Christ Crucified - 72 Sermons on Isaiah 53

which is not to Believe on Christ simply, but as He is holden out in the Word of the Gospel; Presumption may look on Christ and His Fulness, and few or none will readily dare to give Him a direct and down-right refusal, or to reject Him professedly and avowedly when they hear of such Happiness that is to be had in Him; but that which we say qualifies Faith, is to desire, receive, and embrace Him according as He is holden out in the Gospel, for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 1 Cor. 1.30. when He is lippened to with an Eye to the Promise, and when that which makes us rest on Him is the Word of God; for though Christ be the material Object of Faith, yet the Word is the formal Object, whereby we get a Right to Him, and there is no gripping or getting hold of Christ, but in, and according to His Word; and therefore the generality of People (who on the Matter, take the Antinomian way) think they have no more to do, but to apply Christ, and to count Him their own at the very first; but thorough their not exercising Faith on the Word of Promise, they miss Him; this is, as I have said, a main qualification of Saving Faith, even to rest on Christ as He is holden out in the Word, and by the Word, to take hold of Him, and rest upon Him; Saving Faith doth not simply rest on Christ because He is Merciful and hath all Fulness in Him, but it rests on Him and His Fulness as received in the Word, and offered by God in His Word; Faith takes God's Faithfulness in His Word, and lays hold on Him by that, Christ is the thing that makes H • ppy, but God's Faithful Promise is the Right by which we get a Title to that thing; we would never love nor like of that Faith that knows not the use of the Word, that betakes itself to Christ, or the things in the Word, but meddles not, nor hath any dealing with the Word that holds them out, when as it is only this Word that gives us warrand to expect that His Fulness shall be made forth-coming for our up-making, and for the supply of all our need; many desire, and expect good of God, but get it not, because their expectation is not founded on His Word, and God's Faithfulness in His Word is not closed withal: In a word, I would have you to think that Faith is neither an easy, nor an insuperably difficult thing, but that it is easy to go wrong, and difficult to go right, and that without God's special and powerful guiding, ye cannot believe nor exercise Faith, nor walk in the way of believing in Him, and dependence on Him, that ye may be helped to make a right use of Christ, and to build upon Him, that ye may not slip nor stumble, and fall on the Stumbling-stone laid in Zion, on which so many fall every day and break themselves to pieces.

SERMON VI.

IF it were not recorded in the infallible Scriptures of Truth, we would hardly believe that there could be so much powerful and sweet Preaching of the most excellent Instruments that ever were employed, and yet that there should be so little Fruit following on it; who would believe that Isaiah, so excellent, so sweet, and so evangelick a Prophet, should have preached so many pleasant, plain, and powerful Sermons to a People from the Lord, and yet that he should have so many sad complaints as he hath? Chap. 6, 28, and 58. that he should be put to bring in the Lord, saying, All the day long have I stretched out my hands to a rebellious People, chap. 65. and that here, himself should have it to say, Who hath believed our report? It's scarce one Man here or there that hath Savingly believed on Christ; and this is the third thing in the Words, that now we would speak to, and it's a very sad, though a very clear Truth.

The Doctrine is this, That there may be much powerful Preaching of the Gospel, and yet Unbelief generally among the Hearers of it; Or take it with dependence on the former two, namely, 1. That the great work of the Ministry, is, to propose and make Christ known to a People. 2. That the great Duty of a People that have Christ proposed to them, is, to Believe on Him. Then this 3. Follows on the back of these, That a People may have Christ propos • d to them, brought to their Heart and Mouth, and though it be but Believing that is called for from them, yet that cannot be obtained from most of them. This Gospel-duty of Believing is often slighted by the Hearers of the Gospel; this is clearly holden forth here, Who hath believed our report? we have called for Faith, but it's a rare thing among the multitude of Hearers to get one that believeth Savingly.

To make out, and prove this a little further, we would consider this Complaint, with these Aggravations of it, which will make it the more clear, and so the more to be wondered at, As, 1. These of whom the Complaint is made, it is not Heathens, but God's own People, as the Lord complains, Psal. 81, 10, 11. My people would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would have none of me; our Lord Jesus complains of Jerusalem, Matth. 23. at the end, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thee, and thou wouldst not; that the Lord's own professing People should not believe, nor receive the Report that is made of Him, heightens the Complaint, and aggravates their guilt exceedingly. 2. It is not a Complaint as to one Sermon, or as to one Time, but it's a Complaint frequently repeated as to many fruitless Sermons, and as to many Times, yea Generations; Isaiah preached long in many Kings Reigns, and yet all along his Prophecy he complains of it, as Chap. 6.11. How long Lord shall their eyes be blind, and their ears heavy, &c. and Chap. 28.9. Whom shall I teach Doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts, precept must be upon precept, and line upon line, here a little and there a little; and Chap. 65.2. All day long I have streatched out my hands to a rebellious people, and here again, Who hath believed our report? much and long, or many years Preaching, much plain and powerful Preaching, and yet little or no Fruit; they are snared and taken, and fall backward, for all that: And this was not in Isaiah 's days only, but in Christ 's days, John 12.37, 38. and in Paul 's days, Rom. 10.16. where the same very words in the Text are repeated; nay, it runs down from the first spreading of the Gospel, even to these latter days wherein we live, many hear, but few receive the Report. 3. Consider how many they are that complain, it's not one or two, or a few, but all the Preachers of the Gospel; it's not, Lord who hath believed my Report, but, who hath believed our Report? it's complained of by Isaiah here, and in several other places named before; it's complained of by Micah, Chap. 7.1. Woe is me, for I am as they who have gathered the summer-fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage, there is no cluster to eat, the good man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men, &c. it's complained of by Hosea, Chap. 11.7. Though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him, that is, none would give Him the glory of His Grace in believing on Him; Ah sad word! as is that also in Psal. 81. the Lord calls, Hear O my people and I will testify to thee, open thy mouth wide and I will fill it, but my people would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would none of me; and what Prophet is there almost (if I need say almost) but hath one way or other this Complaint? that though the Lord streatched out His Hands all day long, yet it was to a rebellious and gain-saying People: Look forward, and see what our Lord says of John the Baptist, and of Himself, Whereto shall I liken this generation, it's like children sitting in the market-places, saying one to another, we have piped to you and ye have not danced, we have mourned to you and ye have not lamented, that is, there is much Preaching of Men endowed with several Gifts, but none of them does the People much good; John preached with much holy austerity, like one Mourning; the Son of Man most sweetly, like one Piping, yet neither the one nor the other prevailed; there are some Boanarges, sons of Thunder, allaruming and thundering Preachers; some Barnabasses, sons of Consolation, sweetly comforting Preachers, yet all gain but little on the Hearers; our Lord saith, Mat. 23. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered you? this is the ordinary Complaint, ye would not. A 4th. Aggravation is, If we consider who they are that meet with this Unbelief and Unfruitfulness in them they preach to, if it were poor coldrife Preachers, such as we, alas in a great measure are, or such as the Scribes and the Pharisees were, or if it were they who had Learning only, and not Piety, it were not so great matter to see them meet with Unbelief and Unfruitfulness in their Hearers; but its even these whom the Lord sent and sharpened, as Arrows out of His Quiver, as this Prophet was; it's even his Preaching that is Fruitless in a great measure, and was there ever a more sweet, plain, powerful, and delectable Preacher than Isaiah was? that even the very reading of his Preachings may affect the Readers, yet is there any that complains more, or so much, as he doeth in the Chapters before cited? it's like ye will think, that if Isaiah were Preaching now, he would be as a Stone, that would not be moved thereby, and yet his Preaching got the same return and entertainment that our gets now; and Hosea called his Hearers to the most High, yet none at all would exalt Him; it was their work to streatch out their Hands all the day long, but they hardened their Necks, and refused to return, Jer. 8. and Zech. 7. But 5ly. Consider all these are Servants and Preachers under the Old Testament, and you may be disposed to think that ye under the Gospel, when the Vail is laid by, and when Christ Himself, their Lord and Master, and His Apostles come to Preach the Gospel, it should be otherwise; yet John the Baptist, who was Christ's Harbinger, who was a burning and a shining Light, a stayed and fixed Man, not a Reed shaken with the Wind, (as many of us much are,) a Prophet, yea more than a Prophet, yet when he preached, many of his Hearers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, Luk. 7. John comes preaching austerely, and they say he hath a Devil, and if there was any rejoicing in his Light, it was but for a Season; and Paul that chosen Vessel, how often was he persecuted? and he hath the same Complaint, in the same words that Isaiah hath here of his Hearers, especially the Jews, Acts 13.46. and 28.28. and was constrained to tell them, that he and his Fellow preachers behooved to quite them, and betake themselves to the Gentiles; and how doeth he complain of the Corinthians and Galatians, and of their being bewitched, and suddenly seduced, and drawn away from the truth and simplicity of the Gospel, by some Self-seeking Lown-Ministers, coming with a glancing Countefite among them. We shall close this with the consideration of our Lord Jesus, who was a none-such Preacher, of whom it's said, Matth. 7.29. that He spake with power and not as the Scribes, and Luk 4. when he is opening that sweet Text, Isa. 61.1, 23. it's said, They all wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth; and the Officers that came to take Him, say, that never man spake as He spoke, and yet this same is His Complaint, Matth. 23.37. How often would I have gathered you, and ye would not; and John 1.11. it's said, He came to his own, and his own received him not: Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum were lifted up to Heaven by the Lord's preaching to them in Person, and yet woe after woe is denounced against them, because they believed not, for all His Preaching and Miracles; and it's a wonder, if we look thorough the History of the Gospel, how many a sweet Preaching He had, and with what Weight and Power He spoke, and sometimes with Tears, and withal, backed His Word with Miracles, that made His Hearers acknowledge the Finger of God, and yet how few were brought to Believe on Him? so that He was put to take up this very Complaint of Isaiah here, John 12.38. Is it not a wonder, when He and His Apostles have preached so much, and so long, that the Church is so little a Flock, and that Believers are so few in number, even after His Ascension? need we any further proof, that the Gospel where it comes gets but little welcome? the Carriage of many among ourselves is a sad proof of it, for we are afraid that many of you do not Believe to this Day, though there hath been amongst you, much, long, or many Years, and powerful preaching of the Gospel, but are still living without Faith, and Perishing.

