means and condition or instrument. All that receive him, which is interpreted in the next words, even they who believed in him, Believing in Christ, and Recei­ving Christ is al one; This though it be a Doctrine of wonderfull comfort I shall speak nothing of it, but of the second; That is,

2. The benefit that they all receive who do par­take of Christ, what they get by him: They all of [Page 37] them have this priviledg or Prerogative, That they are made the Sons of God; and so without any more preparation to the Text, or explication (for the Do­ctrine I will explain in the handling of it, I say,) with­out any more preface I lay you down this Doctrine,

Doct. That al who believe in Jesus Christ are made the Sons of God, the Children of God.

And that you may receive this with better attenti­on, I will (to make you the better understand the Lord's scope) answer a Question, that is this.

Quest. You say it is very cleer in the Scriptures that al Be­leevers are made the Children of God, that is one of their Pri­viledges, but what is the reason that no more is named but that one? They are Justified, they are Sanctified, they have the Pro­mises, they are Reconciled, they have a thousand excellencies in this world, yet here is none named but only this, they are made Sons, Why is no other named but this?

Answ. I Answer plainly, and it will be of great use to understand it, namely, that though somtimes in the holy Scriptures our Sonship is but one of our Pri­viledges, yet very frequently in the Scripture all that Beleevers do obtain from Christ in this world and the world to come, here and to eternity, all is compre­hended in this one, That they are made the Children of God. Really you wil see it as cleer as the Sun pre­sently, that God comprehends all other priviledges in this one; that he that hath this one, he that is made the Son of God, he hath all other that can be imagi­ned, or that you can find any Speech of, in al the Book of God, so great is this. And I wil give you a little [Page 38] light about it, and then you wil receive the Doctrine (I hope) with the more attention, and with the more desire to see your own Interest in it; You shal see (and observe it as a general) that very frequently, when the Lord describeth the Covenant of Grace, the new Covenant what he wil be to his people in the new Co­venant, he is very frequent in the setting down of this, I wil be their Father (saith he) and they shall be my Sons and Daughters; I know not how often the whol Cove­nant of Grace is expressed in that word, I wil be their Father, they shal be my Children: but very cleerly you shal see it, if you turn to Ephes. 1.5. where the Apo­stle doth bless the Lord for all the abundant Grace that is manifested to us in Christ, there he sets it down in this one expression, having predestinated us to the adoption of Children: What is al that? Al the Graces & al the Good that we enjoy from Christ, you have it in this one Sentence, God predestinated us to the adoption of Children; he hath done all when he hath done that. And there­fore upon that very account it is that you shall see in Rom. 8.23. where the Apostle speaks there of the Groa­ning of the Saints, the rest of the Creatures groan, & al the Saints groan for the glorious coming of Jesus Christ, To what end? (saith he) That we might receive the Adoption; that is, the perfecting of our Sonship. Now we have Hea­ven it self when we have but our Sonship made, that is plain; and you wil see it still plainer in the Epistle to the Galatians, Chap. 4 and the beginning, the Apostle there speaking of Christs coming as our Surety, When the fulness of time was come the Lord sent his Son Jesus Christ, made of a Woman, under the Law, and made him a Curse, To what end? that we might receive the adoption of Children; there is all. But that the time would prevent me ha­ving [Page 39] many things to deliver, I might go on to shew you more Scriptures that fully prove this truth, That to be made a Son of God is to have the comprehensi­on of all that is obtained by Jesus Christ; so that this is no smal Theam that I am entred upon, and I hope if the Lord help me but to make it out to you in this hours discourse, you will before you part, conclude they are happy men that have gotten an interest in Christ by Faith. This premised now I come to the de­monstration of the Doctrine, That all who have really ac­cepted of Christ for their Savior, they are all of them made the Sons of God; that is the Doctrine. Now to explain it, You must know that God is said to have Sons, or to be a Father in the Scripture in many senses; I may bring them all to these two heads for my purpose.

1. Sometimes the Lord is said in a Metaphorical sense to be a Father in divers cases, and yet he is not properly a Father, he neither hath the bowels of a Fa­ther, to those whom he cals Sons in that sense, nor have they the bowels of Children, who cal him Father in that sense, for all the whol Creation he is the Father of them all in that respect, That their being is from him and their dependance upon him and the like: But then Secondly,

2. God is said to have Sons properly, and I explain when I say properly, I mean Sons so that really he is a Father to them, hath the heart of a Father, the bowels of a Father, whatsoever is desirable in a Father; and they on the other side properly are his Children, in being unto him what Children are unto a Father: Now in this sense God is said in the Scripture to have Sons two waies, two sorts of Sons. The one is,

[Page 40]1. Natural, Begotten by him, in which begetting or generation his own essence is communicated, that as we beget a man, so in that begetting God may be said to beget a God, or a Person that hath the essence of God; this is one sense, and in this sense he hath no Son but our Lord Jesus Christ, who was eternally begotten by him, and is God over all, blessed forever; and it is blas­phemy for any but Christ Jesus to challenge to be the Son of God in that sense; and therefore the Scribes and Pharisees were right when they told Christ, he did blaspheme because he called himself the Son of God they were right (I say) thus far, that had not Christ been the begotten Son of his Father, and so had the same nature, he had blasphemed in calling himself Gods Son in that sense. But then Secondly,

2. But God hath other Sons to whom he is proper­ly a Father, and those are by Adoption, which you frequently read of in the Scriptures, especially of the new Testament, where all Saints and Beleevers have the Adoption, are the adopted Sons and Daughters of God; Thus I have brought you to it, that Beleevers are the adopted Sons and Daughters of God concer­ning which I shal (the Lord assisting me) in the Doctrinal part open these three things to you, and the other shall be the Application so far as the Lord shall help me in the compass of the time; Three things in the Doctrinal part: The first is,

• 1. What this means, what it is to be an adopted Son of God. Secondly,
• 2. How this priviledg of being made the Son of God by A­doption is wrought, that you may see it is not a Fancy, I wil shew you how it is wrought and brought about, and by [Page 41] it those that will be willing and Faithfull may be able to judg of their own condition, whether they are the adopted Children of God or not. And then Thirdly,
• 3. I wil shew you, in somwhat a more general way, What this adoption, or being made an adopted Child of God, what infinite priviledges it doth comprehend in it. For the first,

1. What it is to be adopted, What is Adoption?

I Answer, Indeed the word was never used in the old Testament, and the reason is because that adopti­on it was not then known, though there was somthing like it, but in the Roman Empire which was at the height when Christ and his Apostles lived, there the thing that we cal Adoption was as wel known, as al­most any thing that belonged to the government of the Empire, the Nature, the Laws of it, the Duties of it too, they were all stated, that our Lawyers have not more cleer Evidences how to set out things that be­long to our Law now, than in the Empire of Rome they were acquainted with the whole Laws and Man­ner and way of adoption, and so because it is of so ex­ceeding great use to shadow out the unexpressable be­nefits that we have by Christ, the Lord was pleased (if I may so say) to adopt into the Covenant of Grace; And amongst the Romans Adoption it was after this manner, It was the taking of a Person or Persons, who had no natural right to any inheritance, a taking them into a Lawful right, there are various descriptions of it amongst the Romans, but the best of them is this, A lawful act imitating nature, whereby a Person or Persons who have no natural right to an inheritance, are taken in, into a lawful right, and it was done after this manner in a [Page 42] few words, for commonly none but Princes, or Sena­tors, or great Persons did ever adopt any, but this was the way, When there was an agreement made be­twixt the Persons that did adopt and the Person to be adopted (for they never adopted those that were unwilling to it, but when there was an agreement it should be so) the adopter did carry the Person be­fore the Judges, or into some publick and Lawful As­sembly, and there before them al called the Party Son, This is my Son, and from that day forward he was his Son to all rights and purposes in the Roman Laws, as much as if he had begotten him; (as you will hear more before I have done my discourse,) thus it was amongst them. Now accordingly if you wil know in the Gospel Sense, what is Adoption, I describe it thus, It is a gracious Sentence of God the Father, who cals sin­ners (if Beleevers) his Sons for Christ's sake; I give you this short description: That it is a gracious Sen­tence of God the Father, whereby he doth call Be­leevers though sinners, yet he cals them his Sons for Christs sake; the very Scripture language, We are called Sons: but yet I think a little plainer take this: It is a gracious work of God, whereby he doth take poor sinners who beleeve in Christ, into that Glorious Condition of being his own Children: All this will by and by be more plain, when I come to shew you what it comprehends in it, but the Lord of his free Grace when he hath brought home a Soul, to make it accept of Christ to be its Savior, then doth he, how unworthy soever that Wretch be, he takes him into the condition of his own Children: That is the first, and I am the shorter in it because the next wil explain it more, The second Question is this,

[Page 43]2. What is this work of Adopting, or how is it done? and therein I humbly crave your best attention, because I know to you that are the Lords, I am opening the most glorious Priviledg that Christ Jesus hath bought with his blood for you, and it wil be wel worth your under­standing, how we that are Children of Wrath come to be made the Children of God. I Answer you then, First,

1. In general, The Adopting of a Soul to be a Child of God is so high a work, that the whol Trinity, the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, every one of the three Persons have their di­stinct work, in Adopting a poor Sinner to be the Child of God; nor is any man upon Earth ever made the Child of God, til al those three works of the Trinity have pas­sed upon him, so great a matter is it to be made Gods Child: And this wil I open to you in the second place,

2. What the several works of the blessed Trinity are, in ma­king a poor unworthy sinner to become the Child of God. First,

1. The work of the Father. God the Father what is his work in our Adoption? It stands in two things, you will find them cleerly if you do but study the Scriptures. The first is,

1. From all Eternity the Lord did choose them to be his Children, that when he did first pitch upon them, (if I may speak of any thing that is first which is eternal) but when the Lord pitched upon poor Creatures and chose them to life, he chose them to be his Children; as you have it in Ephes. 1. verse 5. He hath predestinated us to the Adoption of Children, that although he himself had a naturally and only begotten Son, every way pleasing and delightful to him, yet besides this only be­gotten Son would he have other Children, who with that Son should enjoy him, and serve him, and under [Page 44] that notion he chose to make them his Children; Not only so, but,

2. When he gave them to Christ, which was like­wise a work from all Eternity, When the Lord gave these to Jesus Christ whom he chose to be Sons, he gave them to him under the notion of Brethren; These are to be thy Bre­thren, I give them to thee to compleat the work which I have chosen them to, which is to be my Sons, and therefore it is said in that place of the Hebrews, That because the Children were partakers of Flesh and Blood, that is, those that the Lord had chosen and looked up­on as Children, he that was their Surety must partake of Flesh and Blood: So there is the Fathers work, that from all Eternity he taketh a poor Creature, and saith, This shal be my Son, and he gives him to his Son Christ, These I give as thy Brethren to thee, to bring them to the enjoyment of me; There is the work of the Father, this I hope is plain. Then Secondly,

2. There is a work of Jesus Christ, What is that? The work and Office of Jesus Christ in the point of Adop­tion, that likewise stands in two things. The First is,

1. He was to purchase their Sonship for them; for though the Father would give it them freely, it should cost them nothing, yet Christ being made their Surety he must purchase it for them, so that the Lord although he was the Heir of all things, yet he condescends by his own Blood, by his own Sufferings, by himself be­ing made a Curse, He condescends to purchase adoption for those that were given him to bring to life. This is plain in Gal. 4. where i [...] is said, When the fulness of time was come, God sent his own Son born of a Woman, made under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of Sons, that our Adop­tion [Page 45] as it flows from Christ is the price of his Blood, that is one of the works that Christ doth. The second is this,

2. That when the acceptable hour is come, that the Lord is pleased to bring a Sinner home to Christ, Christ is applied to him as a Brother, that when they are brought to Christ by Faith, Christ cometh to be ap­plied to them as their elder Brother, not only as a Re­deemer that hath satisfied God and purchased for them, but when he is made over to them, he is made over to them in his Sonship as wel as in the rest of his works; so that as our justification ariseth from Christs righteousness being applied to us, so our Sonship ari­sing from Christ as the Son, (being the only begotten Son of God and our elder Brother) is applied to us: Yea, I tel you this application of Christ in his Sonship to the Saints is so neer and so close, that although he be the only begotten Son of God, the first born, the Heir of all things, yet by vertue of his application un­to Beleevers, they likewise come to be called by God himself his first born: These are high things, but the Scripture is cleer in them, for so you read it in the latter end of Heb. 12.23. where it is said, that we are come to the new Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of An­gels, to the general Assembly, and to the Congregation of the first born whose names are written in Heaven, that all they that are called home to Christ, by reason of their con­junction to their elder Brother, they are the first born of God: and the Lord speaks thus of all his Saints in that place of Exod. in that sense I am speaking, Go (saith he) to Pharoah, tel him Israel is my Son: What Son? My first born, he is my first born because Israel was comprehended in Christ, and Christ looked upon as [Page 46] his Brother, Israel is Gods first born: So here are two of the works of the Trinity in our Adoption, the work of the Father in chusing us to it, and giving us to Jesus Christ as his Brethren, the work of the Son is in purchasing this great priviledg by his Blood, and when the time of Application is come, the making himself over to them in the consideration or notion of an elder Brother, and so they really by their conjun­ction with him partake of it. There is the second work.