If this be not enough to clear the Doctrine, 1. See how Christ speaks of it, Matth. 13. in the Parable of the Sower of the Seed, where there are three sorts of Ground that never bring forth good Fruit, and there He speaks, not only of the time of His own Personal Ministry, but of all times. 2. Look to the ordinary and daily effect, or rather consequent of this preached Gospel, and it will prove it; do not many Perish? do not many crowd thick in the broad Way that leads to Destruction? do not but very few Fruits of Faith appear? is there not little, lamentably little, real Change in the Way and Walk of most to be seen? To clear it yet further, Go thorough the several Ranks of Persons, that in God's account are Unbelievers, and lay them by, O! there will be exceeding few Believers in Christ found: First, Then lay by the grossly Profane, that are never so much as civilized. Secondly, The Ignorant, Stupid, and Senseless, that never have mind they have Souls, are never feared for Wrath, nor in the least exercised to make their Peace with God. Thirdly, The Earthly-minded, that mind no other thing save the World. Fourthly, These of a Civil outward Carriage, that have some good Works, and as they think, good Days too, and yet come not near Christ to close with Him. Fifthly, The Hypocrites, and that of all sorts, both the presuming Hypocrites, that will thank God they are better than their Neighbors, and yet lippen not to Christ, and free Grace through Him, but seek to establish their own Righteousness, gross as it is; and the legal Hypocrites, that never denied their own Righteousness, nor submitted to the Righteousness of Christ: Lay aside all these, I say, and we leave it to your own Consciences to judge, how few will be found to have Saving Faith; and therefore I am persuaded, if there be any truth of God delivered to you, that this is a truth, that though the Gospel be preached to many, yet there are but few Hearers of it, that do actually Believe in Jesus Christ to the saving of their Souls.

Use 1. The first Use of it is, To beseech you to let this sink deep into your Minds as the Truth of God, for these Reasons. 1. Because it's a most useful Truth, and if it were believed, it would make Folks very watchful over themselves, and to tremble for fear, lest they be found amongst the multitude that Believe not, and put them t • secure and sicker their Interest in God, and not to rest on a Fashion and Form of Religion, without observing what Fruit followeth on the Gospel; among the many Evils that undo not a few, we think this is not the least, that this Truth is never thoroughly fixed in them; they think there are many Heathens and Turks without the Church, and many gross Swearers, Drunkards, and others such within it, that will Perish, but none others, or at least, that they are but very few, who among a professing People Perish; neither can they be induced to think it's such a hard matter, to get one, or a very few that are Believers in a Country side, so that if Isaiah were now alive to cry, Who believes our report? each of them would be ready to answer, I believe. 2. Because for as certain and useful a Truth as this is, yet generally it's not believed, Folks cannot think that so few Believe, and that Believing is so difficult and rare a thing: I would ask you this Question, Was it ever a difficulty to any of you to Believe? If not, what is it that makes Believing so rare? what should move the Prophet thus to complain, Who hath believed our report? I shall shortly give you some Evidences that many of you do not really believe this Truth. The first is, That so few of you tremble at the Word of God; the Historical Faith that the Devils have, makes them tremble, but ye have not that much; this is given as a Property of a suitable Hearer of the Gospel, to whom the Lord will look, Isa. 66.1, 2. that he is one who trembles at the Word; but the most part of you that hear this Gospel, are like these Pi • lars on which this House stands, who are never so much as once moved at the Word; ye either take not Faith to be an absolutely necessary thing, and that ye cannot but Perish without it, or ye think that the Faith ye were Born with, will do your turn; ye do not Believe that ye are naturally under the power of the Devil, and led Captive of him at his will, and that without Holiness, and a spiritual gracious Frame, and stamp on your Heart and Way, ye shall never see God; what wonder then that ye come not to rest on Christ, when the very Letter of the Gospel is not credited. A second Evidence is, That there is so little preparation made to prevent your eternal Hazard, it's said of Noah, Heb. 11. that Noah being warned of God, prepared an Ark, and this is attributed to his Faith; it's not possible that ye would live so negligently and carelessly, if ye believed that the Curse of God were pursuing you, and that ye will be brought to reckon for that which ye have done in the Body, and that ye will meet with God as an Enemy; if this were believed, though your Hearts were harder than they are, it would make you tremble, and put you to other sort of thoughts and seriousness. A third Evidence is, That there is no Fruit of Faith among many of you, for where it is, it will not be got altogether smuthered, but will kythe and show itself one way or other; and if ye will still assert your Faith, I would say to you as James doeth to these to whom he writes, Shew me your Faith by your works; if ye shall say, God knows: I answer, that ye shall find that to be a Truth that He knows, and He will make you know that He does so; but alas! that poor Shift will not avail you when it comes to the Push, O try your Faith then by your Works; see what Mortification of Lusts, what Repentance from dead Works, what growth in Knowledge, what shining of Holiness in your Conversation, is attained to; many of you, as to your very Knowledge, are as if ye lived among Heathens, many of whom have been as free of Vice, and more profitable to others, than many of you are, and cared as little for the World as many of you do; how comes it to pass then, that ye have lived as if ye could have Faith, and yet have no Fruit? ye must either say, that Faith is not necessary, or that ye may have Faith without Fruit, for we are sure your Fruit is not the Fruit of Faith: To live honestly, as you call it, what is that? there are many Heathens who have gone beyond you in that; we will not say, that Moral Honesty is nothing, but sure it is not all; all the Fruits of mere Moral Honesty, are but sour Fruits, that will set your Teeth on edge: Neither is it your Hearing of the Word only, but your Believing and Doing of it, that will profit you; it's very sad, that most plain obvious Duties are not at all followed, as the studying of Knowledge, the exercising of Repentance, one of the very first Duties, which is never separated from Faith, the humbling of the Soul before God, the loathing of yourselves for all ye have done, the Love of God, &c. for there may be Challenges for gross Evils in Heathens; and Fear is not Repentance, but Godly Sorrow that causeth Repentance not to be repented of. A fourth Evidence is, The want of that Work of God's Spirit that accompanies Faith, Faith is a special Work of the Spirit, and the gracious Gift of God, it's wrought by the exceeding mighty Power of God, whereby He raised Christ from the Dead, and by that same Power He worketh in them that Believe; now, knew ye ever what this Work meaned? found ye it ever to be a difficult Work to Believe? knew ye ever what it was to have the Spirit of God constraining your Heart to Believe? I speak not of any extraordinary thing; but certainly, Faith is not Natural, nor cometh from pure Nature, and wherever it is, it manifests itself by Works, and evidenceth the Power of the Spirit in the working thereof: There are some sad Evidences of, and bitter Fruits that spring from this Root, to wit, Folks being Strangers to the experimental Knowledge of the Work of Faith: As, 1. When Men know no more difficulty to get Christ, and to rest on Christ, then to believe a Story of Wallace, or of Julius Caesar. 2. When Folks say that they believed all their Days, and believed always since ever they knew Good by Ill; and though their Faith be no true Saving Faith, but a guessing, yet they will not quite it, yea it's impossible for Men to get them convinced that they want Faith. 3. When Men never knew what it is to be without Faith; it's one of the great Works of the Spirit, John 16.8. to convince of the want of Faith; Folks will be easily convinced, that breach of the Sabbath, that Stealing, that bearing false Witness, &c. are Sins, where the special Work of the Spirit is not; but how many of you have been convinced of the want of Faith? we are constrained to say this sad word when we look on this Text, that it is lamentably fulfilled in your Eyes, and in this our Congregation; think not that we wrong such of you who have believed our Report; Ah it's few, even very few of you, that Receive and Believe this Gospel.