3. There is the work of the Holy Ghost, and til that like­wise be past over the Soul, never is any man made the Son of God. The Holy Ghost and his work is so emi­nent and apparent, that he is called the Spirit of Adopti­on, that when the Lord gives his Spirit unto his Chil­dren, he cals it by the Spirit of Adoption, because it is the great Office of the Spirit to make that great work of Adoption.

Quest. Now what is the Holy Spirit's work about it?

Answ. I Answer, It stands in three things, and you wil see them all cleer in Scripture, (and I hope I shal have some time for the Application, for I go it over as fast as I can,) the Holy Ghosts work in making us the Sons of God stands in three things, as it is cleer in the Scripture. The one is,

1. When the acceptable time is come, that the Lord means to make a Soul that is by nature a Child of wrath to become the Child of God, He sends the Spirit of Jesus Christ into that Soul to be a band of union betwixt Christ and that soul, that whereas Christ is to be applied to them as a Brother, and they to be mystically united [Page 47] unto him, the holy Spirit takes this Office upon him­self to come and dwel in the heart, as a band of union betwixt Christ and them, that Christ and they should never more be separated, and this work of the pou­ring out of the Spirit into the Soul, to take possession of him for Christ, and to give the possession of Christ unto him, the Spirit being the band of it, this is the first work of the Spirit as he is the Spirit of Adoption: There is one. The second work of the Spirit is this,

2. That when the holy Spirit comes to make Christ and us one, he as the elder Brother and we as his Bre­thren inseparably united to him, whereas he findeth us enemies, hateful, hating, that would rather be uni­ted to Harlots, to the Creature, to any thing, the Spi­rit of God works a Child-like heart in them, framing and molding their Spirits, that for the time to come they calling God, Father (as they have warrant to do) they likewise shall be made Sons, even in the frame and bent of their spirits, which is very excellently ex­pressed in the very next words to my Text, wherein it is said, He gave them this Prerogative that they should become the Sons of God, which were born (saith he, mark,) not of Blood, nor of the wil of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God; Now no longer shal flesh and blood sway them, but being born of God, the Spirit of God gives a new birth and a new life, now they come to have the hearts of Children, that as nature hath planted in the heart of a Child toward the Parent, Honor, and Love, and Reverence, and Obedience, where sin hath not utterly perverted it, this is the natural genius of a Child to his Father. So the Spirit of God molds and frames the Soul, and this the Scripture signifies when [Page 48] it saith, Because you are Sons, God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, whereby now we can cry Abba Father, now the hearts of them shal stand to God, and be car­ried to him in Faith and Prayer, as the hearts of Chil­dren are naturally carried to their Parents That is the second thing. And then the third and last work of the Spirit (and so you have all this indeed as plain be­fore you as I can set it out, briefly the Third Work) is this,

3. This Holy Spirit even as it is the Spirit of Adop­tion, doth not only unite them to Christ, and frame a sutable disposition in them towards God and Christ, But it abides in them upon all need to witness to their Spirits that this is their condition, to give not only the Seal of it by changing their hearts, but by giving them the comfort of it as they need it in their necessities; which the Apostle expresseth in those words, it is in Rom. 8. And the same Spirit witnesseth to our spirits that we are Gods Children, it carries our hearts to God, and testifies to the Soul that God is their Father. There is the se­cond. Now I have been larger in that, because in truth the world doth not ponder these things, nay few of Gods own Children do ever consider what a strange work it is, that none but the blessed Trinity can un­dertake, and each of them have their distant work in it, of bringing a poor Child of Wrath to become the Child of God. That is the second. You hear now what Adoption is, and how it is wrought. Now the third thing in the Doctrinal part (and then I hasten to the Application,) is,

Wel, What are the benefits of it? Now what are the benefits of our Adoption? That when the Lord hath took this strange course, and brought about this strange [Page 49] work, Wherein doth the worth of this Priviledg stand? I answer, You wil receive a great deal of light of it, at least it wil help you to remember it, and understand it the better, if I do illustrate it, by the practice that was amongst the Romans: So their Adoption and the Ro­man Adoption had three things in it, it carried three things (as all learned men that have read their Sto­ries and Laws do know) The first is,

1. When a man was Adopted into a Family, the Fa­mily of a Caesar, or the great men, by his Adoption he was cut off from the Family from which he sprung by his natural birth, cut off from it, not simply, but from whatsoever was base or unworthy in that Fami­ly, that if his Father were a Slave, and himself by his birth a Slave, it was hereditary to him, or if any blot or infamy stuck upon his family, whatsoever it was, the Adopting of this Person into another Family, wholly cut him off from al the base ignominious slavish bondage, and dangers which belonged to the Family, from which he sprung by his natural birth; That was the first. The second was,

2. That by his Adoption he was taken as belonging to the Family into which he was Adopted, as much as if he had been begotten by him, he was to have (by the Laws of the Empire) the same respect from his adop­ted Father, the same provision, the same protection, the same immunities whatsoever, that his own begot­ten Son might claim by nature from the Roman Laws, the adopted Child was instituted in them all. And Thirdly,

3 By his Adoption he had the same right to the in­heritance that the begotten Child had; if there were no other begotten Children, the whol Inheritance sel [Page 50] to the Adopted Child, if there were another begot­ten Child though beloved, the Adopted shared with him in it, Look how the inheritance was to go a­mongst the begotten Children by the Laws of the Em­pire, so by the same Laws it was to go amongst them that were adopted: Thus it was amongst them, but whether any Lawyers can except against it or no I will not much dispute it, but I shal make it cleer to you, that it is thus absolutely and fully in our adoption; Absolutely and fully in the adoption of a Child by Faith, all these three things meet. First,

1. We are hereby cut off from the Family from which we sprung by nature, I speak not now of our Civil birth or rights, but of our spiritual standing, which is to be Children of wrath, Children of Belial, Children of old Adam, Children of Sin and Death, we are cut off from that Family, no longer to be recko­ned of it, the Bondage, Baseness, Obligations, Curses, whatsoever lay or doth lie upon Adams Family, or up­on any that spring from it, assoon as ever the Lord cals him Son through Christ, he is wholly cut off from all, that is plainly thus, (and because I cannot possibly open these in a short discourse, I wil commend it to your studies)

1. We are (for example) all of us by nature under the Dominion of sin, that is our birthright, sin and the curses of it, we are al under it, assoon as ever the Lord cals a Beleever, Child, that he hath let his adoption pass upon him, the bondage of sin, the curse of sin, the dominion of sin, it is wholly removed from him; ye [...] not under sin, sin cannot have dominion over you▪ because you are now brought under Grace; And then likewise,

[Page 51]2. The Law whereby sin is irritated and animated, the Law that in the Rigor of it, and the Curse of it, that lies upon all the Sons of Adam, we are cut off from it assoon as ever we are Gods Children; and therefore the Apostle expresseth it thus to the Galatians, that he made his Son born under the Law, that he might Redeem us that are under the Law, that we might have the Adoption of Children, I hope no Body will mistake me, for it is most clear in the word, that the Law remains as a rule to Gods Children, and that is their priviledg, but as for the Rigor and curse of it, they are wholly cut off from that when they are made the Sons of God by Adoption; That is the First, That the Lord calling Sons to Jesus Christ, and owning them as his Children for the sake of Christ, they are deli­vered from all the Curses and bondage that belongs to Adams Family, and which all the Rest of the world lie under: But then the Second is greater then this. And that is,

2. That by our Adoption we are really (I speak of Beleevers not nominal Christians, but real Christians, they are all of them) taken into Gods Family as his Sons and Daughters, that is, he owneth them to be his Children, and hath the Bowels of a Father to them really, that they are now under his care, under his provision, under his Protection, under his indulgence, and whatsoever he hath commanded the most Holy Parents to exercise towards their own Children that fear them, he hath ingaged himself perpetually for ever, to do all these things unto those whom he is pleased to cal his Sons and Daughters by Adoption; There is nothing so ful, no pearle so ful of excellency, there is nothing so ful of any thing that is good, as [Page 52] this is ful of consolation to the saints of God, that can but understand it, therefore he must needs bear with them, therefore he must needs provide for them, therefore if he correct them it must needs be in Love, with no­thing but a Fatherly rod, for we are all taken into his Family, and may go to him as to a Father in all things wherein we have need of a Father; that is the Second, A great comprehension of Priviledges not to be ut­tered; And then the Third branch is as clear.

3. That when God calls us to be his Children, we are thereby made his Heires, we are Heires of God; indeed in the Civil Law inheritance it is by a succession into the right of the Dead, but now as the Lord is pleased to apply it to his Children, it signifies a cer­tain inheritance, but certainly the inheritance that the Lord of Heaven is to give to any, or that he hath given to his Son Jesus Christ, all his Brethren the Brethren of Christ, and the Sons of God have a share in it; If you wil have it a little more fully, I will tell you in a few words thus, for you have the proof of it in Rom. 8.16. That the Spirit witnesseth with our Spirits that we are the Children of God, and if Children then Heirs, Heirs of God and Coheirs with Christ: But I mean these two things by it. First,

1. The Heir while he is a Child is Lord of all, he is Lord of al before he comes to the injoyment of it, he is the Lord of it, so now while Gods Children are in their minority, while they are poor ones in this world, they are Heirs of the world, the Lord hath called his Chil­dren to be Heirs of the world, that is, whatsoever is in this world is for their sakes, the Angels, the World the Devils in Hel, in spite of their Hearts they are al under the Saints, and are compelled by the Lord, they against [Page 53] their wills, and the Angels with their good wils, they all of them are subservient to those that are the Sons of God by Adoption, and whatsoever is in the wide world, and may be enjoyed any waies for the good of his People, they are the Heirs of all; this is their Por­tion while they are in this world; the Scripture saith it plain, All is yours, and you are Christs, and Christ is Gods, and therefore Paul, and Apollo, or Cephas, or whatsoever is in the world, all is yours, the Saints of God have a real right to al by vertue of their Sonship, not in the Law of man but in the spirituall sense that the Scripture holds out. And then,

2. For the other life, where the prepared possession which was cast by God from all Eternity, all the Glory of Heaven, such as Eye never saw, nor never entred into the heart of man to conceive of, it is all kept to be the everlasting inheritance of all those that are called the Lords Children. Thus (Brethren) I have as briefly as I could, and yet I have through Gods good­ness plainly opened to you this great priviledg of all priviledges, that whosoever doth beleeve in Jesus Christ, really accepts him to be their Savior, they are upon their beleeving in Christ made the Sons and Daughters of God: Now let me make some Applica­tion before I dismiss you, and one thing that I would fain have you think upon alone, is,