Use 2. The second Use is for Conviction, If it be ordinary for the great part of the Hearers of the Gospel not to Believe, let it sink in your Hearts that it is no extraordinary thing that hath befallen you; are ye not such Hearers as many of these were, who heard Isaiah, and Jesus Christ? and if so, will not this follow, that there are many, yea, even the thick and throng of the Hearers of this Gospel, that Believe not? and who if Christ were gathering Sinners by this preached Gospel, would not be gathered; if where the Gospel comes many do not Believe, then here in this City where the Gospel is preached to a great multitude of professing Members of the visible Church, there are readily many that do not Believe; or let me ask of you a Reason why ye do except yourselves, either this Truth holds not so universally, or many of you must fall under it, or else give a Reason why you fall not under it; the Truth which Isaiah preached, hath been preached to you, and yet ye remain Unbelieving, and Dispisers of the Invitation to the Marriage of the King's Son, as the Jews did; we are not now speaking of Jews, Turks, nor Heathens, nor of the Churches in general, nor of other Congregations, but of you in Glasgow, that have this Gospel preached amongst you, and we say of you, that there are few that believe our Report: Think it not our Word, the Application flows natively from the Text, not from necessity of the thing, but from the ordinary course of Men's Corruption; are not the same Evidences of the want of Faith, which we spoke of, among you? how many are there in their Life Profane? how many rest on Civility and Formality? is there not as little Repentance now as was in Isaiah 's time? as little denying of our own Righteousness, and making use of Christ's, though the Word be taught by Line upon Line, here a little and there a little? It may be, though ye think that the Doctrine is true in the general, ye will not, ye cannot digest the Application, That among so many of you visible Professors of Faith, there are but few real Believers; therefore we shall follow the Conviction a little further, by giving you some Considerations to make it out, that we have but too just ground to make Application of the Doctrine to you, especially considering the abounding of Corruption that is amongst you, that ye may be put to fear the Wrath that attends Sin, and to flee to Christ for Refuge in time. 1. Consider of whom it is that the Prophet is speaking, and of what Time, Is it not of the Times and Days of the Gospel? had not the Spirit (in dictating this Text of Scripture) an Eye on Scotland, and on Glasgow? and do not our Lord Jesus Christ and Paul apply it in their Days? and why then may not we also in ours? and when the Spirit speaks expressly of the last Times, that they shall be perilous, and of the falling away of many, should it not give us the hotter alarm. 2. Do not all things agree to us as to them? is not this Gospel the same? is our Preaching any better than theirs? nay, had they not much more powerful Preaching? and if that Preaching which was much more powerful had not efficacy as to many to work Faith in them, what may we expect to do by our Preaching? are not your Hearts as deceitful? are not your Corruptions as strong? are ye not as bent to Back sliding as they were? what sort of Folks were they that were unfruitful Hearers? were they not Members of the visible Church as ye are, circumcised under the Old Testament, as ye are baptized under the New? was it not these who had Christ and His Apostles preaching to them? yea, they were not among the more Ignorant sort who did not Believe, but Scribes and Pharisees, and these not of the profanest sort only, but such as came to Church, and attended on Ordinances, as ye do, yea, were such as had Gifts, and cast out Devils, and preached in Christ's Name, as you may see, Luk. 13.26. Now when there are so many, and of such Ranks, who get no good of the Word, and of such, a great many that will seek to enter in, and shall not be able, to whom Christ will sall say, depart, I know you not ye Workers of Iniquity; What can be the reason that many of you do so confidently assert your Faith, when there are scarcely any characters of Unbelief but ye have them? or, what can be your advantage in keeping yourselves carnally Secure, when the strong Man, in the mean time, is in the House? and to shut your Eyes, and make your Necks stiff, and to resolve, as it were, not only to lie still, but to die in your Unbelief; I persuade myself, that many of you ere long, will be made to wonder that ever ye thought yourselves Believers, and will be galled when ye think upon it, that what ever was said to you, ye would needs maintain your presumptuous Faith. When we bid you suffer the Conviction to sink, let none put it from themselves to others, but let everyone take it Home to himself; although we would not have any of you casting loose what is indeed made fast and well secured, nor overturning a slender and weak Building, though it were, to speak so, but of two Stone height, if it be founded on a right Foundation, on the Rock; but we speak to you that cannot be brought to suspect yourselves, when ye have just reason to do so; sure, this Challenge and Charge belongs to some, yea to many, and we would ask what ground have ye to shift it? how can ye prove your Faith more than others that have none at all? that ye hope ye have Faith, will not do your turn, that's no solid proof; ye cannot come to Christ except made suitably sensible of your distance, and of that ye have never been convinced as yet; do ye think to roll yourselves on Christ sleeping, and ye know not how? certainly when the Pins of your Tabernacle come to be a loosing, ye shall find that your fancied Faith shall not be able to keep out a Challenge; ye could never endute to think yourselves to be Christ's Enemies, or that ye wanted Faith, but when Death comes, Conscience will awaken, and the Challenge will needs be in upon you, whether ye will or not; many of you think that ye get wrong when your Faith is questioned or reproved, as if it were an odd and rare thing to be Graceless, or to be living as Members of the visible Church, and yet want Faith; and it irritats you to be expostulated with in private for your lying in Unbelief: But suffer this word now to take hold of you, I b • se • ch you, and if ye could once be brought to suspect yourselves, and to think thus with yourselves. What if I be one of those many that Believe not? I fear I be in hazard to be mistaken about my Faith, and from that, put to follow on to see how ye will be able to ward off the Challenge, and to prove your Believing to be sound, we would think ye were fair on; O if ye had the Faith of this Truth, that among the many Hearers of the Gospel, there are but few that Believe, and were brought thereby to examine and try yourselves; there is no Truth that Christ insists more on than this, that strait is the Gate, and narrow is the way to Heaven, and that but few find it, and that there are few that Believe, and few that be Saved; If ye did once in earnest look on yourselves as in Hazard, and were brought to reflect on Matters betwixt God and you, it might be the Lord would follow the Conviction, we desire Him to do it, and to Him be Praise.