I Read all these verses because they all hold out one and the same Doctrine, though in a little different phrases; That you may the better understand the scope of our blessed Savior in these words, know that the occasion of it was this, Christ having the day [Page 62] before fed the Bodies of many thousands who atten­ded upon his ministry; The rumor of this flying a­broad, the next day great multitudes thronged after him again, and Christ knowing what lay at the bot­tom of the heart, told them plainly they sought him for carnal ends, because they had eat of the Loaves and were filled, but that was not the end of his coming into the world to, fil their Bellies, No, there was bet­ter food that he was willing to give all that had an ap­petite after it, and thereupon (that I may not stay you) fals into a most divine discourse of his own be­ing sent out of the bosome of his Father, to be the Bread of life to al who did thirst after him, and would but accept of him, and tels them more particularly that they must eat and drink his flesh and his blood, as the only Food that would do good to their Souls; hereupon these carnal People were extreamly offen­ded at him and at his Doctrine, for they interpret all this in a carnal manner, as if Christ did mean that they must eat his very flesh and drink his very blood, as they did eat and drink other food, and truly it was e­ver thus and it wil be ever thus, that nothing can act above its own Sphere, and they who have carnall minds can never judg right of spiritual things; there­upon our blessed Savior in the words that I have read, and in many other in this latter end of the Chapter in­culcates this Doctrine further, Assuredly no man could ever live that did not eat and drink his flesh and blood, and he that did eat him and drink him, eat his flesh and drink his blood would receive such invaluable nou­rishment, as he would think it the best meal that ever he was at: And that is the scope of these words, which before I come to handle, give me leave very briefly [Page 63] to vindicate them, from the gross erronious inter­pretation that the Papists put upon them, for you all know that there is a monster in their Doctrine that is called transubstantiation, which in their con­ceit is the turning of the Bread and the Wine in the Sa­crament of the Lords Supper, into the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and whosoever doth not be­leeve it (in their conceit) is certainly damned. And this Doctrine of theirs hath been the occasion of the murdering and martyrdome of many thousands of Saints, and among all the Arguments that they alledg to prove it, this Scripture is the prime of all the rest, except only that of This is my Body: But in the next place to that comes this discourse, wherein Christ speaks so Positively and punctually of eating his flesh and drinking his Blood, and the necessity of it to sal­vation, that they think every man out of his wits that is not convinced by these Texts to grant their tran­substantiation; yea, one of them, and one of the lear­nedst of them hath left it in Print, that if ever the Lord Christ should say to him at the day of judgment, Why didst thou beleeve that the Bread and Wine was my very Body and Blood? he would make no other An­swer than this, Thou spakest it so plain in such a place that it could not be denied, my sense and reason could not deny it. Now I wil a little cleer this Text from them, and I hope to such an understanding Auditory as (I think) I preach to, a very few words wil serve the turn. There are three things which whosoever doth but weigh, will be easily convinced that the ea­ting and drinking that is here spoke of, hath no rela­tion in the world to the Sacrament of the Lords Sup­per. The first is,

[Page 64]1. This Sermon was preached a whole year before there was any word of the institution of the Sacrament, the Sacrament of the Lords Supper was at the Passo­ver, immediately before his Death, this was a whole year before it, Now how can it be imaginable that Christs speech here should be meant of a Sacramental eating, when no Sacrament was instituted? Who can imagine such a thing? Secondly,

2. This Text and all this discourse in John 6. if it should be interpreted literally, for that is the thing they stand for, the literal sense (I say) interpret it li­terally and it is quite against their transubstantiation, for they say that the Bread and Wine are transubstan­tiated into the Body and Blood of Christ, but if here be any transubstantiation at all, it is that the Body and blood of Christ are transubstantiated into bread and drink, for he doth not say the bread is my body, the drink is my blood, but my body, my flesh is meat, and my blood is drink, so that if you will have any trans­substantiation it is quite contrary. And, Thirdly,

3. The eating and drinking of Christ that my Text speaks of, it is very plain by our Lords words, that whosoever eats him and drinks him as this Text holds out, shal certainly live another life for ever, and they themselves grant that you may eat that very Body and Blood of Christ as it is in the Sacrament, and never partake of his Grace, but go to Hell with the Sacra­ment in their bellies: I hope that this is enough to shew you that this Text proves it not; I tel you (in a word) that the eating and drinking that my Text speaks of, is the same thing that the people of God en­joy in the Sacrament and out of the Sacrament, for there do we partake of the Body and Blood of Christ [Page 65] spiritually by faith, whosoever receives it preparedly, but the discourse here is nothing at all to that; But now I come to the matter, and in the words there are two things which (the Lord assisting me) I wil open to you, the first is,

1. The duty required of every one that would par­take of Jesus Christ; and that is, to eat his flesh and drink his blood; that is the duty pressed over and over and so heavily, that the Lord saith expressly, that whosoever doth not do it, can never live; The duty required, to eate and drink the body and blood of Jesus Christ; the second is

2 The benefits which every soul doth receive who doth eate Christs flesh and drink Christs blood, and that is set down in many various expressions, but all tending to the same thing, that is, they shall live for ever, they shall never hunger nor thirst, they shall in no wise be cast out, they shall be raised up at the last day, they shall live to eternity, these are the bene­fits or rather the benefit (for all is one) that every soul partakes of, who eates the flesh of Christ and who drinks his blood: wel now for the meaning of it, that I may make it plain, (for my intent is to preach but a short Sermon) I will (God willing) open both the parts, that is the duty required and the benefit recei­ved, I will open them distinctly and give you the ap­plication of them both together, for the first.

1. What is meant by our Lord when he doth thus positively say, that we must eat his flesh and drink his blood, his flesh is meat indeed and his blood is drink in­deed, this we must eat, this we must drink, What doth he mean? I answer plainly that his meaning is, we must [Page 66] beleeve, Beleeving is eating and drinking, and eating and drinking in this sense is beleeving; that is the ge­neral meaning, and that it is so, any of you may prove it your selves, if you wil but read the Scriptures over, for where he saith, My flesh is meat indeed in one place, He that beleeveth in me shall never hunger nor thirst, by and by, He that eateth of this Bread shal live for ever: So that I know not how often in this one Chapter eating & drin­king is interpreted by Beleeving, and Beleeving in a Metaphor is nothing but Eating & Drinking, therefore my work shal be (God willing) to explain this, know then in general, that this great Grace of Faith whereby Souls partake of Christ, it is in the true nature of it nothing but an accepting or receiving of Jesus Christ, to be that unto us which God sent him to be for poor sinners; the Scrip­ture is most cleer, in 1 John 12. As many as received him, he gave them power to become the Sons God, even they that belee­ved in him; So that to receive Christ is to believe in him; now the receiving of Christ being a spiritual act of the soul, wherin the understanding and the wil must both have a share, it hath pleased the Lord (I beseech you mark it, it hath pleased the Lord) to set out this one act of Beleeving by abundance of Metaphors in the Scrip­ture similitudes taken from the Body, and every one of them being rightly interpreted wil cleerly set out the nature of Faith, and what the Soul doth when it be­leeveth in Christ, as I wil give you but a tast, because it is but one only that I mean to open, and that is in my Text Somtimes,

1. Beleeving it is very often set forth by Coming; Come unto me, He that cometh unto me I will not cast him out, that is to Beleeve [...] Now Coming therein is a figure, an expression taken from an act of our Body, of our [Page 67] Feet, wherein there are alwaies these three things,

• 1. There is the place from which we go.
• 2. There is the place to which we go.
• 3. There is the way and means in which and by which we go: Now these interpreted would cleerly shew you what the Soul doth in Beleeving: So like­wise,

2. To look up to Christ, that as Moses lift up the Ser­pent in the Wilderness, that whosoever looked upon it was cured, so Christ is lifted up that we may look upon him: Now that very act of the eye to look to an Object for such an end, being rightly interpreted would cleerly shew you, what the Soul of man doth when it beleeveth in Christ. And so,

3. To stay upon him or to lean upon him, which is a Metaphor taken from the Body that reposeth it self upon somewhat to uphold it, when it wants strength of its own; now this being discovered would cleerly shew you what the Soul of man doth when it believeth in Christ.

4. Now among many of these Metaphors, this Text of John's pitcheth upon this especially, of eating Christ, and drinking, which is the action of our mouth and stomach, wherby our life comes to be maintained by our Food, and there is in this of eating and drinking so cleer a demonstration what the Soul of man doth when it beleeveth in Christ, and how it may discover whether men do beleeve or no, that you cannot de­sire a cleerer than this is, if God do but vouchsafe the ful understanding of it. That then which I have laid out for a part of this afternoon's work is, to shew you wherin the eating & drinking of our food doth shadow out Beleeving in Jesus Christ to eternal life, though I [Page 68] have but now brought you to that which I would en­deavor a little more fully to discover to you, Would you know then wherein the Holy Ghost maketh the comparison to stand? for I dare not go to ad the study of our own brains, but wherein the Scripture makes these to answer one another, eating and drinking food for bodily life, and Beleeving in Christ for spiri­tual life, wherein do they answer? I answer in these six things, some of them I shall not need to stay upon, for if I should stay upon all I should not have time to cleer the rest, but in six things do the eating and drinking of our food answer our laying hold upon Je­sus Christ by Faith, and I wil desire you to mark them, because it is the foundation of a great tryal of your spiritual estate. The first,

1. That the Lord when he first created man with a living Soul, with a life; this life of man is not able to nourish it self, to preserve it self in being, nor to strengthen it self when it is any waies impaired, but God hath appointed that which is food, such creatures as have suitable spirits in them to the life of man, that mans life (under God) lies in these, and cannot be preserved without them, but it is the meat and drink (as the ordinary expression is) it is the food and the nourishment, the means wherby the life of man is pre­served in a man, and give him all other things in the world, let Angels attend him, Princes wait upon him, let all that God hath given to the whole Creation be bestowed upon him, keep food from him and the man dies, he doth not live, though it is true we live not by Bread only, but God can preserve it otherwise, but in the ordinary proceedings of God, take away food and you take away life, you need no other weapon, mans [Page 69] life, the nourishment of mans life is food; that is one. Now answerable to this for our spiritual life, it is laid up and to be found wholly in the Lord Jesus Christ, in his flesh and his blood, but you must know it is his flesh and blood prepared, that look as other meat, Bread must be broken, and ground, and baked, and so made fit for mans use before he partakes of it, so the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ was ground, was broken by the passion and sufferings he underwent for our sins, and by vertue of his dying communicated it to us, his flesh and blood hath merited life, satisfied wrath, and in Christ and Christ alone lies all the spiritual life of his people, and can be had no where else: Give him all the obedience that ever mortal man had, give him the righteousness of the Holy Angels in Heaven, give him all that a mans Tongue can speak of, or his Pen write down, he is a dead man if he have not the Lord Jesus Christ to be his life it self: Our life is hid in Christ (as the Apostle saith) there is the treasury of it. There is the first, that as our humane life lies in Gods disposing (I mean by his so ordering it) in our food, so our spi­ritual life lies only in Jesus Christ. That is one. Se­condly, (these three first I wil be very brief in) The second branch is this,

2. That look as God in nature hath planted in eve­ry man, (because his life is the most excellent thing skin for skin, and all that a man hath, he wil give for his life, therfore God hath planted in man) a more vehement appetite and desire after food then after any thing else in the world, and if he be put to it that the choyce must be made, it may be he would not part with any thing that he thinkes is sutable to him, but if choyce be made all shal goe, so he may have food, the stron­gest [Page 70] appetite after any thing in the world is after food; insomuch as therefore the Lord uses ordinarily to ex­presse the highest desires of the soule that man can put out in any kind, he uses to expresse them by hun­gering and thirsting, which is nothing but the ap­petite that men have after food, so that living men out of a desire of that which is sutable to their life, have a vehementer desire after that then they have after any thing else in the world; So the Lord plants in any soul to whom Christ is life, (for I speak not of those who are meerly dead, though I shall have occasion afterwards to shew you that Christ gives life to the dead, but (I say) to those to whom Christ is life) there is nothing in the world found in them after which their desires are so mighty, so vehement, so constant, so unsatisfied with any thing else in the world, no such appetite is in the soul of a man, as the party that partakes of spiritual life hath after Jesus Christ; as the heart after the rivers of waters, as the hungry man after his food, all kind of such things are expressed in the longing desires that the soul of a man that hath an interest in Christ hath after Jesus Christ; lay up these by you till I come to apply them, but yet I am not come to the main things, wherein the comparison holds; thirdly; There is a third thing which is between eating and drinking and beleeving, and that is this.

3. That look as it is in our bodily life, our natural life, that as there is no such vehement appetite after any thing as after food when we want it, so there is no such satisfaction in any thing, as there is to be had in sutable things, that when a hungry man is satis­fied with food, there is the quiet of his outward life; [Page 71] then all vehemency, all pains, all angers, all long­ings till he hath more need doth cease, for you know such is our life, that one meales meat will not serve it but for a little while, but when hunger is raised and food administred, then is the desire quieted: So now when the Lord Christ hath life prepared in him, and raised up in the soul a desire after him, when that soul findeth him, when he can find that Christ owneth him, or intimates to it that he accepts it, it is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, no joy, no delight, no con­tent in the world pleaseth the Soul so as to say this one thing I have found Christ Jesus and have an interest in him; All these are main, but the three last are most ful to my purpose, and therefore I hasten to them; Fourthly then, and that which I think is one of the greatest of all the rest, thus it is,

4. That look as it is in our food (pray mark it, look as it is in our food) for the body, let the food be never so excellent, never so wel Cooked, never so freely conferred, we never so freely invited, let al be set out that is imaginable, that food never nourisheth me or any other, until it come to be incorporated within me, that when a man & his food come to be made one, one mass, I wil not say transubstantiated, but translated and changed into the same substance with himself, ne­ver doth it become food to him til then. Take a man, set him before all the dainties, let him smel to them, put them in his mouth, nay (if you can imagine it) he may swallow them down, and they pass through him, if they be not incorporated into him, that the flesh of the beast he eateth turns to his flesh, or to be made fit for his blood, it is no food to him, though all the delicates of the world be set upon a Table, and [Page 82] say, here is enough to satisfie a thousand men, not one bit of them is fit for me, except it be so changed that it becometh one mass with me, this we all know in our natural food. Now herein lies the answerable­ness, so it is with Christ, it is Jesus Christ that is pre­pared, the Lord hath prepared and put the vertue in­to him, that it is enough to serve all the world, if the Lord be pleased to bestow it upon the world, but no man ever comes to have spiritual life from Christ till Christ become one with him, and he become one with Christ; It is Christ in you that is the hope of Glory; and this our Savior expresseth in the very Text (saith he) He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, I dwel in him and he dwels in me; that they are made one really, only with this difference it, remember it, indeed our food for our body, we and our food are made of one sub­stance, but there the food is turned into our substance, that if it were not the flesh of a Beast turned into my flesh, if it were not the blood of a Bird that is turned into my blood, and so it leaves its own nature and is changed into my nature, but this is different in our spiritual eating, for here instead of Jesus Christ being changed into our nature, we by feeding upon him are changed into his nature, made partakers of the divine nature, and there is a mystica, I spiritual union betwixt the Lord Jesus Christ and us, whereby we cease to be what we were in regard of our corrupt being, and now come to be changed into his spiritual being, but notwithstanding a union and conjunction there must be, or else the Lord Christ never profits: This is so plain that (I hope) I need say no more about it, that is the fourth. Lay up these, for these wil be for tryal before I dismiss you. Then fifthly, the fifth thing wherein the comparison lies is this,

[Page 73]5. That look as the Lord in his infinite wisdom hath in nature given such a Power to our stomach, our appetite to receive it, and our stomach to digest it, that all the art in the world hath not the power or skil to come and make the food that is an extraneous thing another thing from it, to fit it so and prepare it so that it shal be fit to become one with me, no art in the world can do it like that of the stomach, the power that God hath given to nature; we know if we should take our meat and boyl it upon the hottest fire, it can never prepare it so as the heat of a mans stomach can do it; God hath given this peculiar fa­culty and power to the stomach, thus to make our meat sutable for us; so it is with the grace of God, beyond all other graces and works of all the creatures yea, of the Angels, he hath given that power to the souls acepting of Christ, and consenting to Christ, that power to unite Christ and the soul together, that is not elsewhere found in all the world; for all Gods creatures if they should all joyne together to put out their utmost skil, they could not make such a conjunction between Christ and the soul as beleeving doth; but yet I wil tell you thus far, not by any virtue that God hath put in faith, but as it is the hand where­by we receive the holy Spirit, for by the Spirit we re­ceive faith, and this holy Spirit that takes Christ and gives him to us, and takes us and gives us to Christ, this holy Spirit in a way utterly unknown to us, and no waies to be understood in this world, makes us one with Christ. There is the fifth. And then the sixth and last is this,

6. That look as in our food, when the food is pre­pared, and we have an appetite to it, and the stomach [Page 74] receives it and works upon it, and it becomes one with us, then by vertue of that, by the strength of that food are we enabled to live as men; if we have wasted our spirits, if our healths are decayed, here is strength to be added, if we have work to do, we are thereby enabled to do it, to go through what belongs to us, by the power that comes in Gods way of orde­ring it, by the power that comes and is added to us; So it is here in our spiritual life, that when once the Lord brings the Soul to value Christ as that wherein his life lies, to have a desire after him above all goods in the world, to come to have Christ incorporated into us by the power of the Spirit, then do we come from hence by the Covenant of Grace, the operation of [...]he Holy Ghost, according to Gods dispensation to his Peo­ple, to receive such a supply of his Spirit, as we are enabled to walk as those that are alive unto God through Jesus Christ; only add this difference (for I wil shew you how the preheminence lies in our spiri­tual eating with this difference) that whereas our outward food never gives life to those that want it, but by the blessing of God only repairs it in those that have it, now this spiritual eating of Christ doth not on­ly maintain life in those that are alive, but it raiseth them up from the very dead, it gives life, and that moment that the Lord enables the soul to hunger af­ter him and rest upon him, in that moment is the life of Jesus Christ conveyed to him. And this is the first part, to let you see that eating and drinking, it is no­thing but beleeving in Christ, and the resemblance of them stands in these things, as I have opened to you; and now the second (which I wil be but brief in, be­cause I would not stay you long, nor be hindred from [Page 75] the Application of it, the second) thing I promised is,

2. A little to discover what the benefit is that we par­take of, by eating and drinking the flesh and the blood of Jesus Christ, What do we get by it? For answer, We can easily say when men are extolling the good cheer they have been at, at any Feast or Banquet, where lu­xury is set out, What get you by it? a feeding of our Bodies that wil return to clay is al that a man gets by it; Now what is gotten by this eating and drinking of Jesus Christ? Oh! could I but in a few words open to you what our Lord hath said of it, (saith he)

1. He that eateth and drinketh my flesh and blood he shal have everlasting life: There is the first benefit. What means he by that life? That is not this poor frail momentary life that we live, though this be the purchase of Christ to Beleevers, but he shall have, First,

1. The life of pardon, that whereas all of us are dead under the guilt of sin, dead in Law, liable to wrath, they are pardoned men if once they beleeve in Christ.

2. Whereas they were dead likewise under the do­minion of sin, and were strangers to the life of God, the Lord Jesus infuseth a principle of a new spirituall life into them, and such inward qualities and holiness, that enables them to live the life of God, that life that is of the same kind that Christ himself lives, his life, a holy spiritual life, that alas! if I could open it to you and you understand it, it would make you con­clude, that there is no such life in any creature to be found, as the life that every soul lives that laies hold upon Christ; I, and then he adds,

[Page 76]3. This life is an everlasting life, that is as our Savi­or expresses it, (saith he) Your Fathers did eat Manna, that is (as the Scripture saith) Angels Food, not that Angels eat any meat, but if they did eat any food it would be Manna, Your Fathers did eat Manna and are dead, but he that eateth upon me lives for ever; It is not such a poor momentary life as this is, but a life that wil last to all eternity; this is the Benefit: Nay, mark some other expressions that come in here toge­ther,

2. He shal never hunger nor thirst more: That wil explain wel what the Lord means by saying an ever­lasting life, they shal never hunger nor thirst, What is that? He means not that they shal never desire more of Christ, No, there is a two fold hunger and thirst.

1. There is such a hunger and thirst as riseth out of sweetness, that because the honey is good they would have more of it, because the Wine is good, therefore the Drunkard saith, I wil sip again, where the content of it makes them desire more of it: This hunger all the People of God have, because they find contentment in Christ, therefore they desire more of him: But then,

2. There is another hunger and thirst which is deadly, which will kill a man unless it be supplied, which our Savior explains in his discourse with the Woman of Samaria, He that drinketh of that Water shall thirst again, that is, if he have not a supply he will be in as dead a condition as he was in before, if he be not supplied: But now he that eateth and drinketh of the meat and drink that he prepares, though there wil be a sweet hunger to make him desire more, yet there wil be such a life and stock of life within, that til eter­nity [Page 77] have end they shal never be destitute of meat: So here is a benefit, a life everlasting, that they shal ne­ver hunger nor thirst; Nay, he explains it yet a little higher in the words I have read, the one is (saith he)

3. Whosoever doth thus eat and drink, and thus cometh to me, I wil in no wise cast off; What is that? though (it may be) he may think himself the most unworthy, and say, Lord! here is meat indeed, Lord! ever more give us of this meat, But who am I that I should come? I am the unworthiest, wretchedest, vi­lest of all; Nay, let him be never so unworthy in him­self, never so vile, I wil in no wise cast him out, if he come to me, for God my Fathers wil is, and he gave it me in commission when I came from him, not to deny food to any one that cometh after me; Nay, (saith he) last of all,

4. This is the Command I have from the Father, That I should raise them up all at the last day: Though it is true, the bodily life ends and fails, and they shal turn to dust as others do, yet when I come to make good the life that my People must have in abundance, when I come in the last day to make it good to them, I must raise al up that ever did partake of me to life: you see here is the benefit which is laid down in the Text: I have only a little paraphrased upon it, thus I have o­pened the Doctrinal part, That whosoever would live happy, Eating and Drinking of Jesus Christ is the Duty required of him, and they that do it are happy abun­dantly; Let me now a little apply this to you, but three Uses I wil briefly make of it, or rather the Lord makes them, for it is out of mans power to do it, three things I would observe. First,

THe occasion of this speech of our Savior was this, he had a little before told his Disciples, what great things he was short­ly to suffer at Jerusalem, whereupon Simon Peter begins to rebuke his Master for ad­mitting of such a Melancholly thought, Far be it from [Page 86] thee to imagine, that God will ever suffer thee to un­dergo such sad things as these are, Master pitty thy self, if there be any danger take a course to avoid it; Our Savior therefore replies to Peter, get thee behind me Satan, thou art an offence to me, this is nothing but the savor of the things of the world, that makes thee give me this wicked counsel; having rebuked Peter, he turns to al his Disciples and utters this speech that I have read, wherein our Lord strikes at the Root of that, which made Peter give him that carnal counsel, for the Lord knew it was nothing but unmortified self in Peter, and he wel saw that it would bring the like bit­ter fruits in all in whom it was not Crucified, and ther­upon gives them that counsel, that is contained in those three verses that I have read to you, wherein there are these two things. First,

1. Here is a Lesson necessarily to be practised by all Christs Disciples, in these words, If any man wil be my Disciple, Let him deny himself, Take up his Cross And follow me; that is the Lesson. Secondly,

2. Here is an Argument to perswade to the learning of this lesson, the Argument is taken from the necessity of it, it is so necessary, that that man that wil not deny himself, even to the denying of his life for Christs sake, wil undo himselff by his good husbandry, by his provi­dence, if he think to save himself by following more wary Counsel, he wil ruine himself, but if he wil resign up himself to the counsel that Christ gives him, Christs counsel shal save him, and Salvation any other way he shal never find: Now lest some-body might object against this and say, But in probability the following of thee, and taking up our Cross wil be so far from sa­ving of us that it wil ruine us, and the looking a little [Page 87] better to our selves may save our state, save our cre­dit, save our liberty, save our life: Wel, to that saith Christ, do but cast up the gain that wil be got by this way, I deny not but a man may by that providence that you speak of save his estate, and save his credit, he may possibly gain the world, a great state in it, but he wil lose his soul by it, and that man that should pur­chase al the world, that should be able to say this King­dom is mine, the other Kindom is mine, all the King­domes of the earth are mine, But what did they cost you? nothing but my soul, I gave my soul for them, that man hath made a miserable bargain of it, he will gain nothing that will venture the loss of his soul for the purchasing of the whol world: The worth of a soul is invaluable, and besides when a soul is once lost, the loss of a soul is irrecoverable, what shal a man ever give in exchange for his soul? Therfore set this down for your Conclusion, The man that wil not follow my counsel, upon the best account that can be made, is certainly an undone man. This is the scope of Christ in these words, Now I come to the Doctrinal part, (which I shal only insist upon at this time) and in it there are these two things. First,

1. Here is the Lesson that Christ teacheth and im­poseth on his Disciples, in these words, Let him that wil be my Disciple, Deny himself, Take up his Cross and follow me. Those are the three things that Christ imposeth upon all his Disciples, Deny themselves, Take up their Cross, Follow him. Secondly,

2. Here is the Condition upon which this Duty is imposed; If any man wil be my Disciple: Christ wil com­pel no body to be his Disciple, and if they have not a mind to be his Disciples, he wil not impose upon them [Page 88] denial of themselves, and taking up of their Cross, and following him, if they like other waies better, let them take them, and see what will come of them in the end, but if any man wil pretend to be a follower of Christ, if he be resolved to be listed amongst Christs Souldiers, or admitted into Christs School, or into Christs Family; then this is the ABC, this is the first Lesson that he must learn, He must deny himself, Take up his Cross and follow him, and that is all that I will say to the Condition of it, that it may be as a watch word to all you that hear me this day, I shal by and by (by the Lords assistance) handle a Doctrine that I know is ve­ry hard to flesh and blood, that which possibly many of you never yet learned, nor have any purpose to learn, but only now remember this: You shal not be compelled to learn it, if you have not a mind to the Doctrine that shal be opened, you are at freedome to take another way, provided you wil not lay claim to be the followers of Christ: Run your hazards and en­joy your good things in this world, and see what wil come of it, but if you have a purpose (as I know you have) and would be glad to be thought followers of Christ, then be you high or low, Lords or Ladies, Gentle or Simple, Learned or Ignorant, know you that this is injoyned to every one whom Christ will own, that they must deny themselves, take up their Cross, and follow him. It is only the first of them that I purpose to treat upon at this time, Deny himself, and the Doctrine which (by the Lords assistance) I shall handle is this, the very words of the Text.