SERMON VII.

IT's a sad matter, and much to be lamented, when the carrying of such good News as is the Report of Jesus Christ in the Gospel, becomes unprofitable to them that hear it, and thereby burdensome to them that carry it; Folks would think that such glad Tydings as make the Heavenly Host of Angels to sing, would be very joyful and welcome News to Sinners, and also most heartsome to them that carry them; and where the former is, there the latter will be also; where the Word becomes useless and unprofitable to Hearers, it is burdensome as to the concomitant and effect, to honest Ministers that speak it; though Isaiah brought these News in a very plain, powerful, pleasant and sweet manner to the People he preached to, and that frequently, yet in the midst of his sweet Prophesies, he breaks out with this Complaint, who hath believed our report? he is carrying glad Tydings, yet taking a look of the Unbelief of his Hearers now and then, he complains of it to God in his own name, and in name of all the Ministers of the Gospel that should come after him.

We show that it was a very ordinary thing where the Gospel comes in greatest Plenty and Power, for the Hearers thereof to meet it with much Unbelief, a Truth that was verified in Isaiah his time, and that he foresaw would be verified in the Days of the Gospel; and therefore it's our Report, not only is it the Report of Isaiah, but it is the Report of Christ, and of Paul, who make the same Complaint, and Cite the same words of Isaiah, and need we doubt of the truth of it, when Isaiah in the Old, and Paul in the New Testament, thus complain? Not to speak of their, and our Lord and Master, who came to his own and his own received him not, and of whom when He came they said, this is the heir come let us kill him; need we, I say, doubt of the truth of the Doctrine, or to think it strange to see it so in our Time, and that we have the same Complaint, when the Means (at least the Instruments) are incomparably far below what they were then, though it be still the same Gospel?

The Prophet's scope is, to give Advertisement and Warning to the Hearers of the Gospel for the Time to come, of this rise Evil, even the abounding of Unbelief in them that hear it. 1. That he may prevent the Scandal of the unfruitfulness of the Word where it comes. 2. That he may add a Spur of excitement to the Hearers of the Gospel to endeavor to make use of it, and not to rest upon Means, how powerful and lively soever they be, but to press forward to the End they aim and shoot at. 3. That he may put Folks to the Trial, and that they may be brought to look in upon themselves, whether they be, or be not, in this black Roll of them that receive not the Report; and we think, if anything put Folks to be suspicious of themselves, and to commune with their own Hearts about their Souls estate, this should do it; especially when they consider how this Evil agrees to all Times, and yet more especially to the Times of the Gospel, and how it is an Evil that abounds, not only among the Profane, but among these who are Civil and Zealous too for the Righteousness of the Law, it should make them put themselves to the Trial, and not to take everything to be Faith that they fancy to be Faith; for either this Doctrine is not true, that where ever the Gospel comes, it meets with Unbelief in most part of its Hearers, and cannot be applied to this Generation, or, that there is much Faith in this Generation that we live in, that will not be counted Saving Faith: If all of you were Believers, there were no ground for this Complaint, and if we will take Folks on their own word, we can hardly get a Person but will say he Believes, so that the generality of Men's Hearts run quite contrary to this Truth; and therefore we say, it is the scope of this Doctrine and the like, to give Folks the alarm, and to put them to suspect and try themselves; I do not mean that any should cast the work of Faith where it is indeed, for that is also a part of our Unbelief, and ordinarily when Unbelief falleth on the one side, the Devil maketh it up on the other, and makes tender Souls question their Faith when they begin to Believe, as if they could mend Unbelief with Unbelief; but it is to such that we speak, who cannot be brought to suspect their Faith; certainly, ye will wonder one day, that ye should have heard such a plain Truth, and yet would not so much as ask your own Hearts whether there was reason to suspect your want of Faith, as it's said that Christ marvelled at their Unbelief who heard Him, so may we at yours, and who ere long, ye shall also marvel at yourselves on this account.

Before we prosecute this Use, and the rest any further, we shall speak to another Doctrine, and it is the last that follows from these words, tending to the same scope to make us scar at Unbelief, which the Prophet makes such a heavy ground of Complaint. The Doctrine then is, That if there were never so many under Unbelief, and never so many who refuse to receive Jesus Christ, yet Unbelief is a Sin, and a most sinful Sin, which, though Folks had no more, will seclude them from Heaven; there were no ground for this Complaint if it were not so, even as the Prophet would have had no ground to complain of the Peoples Unbelief if there were not many Unbelievers; so Unbelief is a very great Sin in whomsoever it is, and makes them exceeding sinful: Or take the Doctrine thus, It is a very great Sin for a People to whom Christ is offered in this Gospel, not to receive Him, and rest upon Him for Salvation, as He is offered to them therein; and it ariseth from this ground, That where Christ is not received, there the Ministers of the Gospel have ground of Complaint, for it supposes a great defect in their Duty, seeing it is their Duty to Believe, yea the great Gospel duty on which all other Duties hang, and which is called for by many tyes and obligations, This is his commandment, saith John in his first Epistle, chap. 3.23. that ye believe on the Name of his Son Jesus Christ, therefore it must be a great Sin not to Believe.