[Page 89] DOCT. That whosoever wil be a Disciple or Follower of Christ, he must deny himself.

And for the explication of the words, there is no­thing hard but this: The word, He shal deny himself, doth signifie a total abrenunciation, he must wholly deny himself, (as I shal make good out of the Scripture) it must be a total work.

Now for the proof of it that it must be so, it were easie to turn you to a great many Scriptures, where the very same words are used, and upon the like oc­casion, you shal find it in Mark 8. and also in Luke 9. but for fear I be prevented, I wil content my self with a Text that I wil turn you to, and that is in Luke 14. from verse 28. to the end of the Chapter, & it wil abun­dantly demonstrate the necessity of this Doctrine: If Christ may be beleeved, you shal find there, that there were a great many came in to Christ to be his Disciples, great multitudes, they were taken with his Miracles, & his Sermons, and the Conversation of the whol world began to run after him, and gave in their names as fast as they could be admitted: but mark what Christ saith to them, about verse 26. saith he, If any man come after me, and do not hate Father and Mother, and Wife and Children, and Lands, and his own Life, he cannot be my Disciple, mark what he saith, he cannot, he doth not say, I wil not own him, but positively, because there is an impossibility of being Christ's Disciple, unless that a man do so far deny himself, as to renounce and and forsake whatsoever may be called himself: And lest he should not be beleeved, he doth prosecute this [Page 90] by three parables that follow there in order, and they are to this purpose, in the two first parables he doth plainly tel them.

1. That if any man pretend to be Christ's Disciple, and do not learn this lesson of self-denial, that man if e­ver he be put to it wil prove an Apostate, if ever times of tryall come, that man that enters into Christs School not having learned the Lesson of self-denial, wil prove an Apostate. or Secondly,

2. If he be never put to it in a way of persecution, then he wil live all his daies but in a meer form of Godliness, and an unsavory general profession he may make, he wil never have any power in it; and this (I say) the Lord shews in three Parables, the two first of them you wil find they are taken, one from a man that goes about a building, to errect a House, before he have throughly cast whether he have mony enough to go through with the building, and then when he hath gone as far as he can, and spent all that he hath, the building is unfinished, and himself is laughed at; Or a King that goes to war-fare, and doth not cast up what the War wil cost him, and whether he have strength enough to go through with it, when he is in­gaged in it, then he is fain to make shameful conditi­ons, and come off dishonorably and basely, because he thrust himself into a War that he was not able to go through with: So (saith Christ) wil it prove with you, if any man undertake the work of being my Dis­ciple, and hath not brought his heart to this resoluti­on, to deny himself in whatsoever may be called him­self, that man wil never hold out if a storm come, or if it he be ever put to it: Then the next Parable tels you, that he wil live but an unsavory profession, he may be [Page 91] Salt without any savor that is good for nothing, not so much as good to be cast to a dunghil; and that wil be the upshot of all: the Christians in the world that list themselves under Christ Jesus, and have not lear­ned this lesson of self-denial: That one Text is proof enough of it, but the main thing that I aim at in the Doctrinal part is, to try if (by the Lords assistance) I may make you understand what this same self denial is, and wherein it stands, and so there are two things that I shal bestow the best part of an hour upon. First,

1. In shewing you what is meant by self, what is that self that must be denied. Secondly,

2. What is this denial of a mans self, or when doth a man do that which Christ Jesus cals denying of him­self. First,

1. We wil enquire what is meant by self, and the rather you must enquire into it, because there is a self that a man must not deny, there is a self that we must bring with us to Christ, we must not leave that behind us, we must give our selves to the Lord: The Apostle saith in Rom. 6. We must save our selves: in Acts 2. Peter exhorted his hearers, Save your selves: there is a self that we must watch over and attend to, Attend to your selves: So that if there be a self that must be saved, and brought to Christ and preserved, it is necessary to en­quire what the Lord means by that same self that must be denyed: Now that I may make this plain to you, I must carry you a little further back; Then the pre­sent condition that we are all now in, in our sinful state, and I beseech you bend your best attention for a while, while I endeavor to cleer this to you. Know therefore thus, That when the Lord did at first make man, he gave unto man a Soul and a Body and excel­lent [Page 92] endowments and accomplishments to both of them, he gave man likewise the Creatures, all the works of his hands, but though man had all these things to use, yet man had no portion but God, God alone was the Portion of mans Soul, he might use his Understanding, use his Wil, his Wit, his Reason, his Parts, his Wife, his Estate, use them all, but enjoyed nothing at all, but God, God was the whol portion of man, as man stood in the state of integrity: But now assoon as man fel off from God by sin, when (I say) he sinned against God, man did immediately leave God for his portion, cease to make God his portion, and having forsaken God as his portion, now he made himself his own portion, and the greatest good that he hoped for or looked for was himself for the time to come, and therein indeed fulfilled the Devil's speech, that if you eat of such a Tree you shal be as Gods, so we became Gods to our selves immediately upon our fal, and ever since that, man did come to fal into himself, to settle (as it were) upon his own bottom, and to rest upon his own Center, and now since that time all other things good or bad, that might be any waies conducible to man, to nourish that self-sufficien­cy that he had conceived in himself, and expected in himself, presently man maketh use of all these, but though he useth them all as means, he rests in none of them as his end, but himself is the end of all: This is the true state of man; so that by self is meant that self-sufficiency, that portion that lost man did find af­ter he had departed from God: But to make you un­derstand this a little more fully, be pleased to know that every man in the world, though he have but one comprehensive self, yet this self hath four branches, [Page 93] and (if you wil) you may cal them so many selves, though indeed they are but one, yet there is a quater­nity in it. First,

• 1. There is a sinful self.
• 2. There is a natural self.
• 3. There is a worldly self.
• 4. There is a religious self.

Give me leave to explain all these to you. I say First,

1. There is that that we cal a sinful self, not that the other selves are not sinful, but we call this sinful, be­cause it is materially sinful, this is not only sinful, the others are sinful in the use: but this (that I mean by the first) it is materially sinful, and that is the body of corruption, the body of lusts and corruption which e­very man in the world hath in him from his Mothers womb. You shal find that to be called our Self in ma­ny places of Scripture, in Collos. 2.5. saith the Apostle there, Mortifie your earthly members; mark you, they are our members, And what are they? Fornication, Uncleanness, evil Concupiscence, Covetousness, An­ger, Wrath, Malice, Lying, all these Cursed lusts doth he call our members, and in the next verse, cals it the old man; and our Savior Christ cals our beloved lusts, our right Eye, or our right Hand, or our right Foot. There is one branch of Self, the body of corruption. Secondly,

2. There is another Self that is called natural Self, and by it I understand the Soul and the Body, and all the endowments, and Ornaments of them, our wis­dom, our Learning, our Will, our Love, our Joy, our Fear, our Strength, our Beauty, all these that make up the Person that you or I do bear, with all the natural [Page 94] endowments or accomplishments; that you al know to be Self, and that the world commonly understands by Self. Thirdly,

3. Every man hath in him likewise that that is cal­led a worldly Self; by that I mean al the relations that man stands in to the Creature, and all the interest that he hath in the Creature; as for example our Wife, our Children our Estates, our Trades, our Lands, our Re­venues, our Offices: Now that this is called a mans self the Text is plain for it, in this Text where Christ speaks of denying a mans self, he makes the world a piece of a mans self, and in Luke 14. where he would have a man forsake himself, there he reckons up Fa­ther, and Mother, and Wife, and Children, and Lands, and all that he hath. This is a third Branch of Self. Fourthly,

4. There is another that is as much Self as any of these; and that is that that we cal religious Self; and by that you are to understand our performance of holy Duties, our Vertues, our Righteousness, any thing that seems to be spiritual, and good, and moral in us; this you shal find a notable passage about, in Phillip. 3. where the Apostle there saith of true Beleevers (saith he) We are the Circumcision that do worship God in the spirit, but we put no confidence in the flesh, we regard nothing of the flesh, and (saith he) if there be any man that might have any confidence in the flesh, I as much as any, mark his words, I much more than any, What flesh doth he mean? mark what follows, I was an Hebrew of the Hebrews, of the Tribe of Benjamin, by my Religion a Pha­risee, touching the righteousness of the Law I was altogether un­blameable, here was his self: Now, this was his flesh; so that the Religion, the Honesty, the Conversati­on [Page 95] agreeable to the Law, that Paul makes a part of himself, and cals it his flesh: Now concerning these four, (for yet I have not done explaining this first part, what I mean by Self, concerning all these four) both our Lusts, and our natural endowments, and our worldly interest, and our Religion, you must take these three corrollaries to understand them all, three things that I would add, The first is,

1. That al these are but one and the same self; pray mark me, all these are but one self only, As the Sea which is but one, yet it is called the Brittish Sea as it toucheth upon England or Scotland, It is called the Ger­man Sea as it washeth the German shoar, and a great way off it is called the Ethiopique Sea as it washeth there, but all is but one Sea, so all is but one wretched self, though we call it a sinful self: as self applies it self to Lusts, cal it worldly self, as self applies it self to wealth or riches or honor: and cal it religious self, as self applies it self to the Law of God or to God, in any such like, but all is but one self, all is but one and the same man in all these. And Secondly, Another thing that I would have you know about them all four is this.

2. That though all these are in every natural man, yet commonly there is but one of them that is predo­minant, and all the other are subordinate unto it, As for example, Some men make their Lusts, their known Lusts their predominant self, and unto that Reason and Wil, and Father and Mother, and Children, and Law, and Duties, and all shal be subordinate, because this is the Lord paramount: In some others it may be the world is the paramount, Oh! and then unto that all their other Lusts, and all their Religion likewise [Page 96] shal be subordinate; It may be in another his Religi­on is the predominant, his Honesty, his righteousness, his holy performances, that is his great predominant, and then unto that all the other shal be subordinate; Commonly there is but some one of them that car­ries the Chair, that sits upon the Throne, and al the rest are underlings to that. Thirdly, and that which I most of all would have you mark, and weigh, con­cerning them all is this, and I beseech you weigh my words.

3. That in all these the heart is equally wicked, in every one of them the heart is as bad, and as far from God in the one as it is in the other, I mean plainly thus, That man that sets up his Lusts, suppose his Whore, suppose his Pride, suppose any known wic­kedness, sets up that to be the great good that plea­seth him, that man is no more wicked, his heart is no more wicked in that than another man that maketh Mammon his God, the gathering of wealth, or the maintaining of his honor, and neither of these are more wicked than he that maketh his righteousness, his own religious performances his God, because for (though these may seem strange, yet if you wil wait you will find it to be good Divinity) though in all these self is the end, and all these are used but as means, in the one of them I make use of the Devil to serve my self, in another I make use of the world to serve my self, in another I make use of God to serve my Self: but who­soever I make use of, it is my self that I set in the Throne, my own Ease, my own Wil, my own Good, my own Happiness: Now then here is the result, whatso­ever a poor lost sinner doth make his portion, before he come to be reconciled to God in Christ, whatsoever [Page 97] it is that he maketh his portion, or placeth his happi­ness in, that our Lord means by self; and there you have the first thing explained that I intended to han­dle, What is meant by our Self that must be denied? all that we make our portion, be it our Lusts, be they our natural abilities, be they our worldly interests, be they our religious Vertues, Duties, Righteousnes­ses, they are all alike when the heart sodders with them, or rests in them, all these make up that self that must be denied. That is the first. Secondly, The se­cond thing that is to be explained, is,

2. What it is to deny a mans self; he that will fol­low Christ must deny himself, What is that? I an­swer, First,

1. In general, (as I hinted before) it must be a to­tal denyal, it is such a denial of a mans self, as must be a total abrenunciation, it must not be to put off the skin, the Serpents skin, and leave the Body, or to cut off a Joynt and leave the Trunk, but the whole man, all the comprehension of this must be abhominated and renounced, by that self-denial that the Lord here means.

But what is it? (you wil say) Wherein stands it? That I shal labor to cleer to you as wel as I can.

• 1. Negatively, I wil shew what it is not. And then,
• 2. Positively, I wil shew you what it is.

1. What it is not. First,

1. By denying a mans self the Lord means not, that we should counterfeit our selves to be other than we are, as Jeroboam's Wife denied her self to be Jeroboam's Wife, by faining her self to be another Woman than she was; The Lord means not that he that is a proud [Page 98] man should say I am not a proud man, or he that is a rich man should say, I am not a rich man, or he that is a proper man should say I am not a proper man, or he whose name is John or Thomas, should say I am not that man that is not the meaning, that he should counter­feit or feign himself to be another than he is: Nor Secondly, (which it may be you think most probable) by denying a mans self is this meant.

2. That a man must wholly be rid of al these things, that that man that denies himself must wholly part with all his corruptions, and part with the powers and faculties of his soul, or the accomplishments of them, or part with all his Estate, his Wife and Children, or part with his morral Duties and Religion, that is not the meaning neither, and that that is not the mea­ning I prove thus to you First,

1. Some of these things are things we must not part with, the Lord forbids us to part with them: If God have bestowed upon any man a good Wife, or Chil­dren, or Memory, Understanding, Learning, Wealth, Honor or Abilities, or Honesty and Righteousness, the Lord commands them not to part with these, these are things that God may be served with, and must be served with, therefore that cannot be the meaning. Nay,

2. The worst of them, none of them can be parted with while we live in this world, though we would never so fain part with them, totally no man upon earth can part with all his corruptions: If there be a­ny man can say, he hath no sin in him, that man rather hath no Grace in him: St. John saith that man that saith he hath no sin in him lyeth, and the truth of God is not in him; therefore that cannot be the meaning, What is it [Page 99] then? I answer, and I humbly crave your attendance and weighing of these things, because your everlasting welfare must be measured out by this, you wil know your spiritual interest in Christ by it. I answer then,

2. That this same denial of our selves, this total re­nunciation of our selves, it comprehends these four things in it, and these four things do constantly meet in every soul that doth deny it self. First of all,

1. All these things that I have spoken of, we do totally and absolutly renounce them all from being a­ny part of our portion, that whereas before all our good lay in some of these things, that if you would ask any man what he is worth, What are you? and what are you worth? he must tel you, I am worth a thousand pound a year, or I am worth as much as my Wife and Children, my Wit, my Parts, my Learning, my Education, my good name, my honest Conversa­tion, Look what worth there is in all these so much I am worth; and this was all his portion: but now when the soul cometh to Christ, it totally renounceth all these, to be nothing at all to him in the point of a portion, if he be the Lords; and I shal shew you good reason for it by and by God willing; I wil shew you a notable instance of it in the Apostle Paul, in that fore­named Phillip. 3. where he saith, I think if any man might Glory in the flesh, I might Glory as much as any, and there he reckons up his Religion, his Birth, his E­ducation, his Learning, his Righteousness, and the like, and (saith he) these things were gain to me, they were my portion, that if you had asked Paul, Paul what are you? What am I? as good a man as you I hope, Wherein lies your goodness? I am a Jew, an Hebrew, a Benjamite, a Pharisee, a Scholler, an honest [Page 100] man, one that is unblameable in my whol conversati­on, This was my gain (saith Paul) but after that Paul was called to Christ, he did profess al that was his gain before, it was now Dogs meat to him, shipwracked; his Learning abided with him stil, and his wealth, and his wit, or any thing, he had it stil: but it was all rubbish now, he did lay no worth in the world upon it, he had no portion now but the favor of God in Christ Jesus, that was his wealth, but now for all these things what use soever he might make of them, they were nothing, not one penny to him in the point of a portion; This is the first thing that is an ingredient into this same self-denial, that when the soul cometh to Christ, it is unloo­sed and set loose from all these things, as they gave any support to the soul, to breed a good esteem in it of its own happiness. That is the first. The Second thing that maketh up this self-denial is,

2 That as the Soul doth renounce all these from being a portion, so as in any of these there is any thing found that stands in opposition to Christ, or hath any enmity against Christ, so far the soul totally doth not only throw it aside as a worthless thing, but opposeth it as a deadly thing, it casteth it aside as an enemy: Be­fore in the other it throws it aside as a useless thing: but here it throws it aside as an enemy, when it hath any opposition or enmity against Christ Jesus, or the waies that Christ would have his people walk in; that is plain both by many Scriptures, that you shal see the Servants of God when they come to deny themselves, they say to their Lusts, get you hence, to their Idola­try, to their wicked waies, they throw them out to the Moles and the Bats, they mortifie them, they crucifie them, they put off the old man, with all the Lusts that [Page 101] are contrary to Christ, & their carnal reason that stands in enmity against Christ; According (I say) as there is any thing in them that bears opposition to Christ Je­sus, and the waies of holiness, so far the soul renoun­ceth them as an enemy, if ever they deny themselves, because (as you shal hear in the Reason) Christ Jesus alone is the great good of that soul that denies it self. A Third thing that maketh up this self-denial is,

3. That all these four, or any thing that may fal un­der any one of them, so far as they ever stand in com­petition with Christ, and the things of Christ, so far the soul totally abandons them likewise, totally abandons them all according as they stand in competition with Christ Jesus; and that our Lord means when he saith, That a man must hate his Father, and Mother, and Wife, and Children, Certainly the Lord doth not mean that we should hate them simply, No, but when they come to stand in competition with Christ's ex­cellence, or providence, or things fall out so, that I must either renounce these, or I must withdraw from Christ, I cannot serve Christ, and enjoy them too, therein I totally renounce them all; and this you shall understand thus: Our Savior Christ saith a man then denies Christ, though he have never so good an opini­on of Christ, if yet when he comes to that exigent, that either he must leave Christ, or leave the world, or leave his wealth, if he leave Christ for his wealth sake then he denies Christ, so Christ saith, by the same reason when I leave my life, leave my wealth, leave my Wife, my Children, my Name, my Credit, my wil, my Duties, when these stand in competition with Christ, then I de­ny them all, then that soul may truly be said to deny [Page 102] them; as I pray take an instance or two of it, that you may see what I mean: Take that that is reported of a famous Lady in the primitive Church, I think her name was called Julida or Juletta, that having a Suit before a Heathen Magistrate, in somewhat that concerned her estate, her cause was good, and it was like to go of her side, but some body whispers the Judge in the Ear, and tels the Judg that she was a Christian, the Judg tels her; Lady, your cause is good (saith he) and it is like to go with you, but here is an information come that you are a Christian, and if so, you will not only lose this cause, and this part of your estate, but al your estate, and your honor, and your life, all is gone: Is it come to that? (saith she) farewel my lands, farewel my honor, farewel my life, Nay, I am a Christian when these come to stand in competition with Christ once: Or as Gallatius Carixialdus a famous Italian Mar­quess, that had a Lady and delicate Children, and a fair Estate, but when he could not enjoy Christ and these together, he left them all and went to Geneva to live with Mr. Calvin: And there is a speech of Chryso­stome that he said, when he thought he should go to banishment, or martyrdome for Christs sake, he said, If my Father should stand in my way, I would throw him down, if my Mother should meet me, I would tread upon her belly, meaning plainly, that if any of these should be hinderances to him in Christ's cause, and stand in competition, he would trample them un­der his feet: And this the Lord plainly means by a mans denying himself, my Life is dear, my Learning is dear, my Children are dear, my Credit is dear, al are good, I value them, I love them, I would keep them, but if either my peace with Christ must go or these, if [Page 103] my Conscience must go or these, if the Glory of Christ must go or these, all pack away, they are all renoun­ced as they stand in competition with Christ. This is the third thing in self-denial. Fourthly there is another, (and I pray lay up these things in your hearts, against I come to apply them by and by) and that is,

4. That the soul that doth deny it self doth totally forsake all these so far, as from claiming his interest or propriety in them; they do not only not make them their wealth, but now they resign them all up unto Christ, give them up to Christ, and themselves turn Baylifs or Stewards to Christ, to use them all ac­cording to the will and pleasure of Christ Jesus alone: Pray understand this, because though you be never cal­led to some of the other, yet for this last this is that vein of self denial, that must run through the whol course of a mans life, and he hath use of it every day he lives if he be a servant of Christ; Pray understand my mea­ning thus: Suppose a man had a smal Farm upon which he totally lived, it was the inheritance he recei­ved from his Father, and it is al that he and his Wife & Children have to subsist on, and he useth it according to his own will for his best advantage, builds, plucks down, plows, laies down his plowed ground, turns it into pastures, sels it, keeps it, changeth it, doth what he wil, it is all the wealth he hath, suppose this man had a fair estate that is ten thousand times better, set­tled upon him by some great man, that gives it him freely, only ties him to this condition, that this Farm that was his own before, he shal now surrender it up to the hands of the Lord, to him that is his Lord, and for time to come though he shal dwel upon it stil, yet now he shal occupie it only as his Baylif, shal not cut [Page 104] down a Tree but what he appoints, not pluck down a house nor alter a room but as he orders him, and all the fruits he shal lay them where he would have them, and dispose of them as he commands him, be but his Baylif and Steward as to that: the other now is his own portion that he shal live upon: Just now here is the case, while we are in our natural estate, all we have to live upon is our self, I have so many corruptions that (it may be) are very pleasurable, and ho­norable some of them, I have such parts, such strength of Body, I have such a wit, or such an estate, or such a good name, it is al I have to live upon, and I wil im­prove it to the best I can, and as it may best serve my turn I use it, but now when I take Christ Jesus to be my portion, when I come to take the Lord Christ to be my portion, I surrender all these up into Christ's hands, and while he is pleased to put them back again into mine, I am only his Baylif, his Steward, my wit is his, my Honour is his, my Wealth is his, my Lands are his, and a man that hath denied himself doth occupy all these things, just as the Jews were to occupy the Land of Canaan, of whom you may read in Levit. 25. that the Lord told them, This Land (saith he) is all mine, and you are but sojourners with me, you shal plow it thus many years, and then you shal plow it no longer than such a time, and of the fruits of it you shal bring the first fruits to such a place, and pay the Tithes to such a place, and to the poor give such a thing, and gives this Reason, For the land is mine and you are but sojourners with me, so that all that a man hath in this world, al that is comprehended under the name self, when once the Soul closeth with Christ, it is but a sojourner with him to use these things, and to use [Page 105] them according to the Lords pleasure; and these four do make up self-denial; when a Soul (in a word) is come thus far, that he doth abhominate all that is in it so as for making it a portion, when he hates and labors to crucifie whatsoever in it is an enemy to Christ and the waies of Christ, when he parts with all, with any thing as they stand in competition with Christ, when they labor to use all according to the rules of Christ, so as to make Christ the Proprietor, and themselves to be but Stewards or Tennants at wil to him. This is the self-denial that the Lord saith must be in every Soul that wil be his Disciple. Now before I come to the Application of this, I have but one thing more and that is to shew you,

3. Why it must be thus, what reason there is, that so the thing may be demonstrated to you, that so when I come to the Application your hearts may have no­thing to oppose against it; and understand me, the question is not why it is comely to do thus, why it is requisite it should be so: but why there is such an ab­solute necessity of it, that a man cannot so much as pretend to be a Disciple of Christ that will not submit to it. What Reason for it? I answer first,

1. Because wheresoever the Lord Christ is received by any soul, he wil be received as the All of that Soul, mark my words, Christ wil be all or he wil be nothing, what the Father hath sent him to do he wil be all to do it, he wil never undertake a piece of it, and the Lord hath sent him to be all that a poor lost sinner can need. Now I pray conceive my meaning thus, Take a Maid that a Man wil be a Husband to her, when she marries to this man he wil be all in the place of a Hus­band, and she must renounce all the men in the world [Page 106] in matters that belong to conjugal Relations, the marriage state wil admit no rivalty; I but for al that, though the Husband must be all in the relation of a Husband, yet he is not al that the Wife needs, and she may lawfully have application to other Creatures, and to other men for some things wherein her Hus­band cannot be all to her; if she be sick, she must have a Physitian; if she be wounded, she must have a Chy­rurgeon; if she be sad, it may be she must have ano­ther to comfort her: neither can her Husband be her Bread, and her Cloaths, she must have another must make them, and prepare them. But now Christ Je­sus is All that the soul needs, he is their Father, their Husband, their Brother, their Friend, their Compani­on, their Bread, their Drink, their Cloth, their Gold, their Silver, their Honor, he is All in All; Christ Je­sus is so, and he wil be so, or he wil be nothing; and there is this natural reason for it, Because every mans heart shares out both its prayers, and its confidence, and its love, and its praises (I say it shares it out) ac­cording as it needs, or findeth supply any where. If one man be my Patron, and give me a great deal of my maintenance, I share out my expectations, my prayers, my love, my service most to that man; but another helps me with some of these, and he hath part of my good wishes, and part of my prayers, and part of my praises, according to the proportion of good I receive from him, so is my heart shared out to him in dependance, or thankfulness, or love. But Christ Jesus wil have no sharing, he wil have all thy heart, all thy prayers, all thy love, all thy affections, all thy obedience; Christ Jesus expects all, which he cannot have until he be all, and he never can be all, [Page 107] til al other be renounced, til I have no God but Christ, til I have no Father but Christ, til I have no Wisdom but Christ, til I have no Righteousness but Christ, I shal never share out al my prayers, and confi­dence, and love, and the like, to Christ for al; and therefore wil Christ have al renounced that he may be all. That is one Ground, and the great Ground. There is another (which I wil briefly touch) and that is this:

2. Because al these things that we are to renounce, even the best of them al in those notions wherein we are to renounce them, they are al of them, and wil be adversaries and hindrances to us, in the way that Christ Jesus expects we should walk before him, and therefore until our souls do totally renounce them, we are in perpetual danger of being undone by them; as I pray conceive my meaning thus in a familiar com­parison: Suppose in a Civil War wherein a Nation is divided, and one Faction engaged against the other; if a man that hath been engaged on the one Party, do leave that Party, and come over to serve that side a­gainst which he did oppose before, this man must re­nounce all the other Party, though his Brethren were there, though his Estate lay in those Quarters, he must renounce them all, or otherwise he wil never be tru­sted by them, to whom now he pretends to joyn; or be sure (which is the thing I alledg it for) if he hold correspondence with them, they wil ever be dropping destructive principles into him, against the way that he now engageth for. So al these things, not only our Drunkenness, and Whoredom, and Lust, and Ly­ing, and stealing, and slandering; but our Reason, our Wills, our Affections, our Wealth, our Honor, our [Page 108] Children, our Friends, our Duties, our Performances, wil lie as blocks in the way to hinder us from some of the things that the religion of Christ wil put upon us; there is nothing cleerer, Saint John hath an excellent speech in 1 John 2.16. saith he) All that is in the world (mark his words, All that is in the world) the Lusts of the Flesh, the Lust of the Eye, and the Pride of life, it is not of the Father: It is not of the Father al that is in the world, What means he by all that is in the world? that that he had said before, Little Children love not the world, nor any thing in the world, his meaning is, love not Life, love not Wife, love not Children, Estate, Honor, Wealth, love them not, Why? They all serve but to nourish the Lusts of the Flesh, the Lust of the Eye, or the pride of Life, and that is not of the Father, they wil draw you away from God, therefore take heed of them; and look what John saith of the things of the world, the same may be carried to al the other; Love not your Duties, love not your Righteousness, love not your Performances, love not your Honesty, love none of these as you in your natural estate cleave to them, they al of them tend but only to advance your self, and to pul down Christ, and wil be hinderances to you in the way wherein Christ wil have you walk; And thus I have endeavored (Beloved) to make plain unto you this great Doctrine of Christianity, that is the very first door that we pass through when we come into Christs School to deny our selves: Now it remains that I make some Application of it, and that I shal do as briefly and as cleerly as the Lord shal please to enable me, and among many other things there are but two or three that I intend to insist upon. The one is,

IN most of the Chapters of this Book of the Proverbs, there is no connection of one verse with another, that one should give light or help to clear the other, but they are as a multitude of excellent Pearls put into a large Box, whereof every one singly is of a very [Page 128] great price, and it is thought by many that they were but so many sentences, that King Solomon did utter usu­ally when he sate in judicature, according as the cause or condition was that was heard before him, so there was a divine sentence in the Lips of the King, and the Lord in his good providence and love to his Church hath recorded them, to be for instruction for his Peo­ple to the end of the world, and amongst them al if you go from one end of the book to the other, if it be law­ful to make comparisons, I may freely say, there is not one Pearl of greater price, one sentence of more di­vine use than this that I have read to you, and shal en­deavor (God willing) to open as far as I can within the compass of an hour and in it there are these two things plainly laid down. Here is first,

1. A Duty enjoyned to all the Lords Children, in these words, Keep thy heart above al keeings. Secondly,

2. Here is an Argument to enforce to this Duty, in these words, for out of it are the issues of life.

1. And in the Duty there are likewise two things. First,

1. Here is the subject matter, the thing that is to be done, and that is, Keep thy heart. Secondly,

2. Here is the manner how it must be done, and that is, (as we translate it) with al diligence; Keep thy heart with all diligence, or, above all keepings keep thy heart.

Now give me leave briefly to interpret the meaning of the words, and then I will put it all into one instru­ction, which I will endeavor to handle in this hour. First,

• 1. What is meant by the heart, And,
• 2. Keeping the heart, And,
• 3. Keeping it above all Keepings. And so,
• [Page 129]4. Of the issues of life that flow from it. Let me give you a brief interpretation of each of them.

1. What doth Solomon mean by the heart here that must be kept?

No doubt it is not meant of the heart made of flesh, that is in the midst of our bodies, it is spiritually meant that no man doubts of: Now take the heart spi­ritually, and somtimes in the holy Scripture the heart is put for the whol soul; somtimes it is put for the un­derstanding faculty; somtimes it is put for the me­mory; somtimes it is put for the Conscience; some­times it is put for the Wil; sometimes for one or two Affections; it were endless to give you the instances of all these; but here is a Key in the Text which will tel you what is meant here; for without question that is meant by the Heart here, that is the spring of life, from whence the issues of life do flow. Keep thy heart for out of it are the issues of life, (now as I shal shew you by and by) the issues of life are nothing but our whol conversation, so that what's within is the Foun­tain of our conversation without, that is meant by the Heart here; and so consequently it must be meant chiefly of the Wil and Affections. not excluding the understanding: by the Heart then is meant the under­standing faculty, especially the Wil and the Affections. Then,

2. Keep thy heart, Keep it, What is that? The word that is here translated Keep, I find it in other Texts of Scripture variously applied, somtimes it is applied un­to those that are the Keepers of a Prison, where dan­gerous Fellons or Malefactors are to be looked to, that they do not break away; Joseph was made the Keeper of the Prison. The same word that is here; somtimes [Page 130] it is applied to keeping the Sanctuary of God, and all the holy things that belonged to Gods Temple, so it is several times used in Ezekiel. Somtimes it is used to signifie the keeping of Treasures, Jewels, &c. so that it is such a keeping as doth argue a great deal of care and watchfulness and diligence &c. All this is meant by Keep thy heart, keep it as thou wouldst keep a dange­rous Fellon, a Traytor; keep it as thou wouldst keep a holy Sanctuary and Temple of the Holy Ghost, keep it as you would keep the richest Treasures, keep thy heart. And then,

3 Keep it above al keepings, with al diligence or above all keepings, that plainly needs the least interpretati­on of all, because that it is clear that there are abun­dance of things that God gives men in charge to keep, that if God commit to any man a Flock he must take heed to his Flock, if he bestow any Talent upon him of outward goods, he must keep it and occupy it for Gods Glory, every thing that is received from God must be kept according to the rules he hath given, but above all thy keepings, when you have put them all together, all the keepings that must be kept for Wife, Children, Estate, Name or whatsoever is dear,, let thy heart be kept above all keepings, beyond them al, above al keepings keep thy heart. And then,

4. Here is added thy Heart, keep thy heart, that sig­nifies these two things. The one is,

1. That Solomon who was a Son of wisdom, for it is judged by many that these were not Solomons own words, but they were a part of the Catechism that his Father taught him, for so in the beginning of the Chap­ter he tels you that he was his Fathers dearly beloved Son, and he taught him & instructed him & said so and [Page 131] so to him, and so they think that all these were Davids words to Solomon, but if it be not, if you take them for Solomons words it is all one, for a little before he saith, My Son, that is, when he saith my Son he means one that is a Son of wisdom, a Child of God, Keep thy heart, that is a good heart, that is a reformed heart that hath Grace planted in it, yet he that hath it so, must be care­ful to keep it so. And then it signifies further,

2. Thy heart, that is, above al other mens hearts look to the hearts of thy Children, if thou beest a Pastor look to the frame of thy People, so far as thy relation and duty reacheth look to them all, and get what good may be, but let thy heart be looked to above them all. That is the meaning of the first branch, Keep thy heart above all keepings.

2. Now a word of the other, For out of it are the Is­sues of life. Here are two things to be interpreted. First,

1. The Issues of life, What is that? The word that is translated Issue, it sometimes signifies a Bud that grows out from a Tree, somtimes a Child that is born of a Father, sometimes and very often the waters that spring or issue out of a Fountain, and so by the issues of life he plainly means all that comes out in our Con­versation, that is the fruit of the heart, Words, Acti­ons, Relations, Duties, Sufferings, whatsoever you wil, they are all the issues of life, Al these are issues of life. And then,

2. All these are out of it, What is that? out of it, may signifie two things, and both come to the same purpose, Out of it, that is,

1. Out of the heart, it is out of our heart that co­meth [Page 132] all the issues of life, or (I think life must be ad­ded) out of it, that is,

2. Out of keeping of thy heart though it be a good one, though it be reformed, yet when I exhort thee to keep it diligently, I would have thee to know that ac­cording as thou keepest thy heart, so wil the issues of thy life be; Now out of these words thus opened, I observe this Instruction.

Doct. 1. That the greatest Duty that lies upon all the Sons of God, the Sons of wisdom in this world is, to keep their hearts.

To explain it a little more before I come to a fur­ther proof of it, be pleased to know that there are two great works about our hearts in this spiritual sense. The one is,

1. To get it into a good spiritual Frame, which no mans heart in the world is, til the Lord break it in pieces and make it new.

The other work is,

2. When God hath put this Instrument into tune, that we keep it so, that when God hath put it into a good frame, our work must be to keep it in a good frame. The second of these is the Duty of this Text, for this is here applied unto the Sons of wisdom in whom Grace is planted, and so my Doctrine then is this.

Doct. 2. That all the Servants of God must make it their busiest, their diligentest, their watchfullest work in the world to keep their hearts in a good frame when once the Lord in mercy hath put them into a good frame.

[Page 133]Now to make this good to you, I wil not (because an hour wil quickly be gone, and I have many things that I would fain give you) turn you to many Texts that should particularly prove it, I think any of you that do but read the Scriptures, where the Lord Christ enjoyneth us to look to our hearts, because out of the heart and out of the treasury of the heart comes every thing out, but to convince you of it I would open six grounds to you, and all of them out of the Scripture which may satisfie you, that the greatest work that all the servants of God have to do in this world as to themselves is, To keep their hearts in a good frame; and I hope I shal shew it you cleerly that the things are so, and then I wil make some Application of it, as the Lord shall enable me within the compass of the time. I say, there are six Conclusions that I would set you down, any one of them may be sufficient to convince, but al of them together may and (I hope) wil abundant­ly satisfie you, that we have no such Duty lies upon us as to our selves in this world, as the looking to our hearts. The first is,

1. Because the heart, that heart which I have interpre­ted, it is beyond all comparisons the best part of man, it is the head quarter. You know in an Army they have their Sentinel in every corner, they would be loth to have the out quarters beat up, but the head quarter where the General or chief Officers lie, there is the strongest and watchfullest guard of all: Now the heart of man, the wil and the affections, and the intellectual faculty, that is beyond all degrees of com­parison better than every thing else that is in man, so much better than all the rest that our Lord saith, that the man makes a very ill bargain of it, that gaines [Page 143] all the world if he lose his soul, Loose thy Heart and thy Soul is lost; Now then if our Souls, if the heart be ten times more worth than all things else that we have, surely it should be kept more diligently than any things else we have: This I think no man can question the strength of the reason of it, it is the best; Remember our Saviors word in a lower case, when he did chide men that did take care of meat and drink and clothing and the like, saith he, Is not your life more than your food? Is not your body more worth than your raiment? I do but allude to that comparison, Now I may say then, Is not thy Heart better than thy Head? Is not thy heart thy inward man better than thy outward man? What is the body but meerly the shel? It is the Heart that is the Jewel. That is one. I hope to have a little more time afterwards to shew what this includes in it, this keeping (at least to point at it) but that is one ground. Because the heart it is the best part of man, it is the Queen, it is the Prince, it is the head quarter, and al others are nothing when compared with it. Se­condly, A second ground that is for the demonstration of it, is this,

2. Because the heart it is not only the best part of the man, but it is the treasury wherein better things are laid up than it self. The heart is a very rich Cabinet, yea, but it is a Treasury or Cabinet of the rarest, the invaluablest wealth that is in Heaven or Earth. Un­derstand me aright, I speak not of the heart of a wic­ked man, of an unconverted man, for Solomon tels us expresly, the heart of a wicked man is nothing worth, it self is a base thing, and there is nothing in it but that that is worse than it self, nothing in the world but the rubhish and the filth of the Devil and the World and [Page 135] Hell lies in the heart of a wicked man, but a man that is a Child of wisdom, that is Gods Child, Oh! there is a rich treasury laid up in his heart. You shal read our Savior speaks of a good man, who out of the good treasury of his heart bringeth forth good things, he hath a good treasury: Now would you know what are the trea­sures that are laid up by God, not of our own getting but of the Lords depositing.