There are shortly three things comprehended in this Doctrine, (speaking now of Unbelief, not only as opposite to Historical Faith, which we commonly call Infidelity, but as it's opposite to Saving Faith, which we show is that which is called for here:) 1. That Unbelief, or not receiving of Christ, is a Sin, or a thing in its own nature sinful: It's a Sin as well as Adultery, Murder, Stealing, Lying, Sabbath-breaking, &c. are; yea, and in the Aggravations of it, a Sin beyond these; it is as contrary to the Word and Will of God, and is as contrary to the Divine Majesty, as Drunkenness, Murder, Adultery, or any other Sin is, the positive command of Believing being as peremptory, plain, and particular, as these negative ones are, the breach of it must be as sinful. 2. That there is such a kind of Sin as Unbelief, beside other Sins, and such a distinct Duty as Believing, that if Folks could do all other Duties, if this Duty of Believing be wanting, they will be still sinful, and there will be still ground of Complaint; and if Faith be a particular Duty required, and distinct from other Duties and Graces, as it's clear it is, Gal. 5.21. then Unbelief must be a particular Sin, distinct from other Sins, though it hath influence on other Sins, as Faith hath on other Duties; so Rev. 21.8. it's ranked among the most abominable Sins, the reason why we mark this, is, because there may be some in whom some gross Sins, as Adultery, Blood-shed, and the like, do reign, and they get that name to be called Adulterers, Murderers, &c. others may possibly be free of these, who yet have Unbelief reigning in them, and therefore they get that name to be called Unbelieving, and are ranked with the grossest of Evil-doers. 3. That even many in the Times wherein the Scriptures were written, and in every Age since, are found guilty of this Sin, and condemned for it, who are as to several other things commended; hence it's said Rom. 10.3. of the Jews, that they had a zeal of God, which in itself is good, though not according to knowledge, yet it was their main lett and obstruction in the way to Life, that being ignorant of God's righteousness, they went about to establish their own; for as much zeal as they had for the Law of Moses, seeing they did not receive Jesus Christ, and His Righteousness by Faith, it made any other good thing they had unacceptable, and the reason why we mark this, is, that Folks may see that it is not only for gross Sins, and with gross Sinners that the Gospel complains and expostulats, but it's also for not submitting unto, and not receiving the Righteousness of Christ, and therefore ye are far mistaken that think yourselves free from just grounds of Challenge, because forsooth, ye are free of Murder, Adultery, Drunk • nness and the like; do ye not consider that Unbelievers ar • in the same Rank and Roll with abominable Whoremongers, Sorcerers, Idolaters, and Dogs? and is not Unbelief contrary to the Command of God, as well as Murth • r, Adultery, and these other gross Sins? and therefore because Folks think little of Unbelief, though it be very rife, if they be free of other gross Sins. 4. We shall add a fourth thing which the Doctrine implies. That Unbelief though there were no other Sin, is exceeding sinful, and is first. The great ground that makes God expostulate with the Hearers of the Gospel, and that makes them come under the Complaint, John 5 40. Ye will not come to me that ye may have life, and Matth. 23.37. How often would I have gathered you, and ye would not; and for substance, it's the Lord's great complaint of most of His professing People, Psal. 81.11. I am the Lord thy God, open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it, but my people would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would none of me, and then follows, O that my people had hearkened unto my voice; there is no Sin the Lord complains more of than of this, and it's the great complaint of all His Servants. Secondly, B • hold how the Lord threatens this Sin, and punishes for it, see Psal. 95.7. and Heb. 3.7. and Heb. 4.8. where He swears in His Wrath against Unbelievers, that they shall not enter into His Rest; Adultery and Murder do not more certainly keep Men from Heaven than this Sin of Unbelief doth, yea, they are classed together, Rev. 21.8. see also Luk. 12.46. where the severest Judgment that is executed, is upon Unbelievers; and in the Man that had the offer of Christ, and did not receive it, and put on the Wedding Garment, Mat. 22.12, 13. see it also in the words that are pronounced against Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum, Matth. 11. and our blessed Lord Jesus loves not (to speak so) to pronounce woes, but to bless His People, yet when they have the offer of Life through Him, and will not receive it, He pronounces woe after woe upon them, and of what sort were they? even beyond these that came upon Tyrus and Sidon, upon Sodom and Gomorrah; we think such Threatenings as these, should make Folks not to think Unbelief a light, or little Sin, and that there is no ground of quietness, so long as they are in a Self-righteous-condition, and have not their Peace made with God through Christ. Thirdly, Look further, to the greatness of this Sin, in the strange names that the Lord puts upon it, 1 John 5.11. He that believes not, hath made God a liar; and is there any Sin that hath a grosser name or effect than this? for it receives not the Report which He hath given of His Son; He tells Folk that Happiness is to be gotten in Him only, and they think to be Happy though they take another way; they believe not the Report, for if they believed it, they would receive Christ as their Life: See further what names are given to it, Heb. 6.6. and Heb. 10.20. which though they be there given, with other Aggravations of sinning willfully, with despite, &c. with respect to the unpardonable Sin, yet who are they that live under the Gospel and Believe not, but in a great measure they will be found capable of most of them at least? It's called a crucifying of the Son of God afresh, a putting Him to an open shame, &c. and who are they that do this, and on what ground? it's Unbelievers through their Unbelief, they think not Christ worth the having, and reject all that is spoken of Him, and cry away with Him, as the Jews did; and as to their particular Guilt, they crucify Him, for they cannot refuse Him, without affronting Him, and can there be such an affronting of Him as when He condescends so very low, to think so little of Him? Fourthly, Consider the Expressions under which He sets out His being affected, (to say so,) with this Sin; He was so affected with it, Mark 3.5. that it's said, He was grieved for their unbelief, He had many Sorrows and Griefs, and suffered many things, but this grieved Him someway more than they all did; and it's said, Mark 6.6. that He marvelled because of their unbelief, it's not said that He marvelled at their Adulteries, and their gross Sins, but that when He was taking such a convincing way to demonstrate to them His God-Head, yet they would not Believe on Him, He marvelled at that; so Luk. 19.41. it's said, that when He came near to Jerusalem, He weeped over it, and why? the following words tell us, O that thou had known in this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace, that is, O that thou hadst believed, and received the Gospel, at least in this thy day, (though thou did it not before,) when thou wert, and art so plainly and powerfully called to this Duty; and ye may know that it behooved to be some great thing that made Him to weep, when all that the Devil and Pontius Pilate, and the Jews could do, made Him not to weep: It's said Mat. 11. that He upbraided these Cities that He had preached much in, on this ground; sure, when He that gives liberally and upbraids none, does upbraid for this Sin, it shows how much He was pressed with it; and Luke 14.21. it's said of this Sin, that it angered Him, and He is not easily angered; Sinners need not fear to anger Him by coming to Him, but when they come not, He is angry; it's said Matth. 22.7. He was wroth at this Sin, and it's on this ground, that Psal. 2.12. we are bidden kiss the Son, lest He be angry, that is, to exercise Faith in Him, for if we do it not, He will be angry, and we will perish. There are other Aggravations of this Sin, which we leave till we come to the Application.

Use 1. Is there not as much here, though Folks had no more but their Unbelief, as may make them know it's an evil and bitter thing, and as may make them skar at it, and flee from it, and to fear lest they be found under the Guilt of it, when called to a reckoning, especially when Unbelief is so rife, that but few suspect themselves or fear it; there is hardly any ill but ye will sooner take with it, then with this of Unbelief, and there is no Duty nor Grace that ye more readily think ye perform and have, then this of Faith, and it is come to that height that Folks think they Believe always, and know not what it is to misbelieve; do ye think that this presumptuous and fancied Faith will be counted for Faith, or that Christ who sifts Faith narrowly will let it pass for Saving Faith? no certainly.

Use 2. Is there not here ground of Advertisement, wakening, rousing, and alaruming to many, that think themselves free of other Challenges; if the Spirit were coming powerfully to convince of Sin, it would be of this, because they believe not, as it is John 16.9. and we are persuaded many of you had need of this Conviction, that never once questions your having of Faith, or care not whether ye have it or not: Put these two Doctrines together, That Unbelief is an abominable Sin, and that it is notwithstanding, a very rife Sin, and let them sink deep into your Hearts, and they will put you to other thoughts of Heart, if this plain Truth of God prevail not with you, we know not what will do it; but the time cometh when ye shall be undeniably convinced of both, that Unbelief is a great Sin, and that it is a very rife Sin, and of this also, that it is an abominable and loathsome thing, and very prejudicial and hurtful to you.

Use 3. And therefore, as a third Use, If it be so, let us ask this Question, How comes it to pass, that so many in trying their State, and in grounding of it, lay so little weight on Faith, and think so little of Unbelief? I am speaking to the generality of you, and let not others wrong themselves, nor mistake the intent of this Scripture; How is it, I say, that the generality of you that hear this Gospel, come under this common and epidemick Temper, or rather Distemper, to maintain your Peace and Confidence, when ye can (in the mean time) give so little proof of it? think ye that Faith cannot be a missing, nor mistaken, or that it is ordinary and common, or that it is indifferent whether ye have it or not? we are persuaded, that many of you think, that if ye have a good Mind, (as ye call it,) and a square civil honest Walk, and keep still your good Hope, that all will be well; ye never doubt nor question whether ye have received Christ or not, but if Unbelief lie in your Bosom, (I mean not doubting-desperation, or questioning of the God-head, but the not receiving of Christ and His Righteousness,) though ye had more than ordinary Hypocrites have, ye will for this Sin of Unbelief find yourselves under the standing Curse of God, for our Lord says, John 3.18. He that believes not is condemned already, and verse. 36. the wrath of God abideth on him.