Quest. What are the treasures that are in the heart of a Gra­tious man?

Answ. I Answer, the Tongues of men and Angels cannot tel you what; I wil name you a few. The one is,

1. The great God himself hath chosen to make the heart of every Godly man, his own privy and Presence-Chamber; himself saith it, that though the Heaven be his Throne, and the Earth his foot-stool, yet he dwels in in an humble broken heart, in the heart of one that trem­bleth at his word, and fears his name, there doth he him­self dwel. And then,

2. Christ Jesus dwels there: Emmanuel, the Son of God, the Savior of poor sinners; the Scripture is plain, That Christ may dwel in your hearts by Faith, Christ dwels in our hearts, Is not there a Jewel? I tel you the Apo­stle saith of Christ, In him there are hid all the treasures of God; The God of Heaven is worth no more than is laid up in Christ, and Christ & al he is worth comes to dwel in the heart, and in him (saith the Apostle) they are both of them in Collos. 2. the one in verse 13. and the other in verse 9. where he tels you, that the fulness of the God­head dwels in Jesus Christ essentially or bodily: Now Je­sus Christ dwels in the hearts of Gods people. And then,

[Page 136]3. The Holy Ghost dwels there too, For the Heart of e­very Godly man is a Temple of the Holy Ghost; and if you wil I might go on to Multiply more.

4. That all the graces of Gods spirit are laid up in our Heart, It is Faith in the Heart, and love unfained in the Heart, and all those excellent things. And,

5. The word that is the Rule of Life, saith David, I have laid up thy word in my Heart, I have hid thy word in my Heart; Now (Brethren) where there is such a treasury that God is laid up in it, and Jesus Christ is laid up in it, and the Holy Spirit (pardon the expression) is plea­sed to dwell in it, and all Gods Graces, all they that are Gods ordinances are there laid up, his word and the like, do not you think this should be wel watched, and well barred, and wel kept, and wel looked to? There is a second ground, that thy Heart it is not only the best piece that is, but it is the treasury of that that is a great deal better than it self, the richest treasury, and therefore Heaven hath not a richer treasury in it than the Heart of every Saint hath, and therefore it should be kept above al keepings; Thirdly, A third ground of demonstration is

3. Because that the Lord whom we serve, or pretend to serve, and profess to serve, and do serve if we be his, The Lord looks only at the Heart in all the services that we per­form to him, All things that we are to do to the Lord as an homage, and tribute and honor to him, he regar­deth nothing but the heart in them all, nothing else is of any esteem with the Lord but the Heart. My mea­ning is this plainly, that in any services God liketh a thing never a whit the better, for the brave accom­plishment or adornment of it with any of our parts or faculties, Wits, Fancies, Memory, expression, De­corum, [Page 137] fair carriage and deportment of the Body, the Lord values not this one button in any service whatso­ever, but so much as the heart is in it, so much as the wil & affections are in it, so much doth the Lord value it, insomuch that this one thing wil satisfie you about the truth of it: read all the Scriptures over that speak of the servants of God, & you shal find this, That when all their infirmities (as many of them had many gross ones and grievous ones, when they) were all recko­ned up, if this were but added, but his heart was with God, his heart was upright with God, that was a Salvo for all the other, he never broke with any of them or cast them off, if so be their hearts were but with him in the midst of al other weaknesses and infirmities, if they could but say as Hezekiah, Lord, remember that amongst all my weaknesses my heart hath been with thee, there was Gods content. And on the other side, Let the perfor­mances be never so glorious, or in things never so much commended, or never so much delighted by the Lord, the duties of his Worship and Ordinances, if God did but say of them, This they did but their hearts were not with God, Nevertheless his heart was not upright with God, that signified the Lord threw it all a­way as rubbish stuf that he took no pleasure in the wnrld in: So then because that it is the Lord that looks at the heart, and if he have that, he hath all, he hath so much as contents him, and never breaks for the want of any thing else, (as you shal see further a­non) because where the heart is, the best they have wil be brought out, therefore above all we should keep that. That is a third ground. The Lord looks at that above all others, therefore we should keep it [Page 138] above all others. Then Fourthly, (which I need but name).

4. The Devil who is our Adversary, and the Lords Adversary, and goes about like a roaring Lyon see­king how he may devour, all his assaults and batteries are at the heart, and he counts all his labor lost if he do not get into the heart, if he gets that he gets the Cittadel that wil command all the rest, and if he be kept out or cast out there, he himself counts he hath nothing, therfore he saith he wil enter into Judas's heart, he wil fil Annanias's heart, he labors to set up his Throne and his Dominion in the heart of the Children of disobedi­ence, that is his great endeavor. Now then when we are called home to the Lord, we give our selves up to him to fight his battels, and where we know the Ene­my wil most assault, certainly our care should be most to watch. If the good man of the house knew at what hour the thief would come he would watch, if he knew what part of the house he would assault, he would watch that most of all; Now Satans whol endeavor though I confess that by his good wil, he would not let the Lord have a good word out of the mouth of a­ny of his People, nor of any People in the world, nor the bending of a knee if it lay in his power; but he wil afford that, so he may have but the heart, and if he can but any waies batter the heart, or discompose the heart, or bring it out of frame, he wil not greatly be troubled at all other formalities they give to God: Now because Satan doth so extreamly lay his battery there, surely the servants of God should above all kee­pings with all diligence keep that. That is a Fourth ground. Fiftly, Another that is of equal force is this,

[Page 139]5. The Heart even the heart of a Godly man it must be kept above Keepings with all diligence, because in truth it is not to be trusted, No, not the heart of the best man living in the world, it is deceitful, it is false, it is cozenig, it is treacherous, not that the new heart is so, but our heart is renewed but in part, and though it be made a Garison for Jesus Christ where our Treasures are kept, yet that Garison hath a great many false enemies that lodg within it; It were endless for me to explain this sufficiently, in so short a time as is fit for me now to speak, you know where the Scripture saith, that the heart of man, of an unconverted man, in Jerem. 17.9. It is deceitful above all things, it is desperately wicked, so desperately wicked and deceitful that none but the God of Heaven can search into the bottome of it, the deceitfulness of a mans heart goes as deep as Hel, that no plum-line wil go to the bottom of it; Now when the Lord plants Grace in any of his Children, and brings in some integrity, some sincerity, yet there re­mains a woful tang of their former falshood and treachery, that was in it before any Grace was brought in; and if it be not wel kept and wel looked too, the old deceits wil quickly so get up again, that all wil be put most wofully out of temper upon a sud­den. Should I but give you the instances that the Scripture hath left upon record, of some of the choy­cest Servants of God, how they have been lamentably befoyled, when they have but a little trusted their own hearts, and not had a s [...]ickt watch and ward go­ing along with it, you would hardly beleeve it; That holy Apostle Peter, how did he trust his heart when our Lord and Savior asked him, whether he would stick to him when he was in danger? Lord (saith he) [Page 140] I wil die with thee, and hang with thee, if thou beest in danger, and he beleeved it, and little knew what dan­ger lay in the bottom: and David he would not counte­nance any one that was wicked, but when he trusted his heart it led him to Murther, and Adultery, and Dis­sembling. And abundance of others that when they have but a little beleeved their own hearts, the best of Gods Children have found so much, that I may say of all the Saints living what Solomon saith in Prov. 28. He is a Fool that trusteth his heart, he that trusteth his heart, that wil beleeve it, No, if it be not throughly searched and throughly looked too: as Solomon saith of an enemy, Beleeve him not though he give the fair words, there are seven abominations in his heart: So I may say to a Child of God, that hath set Christ and Grace and Gods Glory the highest in his heart, Beleeve not thy heart, there are seven abominations lie in it, that if it be not very wel looked to it wil lay thee in the ditch, it will bring thee into woful inconveniences: Now then as you know in a Garison, if so be that we would keep a Garison, if there be impetuous enemies without, if the Rampires and Wals be strong the Guard may be a lit­tle secure, but when they know there are a hundred false enemies within their wals, that watch for any opportunity to open some postern Gate or other, to set fire upon the City, to make way for the enemy to come in, they are mad that think that it wil be kept without al diligence; So that because of the deceitful­ness and treachery of our hearts, we must therefore keep them with all diligence in the world. Lastly, to give one more and that is that which my Text holdeth out, and therefore I wil speak a little to it. Keep thy heart with all diligence, Why?

[Page 141]6. Because out of it are the issues of life, That is plainly, because Thy whol Conversation wil be as thy Heart is kept, that is the plain meaning of it, Thy heart is the foun­tain, and if thy heart be wel kept, clean, sweet, and pure, thy Conversation wil be such: Now you know that the Conversation of the Lords People it must be pure, it must be holy, Oh! there is a wonderful deal lies upon it, that the Servants of the Lord should glo­rifie him in a holy & unblameable Conversation: Jesus Christ redeemed them that they should in their Con­versation shew forth the graces of him that hath called them out of darkness into his marvelous light, & made them Inheritors of better things, that they should be to the praise and glory of his Grace, and to have the ser­vants of God walk unworthily, walk in a deformed dis­ordered conversation, this makes the Lords name stink amongst his enemies, this is the greatest reproach of God that can be in the world, to see those that are his redeemed people walk otherwise than as becometh Saints: Now our Conversation wil be as we look to our hearts, look wel to thy heart, keep that above all keeping, and then thy Conversation is secure, then thy words and thy actions may all be trusted, then the Lord will be secure of his Glory (if I may speak it with reverence) in thy words and Conversation, if thy heart be but looked to; but if thy heart be disor­derly, and defiled, and polluted, then unclean issues of life wil appear: A proud Heart will bring a proud Conversation; a wanton Heart wil bubble out a wan­ton Conversation; a worldly Heart that drinks in the love of the Creature, wil dishonor God in a worldly Conversation, be sure of that; I thought to have na­med you the Text, but I confess I had not time to [Page 142] look it, but you well know it an excellent speech of Solomons to my purpose, let me tell you before hand, that it is usual in the Proverbs of Solomon, that one part of the sentence concerns the wicked, and the other part concerns the godly, and commonly they are one of them ever set contrary one to another, Now he hath this speech towards the latter end of the Proverbs, The Tongue of the Just it is like refined Silver, (mark that expression, the Tongue of the just it is like refined Silver) what is that? the language, the savory discourse of Godly men, of gracious men, it is pure, and it is gain to a whol City where they dwel, they even scatter refined Silver where they come; Oh! it is delightful to sit and partake of the language of gracious men, the Tongue of the just is so; now you will expect the other sentence should be, now the Tongue of the wicked is rotten, their speech is rotten, No, but he saith, The Tongue of the wicked is nothing worth; as if he should have said, never look for any good in the Tongue of a wicked man, Why? For his Heart is worth nothing, and therefore never ex­pect his language should be worth any thing, and though it is true some wicked men have so much Hy­pocrisie, that they can express otherwise to men, yet God that looks at the Heart he looks upon it as rotten and unsavory, but let thy Heart be Silver, and thy Tongue will be like refined silver, let thy Heart be rotten and nothing worth, and thy discourse will be as nothing; Now lay these six things together, let me endeavor to make some use of it, but this is the sum, therefore should all the Servants of God, all Gods Children look to their Hearts above all things in the world, because First, It is the best part of them, Se­condly, [Page 143] It is a treasury of that that is better than it self, Heaven hath not a better treasury than is laid up in the Heart of a godly man, and the Lord looks at it above all other things, and Satan assaults it above all other things, and even the best men have abundance of cor­ruption and deceit in their Hearts, and according as their Hearts are kept so will their life be, therefore above all keepings look to thy Heart; Now the Appli­cation of it, I fear I shal not speak so much as I would have done, but I would willingly (if God help me) a little warm your Hearts about it, three Uses I would wilingly make of this Doctrine, that the greatest, the busiest work that the Servants of God have to do in this world, is to keep their inward Heart in a good frame to God-ward.