In pressing of this Use, I shall show by a few Aggravations of this Sin, why the Lord layeth so much weight upon it, and that, not so much as it opposeth Faith, as as it is a condition of the Covenant of Grace, and a mean to unite us to Christ, but mainly as it is 〈◊〉 Sin thwarting His Command: And, 1. It thwarteth with both the Law and the Gospel, it thwarteth with the Commands of the first Table, and so is a greater Sin than Murder or Adultery, nay than Sodomy, though these be great, vile, and abominable Sins; which may be thought strange, yet it's true, it makes the Person guilty of it, more vile before God, than a Pagan-Sodomite; the nature of the Sin being more heinous, as being against the first Table of the Law, in both the first and second Commands thereof, it being by Faith in God that we make God our God, and worship God in Christ acceptably: Next, its not only a Sin against the Law, but a Sin against the Gospel, and the prime Flower (to speak so) of the Gospel; it comes in contradiction to the very design of the Gospel, which is to manifest the glory of the Grace of God, in bringing Sinners to believe on Christ, and to be saved through Him; but He can do no great things of this sort amongst unbelieving People, because of their Unbelief; it bindeth up His Hands, as it were, (to speak so with reverence) that He cannot do them a good turn. 2. It strikes more nearly against the Honor of God, and of the Mediator, and doth more prejudice to the Ministry of the Gospel, and causeth greater destruction of Souls than any other Sin; it's possible, notwithstanding of other Sins, that Christ may have satisfaction for the travel of His Soul, and there may be a relation bound up betwixt Him and Sinners notwithstanding of them, but if this Sin of Unbelief were universal, He should never get a Soul to Heaven; the salvation of Souls is called the pleasure of the Lord, but this obstructs it, and closeth the Door betwixt Sinners and access to God; it strikes also at the main Fruit of the Ministry, it makes them complain to God, that the Word is not taken off their Hand, it frustrats the very end of the Ministry, and it comes nearest the destruction of immortal Souls; we need not say, it brings on, but it holds and keeps on the Wrath of God on Sinners forever, He that believes not, (as we show before from John 3.) is condemned already, and the wrath of God abides on him. 3. More particularly, There is nothing in God, (even that which is most excellent in Him, if we may speak so, not except • ,) but it strikes against it, It strikes gainst His Grace, and frustrates that; when Christ is not received, some sort and degree of despite is done to the Spirit of Grace, Unbelievers thwart with Him in the way of His Grace, and will have no spiritual Good from Him; it comes in opposition to His Goodness, for where Unbelief reigns, He hath no access, in a manner, to communicate it; it strikes against His Faithfulness, there is no weight laid on His Promises, it counts Him a Liar; in a word, it strikes against all His Attributes. 4. There is no Sin that hath such a train of sad Consequents following on It; it's that which keeps all other Sins livly, for none hath victory over any Sin but the Believer, the Unbeliever lies as a bound Slave to every Sin, and it's impossible to come to the acceptable performance of any Duty without Faith, for none can come suitably to any Duty without a Promise, and can any but a Believer comfort himself in use-making of any Promise?

We shall close our Discourse, with speaking a word to that which we hinted at before, even to let you see, not only the rifeness of Unbelief, but the great hazard that flows from it, and the exceeding great evil of it; if we be only convinced of the rifeness of it, it will not much trouble us, except we be also convinced and believe the hazard of it; but if we were convinced of both, through God's blessing it might affect us more and necessitate us to make more use of Christ; ye that stand yet a distance from Christ, can ye endure to lie under this great Guilt and ground of Contraversie that is betwixt Him and you? do ye think little to hazard on His Upbraidings and Woes, even such Woes as are beyond these that came on Sodom, the heavy Curse and Malediction of God? and yet we say to you who are most civil, discreet, formal, and blameless in your Conversation, if there be not a fleeing in earnest to Christ, and an exercising of Faith on Him, the Wrath of God not only waits for you, but it abides on you; O tremble at the thoughts of it, it were better to have your Head thrust in the Fire, than your Souls and Bodies to be under the Wrath and Curse of God forever; it's not only the Ignorant, profane Drunkard, Swearer, Adulterer, Whoremonger, &c. that we have to complain of, and expostulate with, but it's the Unbeliever, who, though He be lift up to Heaven, shall be cast down to the Pit of Hell: If ye ask, what is all this that we would be at? it's only this in a word, we would have you receiving Christ, if ye think that Unbelief is an exceeding great Evil, and that it's an horribly hazardous thing to lie under it, then haste you out of it to Christ; O! haste, haste you out of it to Christ; kiss the Son lest He be angry, embrace Him, yield to Him; there is no other possible way to be free of the Evil, or to prevent the hazard.

SERMON VIII.

IT's a great encouragement and delight to the Ministers of the Gospel, and it's comfortable and refreshing to Hearers, when the Message of the Gospel is received, and our Lord Jesus Christ is welcomed; but on the contrary, it's burdensome and heavy when there are few or none that believe and receive the Report, when their labor and strength is spent in vain, and when all the assemblings of them together that hear the Word of the Gospel, is but a trading of the Lord's Courts in vain; if there were no more to prove it, this Complaint of Isaiah, speaking in His own name, and in name of all the Ministers of the Gospel, is sufficient; for as comfortable Messages as he carried, (and He carried as comfortable Messages as any that we hear of,) yet there was a general non-profiting by the Word of the Gospel in his Mouth; when we meet with such words as these, our Hearts should tremble, when we consider how general and rife an Evil Unbelief and the not receiving of Christ is, how horrible a Sin, how abominable to God, and how hazardous and destructive to ourselves it is, and how rare a thing it is to see or find any Number believing and receiving this Message of the Gospel.

We spoke from these words to these Doctrines. First, That where the Gospel comes, it makes offer of Jesus Christ to all that Hear it. Secondly, That the great thing called for in the H • arers of the Gospel, is Faith in Him. Thirdly, That yet notwithstanding, Unbelief is an exceeding rife Evil in the Hearers of the Gospel. Fourthly, That it's a very sinful, heavy, and sad thing not to receive Christ and believe in Him, all which are implied in this short, but sad Complaint, Who hath believed our report?

We would now prosecute the Use and Scope of this. The last Use was an Use of Conviction of, and Expostulation with the Hearers of the Gospel, for their being so Fruitless under it, serving to discover a great Deceit among Hearers, who think they Believe and yet do it not; whence it is that so many are mistaken about their Souls S • ate, and most certainly the generality are mistaken, who live as if Be • ieving were a thing common to all Professors of Faith, while as it is so rare, and there are so very few that Believe.

The next Use is, an Use of Exhortation to you, That seeing Unbelief is so great an Evil, ye would by all means eschew it; and seeing Faith is the only w • y to receive Christ, and to come at Life through Him, ye would seek after it to prevent the Evil of Unbelief: This is the scope of the words, yea, and of all our Preaching, that when Christ, and Remission of Sins through Him, is preached to you, ye would by Faith receive Him, and rest upon Him for obtaining Right to Him and to the Promises, and for preventing of the Threatenings and Curses that abide Unbelievers. We shall not again repeat what Faith is, only in short it comes to this, That seeing Christ hath satisfied Justice for Sinners, and His Satisfaction is offered in the Gospel to all that will receive it, even to all the Hearers of the Gospel, that Sinners in the sight and sense of their lost condition would flee unto Him, receive and rest upon Him and His Satisfaction, for Pardon of Sin, and making of their Peace with God: Is there need of Arguments to persuade you to this? if ye be convinced of your sinfulness, and of your lost estate without Christ, and that there is a Judgment to come when Sinners must appear before Him, and be judged according to that which they have done in the Body, and if ye have the Faith of this, that Sinners that are not found in Christ, cannot stand; (as by the way, woe to that Man that is not found in Him, if it were a Paul, for even he, he is only happy by being found in Him not having his own Righteousness but Christ's,) and withal, that there is no other way to be found in Him but by Faith, (which is that which Paul hath for his main scope, Phil. 3.9, 10.) Then to be found in Him by Faith, should be your main work and study; this is it that we should design and endeavor, and to this we have access by the Gospel; and it is in short, to be denuded of, and denied to our own Righteousness, as to any weight we lay upon it for our Justification before God, and to have no other thing but Christ's Righteousness offered in the Gospel, and received by Faith to rest upon for Justification, and making of our Peace with God: This is it that we command you to flee to, and by all means to seek an Interest in, that when the Gospel makes offer of Christ, and Righteousness through His Satisf • ction, and commands you to Believe on Him, when it lays Him to your Door, to your Mouth and Heart, that ye would roll, and lay yourselves over on Him for the making of your Peace, and the bearing of you thorough in the day of your reckoning before the Tribunal of God.

That we may speak the more cle • rly to this Use, We shall shortly show you, 1. What Ground a lost Sinner hath to receive Christ, and to lippen to Him. 2. What Warrands and Encouragements a Sinner hath to lean and lippen to this Ground. 3. We shall remove a Doubt or two that may stand in the way of Sinners resting on this Ground. 4. We shall give some Directions to further you to this. And. 5. We sh • ll give you some Characters of one that is tender • y t • king this way of Believing: And because this is the way of the Gospel, and we are sure there is not a word ye have more need of, or that through God's Blessing may be more useful, and there is not a word more uncontravertible, which all of you will assent to the truth of, to wit, that there is a great good in Believing, and a great evil in Unbelief, we would exhort you the more seriously to lay it to Heart; O! think not that our coming to Speak and Hear, is for the Fashion, but to Profite; Cast yourselves therefore open to the Exhortation, and let the word of Faith sink down into your Hearts, considering that there is nothing ye have more need of, than of Faith, and that ye will not find it safe for you to hazard your Souls on your own Righteousness, or to appear before God without Christ's Righteousness, and that the only way to come by it is Faith; This may let you see the necessity of Believing, and that it is of your concernment to try how it is with you as to that; and therefore again and again, we would exhort you in the fear of God, that ye would not neglect so great a Salvation, which through Faith is to be obtained, but lay it to Heart, as ye would not have all the Servants of God, who have preached the Gospel to you, complaining of you; It is our Bane that we suspect not ourselves, and indeed it is a wonder that these who have immortal Souls, and profess Faith in Christ, should yet live so secure, and under so little care, and holy solicitude to know, whether they have believed or not, and should with so little serious concernedness, put the Matter to a trial: But we proceed to the Particulars we proposed to speak to.

And first to this, That ye have a good solid Ground to Believe on; for clearing of which, we would put these three together. 1. The Fulness and Sufficiency of th • Mediator Jesus Christ, in whom all the Riches of the Gospel are treasured up, in whom, and by whom our Happiness comes, and who wants nothing that may fit Him to be a Savior, who is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. 2. The well-orderedness, freeness, and fullness of the Covenant of Grace, wherein it is transacted, that the Fulness that is in the Mediator Christ, shall be made forthcoming to Believers in Him, and by which lost Sinners that by Faith flee unto Him, have a solid Right to His Satisfaction, which will bear them out before God; by which transaction, Christ's Satisfaction is made as really theirs, when by Faith it is closed with, as if they had satisfied and paid the Price themselves, 2 Cor. 5.21. He who knew no sin, was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him; and this Consideration of the legality and order of the Covenant, serves exceedingly to clear our Faith as to the Ground of it, because by this Covenant it's transacted and agreed upon, that Christ shall undergo the Penalty, and that the Believer in Him shall be reckoned the righteous Person; if there be a reality in Christ's Death and Satisfaction to Justice, if He hath undergone the Penalty and paid their Debt, there is a reality in this Transaction, as to the making over of what He hath Done and Suffered, to Believers in Him; and the Covenant being sure and firm as to His part, He having confirmed it by His Death, it is as sure and firm as to the Benefit of it to the Believer in Him. 3. The nature of the Off • r of this Grace in the Gospel, and the nature of the Gospel that makes the Offer of the fullness that is in Christ by virtue of the Covenant; It is the Word of God, and hath His Authority when we preach it according to His Command, as really as when He preached it Himself in Capernaum, or anywhere else, even as the authority of a King is with his Ambas • ador, according to that, 2 Cor. 5. penult verse. We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, there, is the Father 's Warrand and Name interposed, and for the Son 's, it follows, We pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God; add to this, the nature of the Offer, and the terms of it, there is no condition required on our part, as the precise condition of the Covenant, but Believing; Now, when these are conjoined, we put it to your Conscience, if ye have not a good Ground to lippen to, and a sufficient Foundation to build on? and if so, it ought to be an powerfully attractive Motive to draw you to Believe in Him, and to bring you to rest on Him by Believing.

Secondly, We have also many Warrands and Encouragements to step forward, and when Christ in His Fulness lays Himself before you, to roll over yourselves on Him, and to yield to Him; If we could speak of them suitably, they are such as may remove all scarring that any might have in coming to Him, and may serve to leave others inexcusable, and unanswerably to convince them that the main obstruction was in themselves, and that they would not come unto Him for Life, He called to them but none would exalt Him. 1. Do ye not think that the Offer of this Gospel is a sufficient Warrand, and ground of Encouragement to Believe on Him? and if it be so to others, ought it not to be a sufficient Warrand and Encouragement to you? when He says, Psal. 81.10. Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it, what excuse can ye have to shift or refuse the Offer? if ye think Christ real in His Commands, is He not as real in His Offers? 2. He hath so ordered the Administration of this Gospel, as He hath purposely prevented any ground that Folks may have of scarring to close with Christ; He hath so qualified the Object of this Grace in the Gospel, that these in all the World that Men would think should be secluded, are taken in to be Sharers of it, for its Sinners, lost Sinners, Self-destroyers, Ungodly, the Sheep that have wandered, the Poor, the Needy, the Naked, the Captives, the Prisoners, the Blind, &c. according to that of Isa: 61.1, 2. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, He hath sent me to preach glad tidings to the meek or poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison to them that are bound, &c. and Isa. 55.1. These who are invited to come to the cried Fair of Grace, are such as are thirsty, and such as want money; who among Men use to be secluded, but in Graces-Mercat they only are welcome, it's to them that Grace says, He come, and Rev. 22.17. Whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely, it's not only, to say so with reverence, these whom He willeth, but it's, whosoever will; and so if thou wilt come, Grace puts the Offer into thy Hand, as it were, to carve on; to let us know that He allows strong Consolation on Believers, and that either the Hearers of this Gospel shall Believe, or be left without all excuse; He hath it to say, as it is, Isa. 5. what could I have done to my vineyard that I have not done; If ye had the Offer at your own carving, what could ye put more in it? it cannot be more free than without money, it cannot be more seriously pressed than with a Ho, and Oyes, to come; Sometimes He complains, as John 5.40. Ye will not come to me that ye might have life, and sometimes weeps and moans because Sinners will not be gathered, as Luk. 19.41, 42. and Matth. 23.37. can there be any greater evidences of reality in any Offer? A third Warrand is from the manner and form of Christ's Administration, He hath condescended to make a Covenant, and many Promises to draw Folks to Believe, to which He hath added His Oath, swearing by Himself, when He had not a greater to swear by, for our Confirmation and Consolation, as it is, Heb. 6.16, 17. And among Men, ye know, that an Oath puts an end to all Contraversie, and what would ye, or could ye seek more of God, than His Saying, Writing, and Swearing? He hath done all this, that the heirs of Promise may have strong consolation, who are fl • d for refuge to the hope set before them; O! will ye not trow and credit God when He swears? Among other Aggravations of Unbelief this will be one, that by it ye make God not only a liar, but perjured, a heavy, heinous, and horrid Guilt on the score of all Unbelievers of this Gospel. 4. To take away all Contraversie, He hath interposed His Command, yea it's the great Command, and in a manner, the one Command of the Gospel, 1 John 3.23. This is his commandment, that ye believe on the Name of his Son Jesus Christ, and therefore the Offer of the Gospel and Promulgation of it, cometh by way of Command, Ho come, believe, &c. whereby the Lord would tell the Hearers of the Gospel, that it is not left to their own option, or as a thing indifferent to them to Believe or not to Believe, but it's laid on them by the necessity of a Command to Believe; and if ye think ye may and should Pray, sanctify the Sabbath, or obey any other Command because He bids you, there is the same Authority enjoining and commanding you to Believe, and as great necessity lieth on you to give obedience to this Command as to any other, do not therefore think it Humility not to do it, for Obedience is better than Sacrifice.

For your further Encouragement to Believe, I would say three words which ye would also look upon as Warrands to Believe, and by them know that it is a great Sin not to Believe. 1. Ye have no less Ground or Warrand than ever any that went before you had; David, M • s • s, Paul, &c. had no better Warrand; my meaning is, ye have the same Covenant, the same Word and Promises, Christ and His Fulness, God and His Faithfulness offered to you, the same Warrand that God hath given to all His People since ever He had a Church; and do ye not think but it will be a sad and grievous ground of Challenge against you, when ye shall see others that believe on the same Grounds that ye have, sit down in the Kingdom of Heaven, and yourselves as proud Rebels shut out? what ever d • fference there be as to the main Work of Grace, and of God's Spirit on the Heart in the working of Faith, yet the Ground of Faith is the Word that all hear who are in the visible Church, and ye having the same Ground and Object of Faith in your offer, there will be no excuse for you if ye do not Believe. A second Encouragement is, That the Ground of Faith is so solid and good, that it never disappoints any one that leans to it; and count the Gospel a feckless and insignificant thing who will, it shall have this Testimony. which damned Unbelievers shall carry to Hell with them, that it was the power of God to salvation to them that believed, and that there was nothing in the Gospel itself that did prejudge them of the good of it, but that they prejudged themselves who did not lippen to it; Therefore the Word is called Gold tried in the fire; all the Promises having a Being from Jehovah Himself, on jot or one title of them cannot fail nor fall to the Ground. 3. If ye were to carve out a Warrand to yourselves, as I hinted before, what more could ye desire? what miss ye in Christ? what Clause can ye desire to be insert in the Covenant that is not in it? It contains Pardon of Sin, Healing of your Backslidings, and what not? and he hath said, sealed, and sworn it, and what more can ye require? Therefore we would again exhort you in the Name of Jesus Christ, and in His stead, not to neglect so great a Salvation, O! receive the Grace of God, and let it not be in vain.

In the third place, Let us speak a word or two to some Objections, or Scruples, which may be moved in reference to what hath been said. And, First, It may be some will say, that the Covenant is not broad enough, because all are not elected, all are not redeemed nor appointed to be Heirs of Salvation; upon which ground Temptation will sometime so far preva • l, as to waken up a secret enmity at the Gospel: But, 1. How absurd is this Reasoning? Is there any that can rationally desire a Covenant so broad, as to take in all as necessarily to be saved by it? there is much greater reason to wonder that any should be Saved by it, then there is if all should Perish; beside, we are not now speaking to the Effects, but to the Nature of the Gospel, so that whoever Perish, it is not because they were not elected, but because they believed not; and the Bargain is not of the less worth, nor the less sure because some will not Believe; and to say, that the Covenant is not good enough because so many Perish, it's even as if ye should say, it's not a good Bridge because some will not take it, but adventure to go thorough the Water and so drown themselves. 2. I would ask, Would ye overturn the whole Course of God's Administration, and of the Covenant of His Grace? did He ever à priori, or at first Hand, tell Folks that they were elected? whoever got their Election at the very first revealed to them? or, who are now before the Throne that ever made the keeping up of this secret from them, a Bar or Impediment to their Believing? God's Eternal Purpose or Decree is not the Rule of our Duty, nor the Warrand of our Faith, but His revealed Will in His Word; let us seek to come to the knowledge of God's Decree of Election à posteriori, or by the Effects which is a sure way of Knowledge; our thwarting with His Word to know His Decree, will not excuse, but make us more guilty; He hath shown thee O man, saith Micah, chap. 6.8. what is good, and what doeth the Lord require of thee; and if any will scruple and demur on this ground to close the Bargain, let them be aware that they provoke Him not to bring upon them their own fears, by continuing them under that scrupling and demurring condition; Ye cannot possibly evite hazard by looking on only, and not making use of Christ; therefore do not bring on your own ruin by your fear, which may be by Grace prevented, and by this way of Believing shall be certainly prevented.

But secondly, Some may object and say, I am indeed convinced that Believing is my Duty, but that being a thing that I cannot do, why should I therefore set about it? Answ. 1. This is a most unreasonable and absurd way of Reasoning, for if it be given way to, what Duty should we do? we are not of ourselves able to Pray, Praise, keep the Lord's Day, nor to do any other commanded Duty, shall we therefore abstain from all Duties? Our ability or fitness for Duty, is not the rule of our Duty, but God's Command; and we are called to put our Hand to Duty in the sense of our own Insufficiency, acknowledging God's Sufficiency, which if we did, we should find it go better with us, and may not the same be expected in the matter of Believing as well as in other Duties? 2. None that ever heard this Gospel shall in the Day of Judgment have this to Object, none shall have it to say, that they would fain have believed, but their mere Infirmity, Weakness, and Inability did imped them; for though it be our own Sin and Guilt that we are unable, yet where the Gospel comes that is not the Contraversie; But that Folks would not come to Christ, would not be gathered, that when He would, they would not; for where there is a will, to will and to do go together; But it's Enmity at the way of Believing, Security, Stupidity, Senselesness, and Carelessness what become of the Immortal Soul, that ruins Folks; for the Soul that would fain be at Christ, shall be helped to Believe, the reason is, because the nature of the Covenant of Grace, and of the Mediator thereof, is such, that all to whom He gives to will, He gives them also to perform, and His Faithfulness is engaged so to do: It must therefore return to one of these two, That either ye will not receive Him, or else ye are willing though weak; and if ye be willing, Faithful is He that hath called you, who also will do it; but if it halt at your Perversness and willful Refusal of the Offer, there is good reason that in God's Justice ye should never get good of the Gospel; nay, there is never one to whom the Gospel comes, and who doeth not Believe, but formally, as it were, he passeth a Sentence on himself, as the word is, Act. 13 46. Ye judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, which the Apostle gathers from this ground, that they did not, neither would accept of Jesus Christ offered to them in the Gospel; as the event is that follows on the Offer, so will the Lord account of your receiving of it.

Fourthly, As for Directions to help and further you to Believe, it's not easy, but very difficult to give them, it being impossible to satisfy the curiosity of Nature; neither can any Directions be prescribed that without the special work of God's Spirit, can effectuate the thing; the renewing of the Will, and the working of Faith being Effects and Fruits of omnipotent Grace; yet because something lies upon all the Hearers of the Gospel as Duty, and it being more suitable and congruous, that in the use of Means, then when Means are neglected, Believing should be attained; And because oftentimes these that desire this Question to be answered, to wit, how they may win at Believing? are such as have some beginnings of the work of Grace and of Faith. We shall speak a few words to such as would be at believing and exercising of Faith on Jesus Christ; And, 1. Folk had need to be clear in the common fundamental Truths of the Gospel, they would know what their Natural Estate is, what their Sin and Misery is, and they would know the way how to win out of that State; Ignorance often obstructs us in the way of Believing, How shall they believe on Him of whom they have not heard? Rom. 10.14. when Folks Believe not, it is as if they had never heard. 2. When ye have attained to the knowledge of the common Truths of the Gospel, as of your Sin and Misery, the nature of the Covenant, the Mediator and His Fulness, &c. Labor to fix well the Historical Faith of them, we are sure that many never come this length to believe the History of the Gospel, and till that be, they can advance no further; for as the word is, Heb. 11.6. He that comes to God, must believe that He is, and a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him; I say, these common simple Truths of the Gospel would well be fixed by a Historical Faith; and yet this would not be rested on, because though they be excellent Truths, yet they may be known and historically believed where Saving Faith and Salvation follow not. 3. Be much in Thinking, Meditating, and Pondering of, and on these things, let them sink down into your Hearts, that the Meditation of them may fix the Faith of them, and that they may deeply affect us, we would seek to have a morally serious feeling of them, as we have of the common works of the Spirit; But there are many like the Way sidehearers, who, as soon as they hear the Word, some Devil, like a Crow, comes and picks it up; therefore to prevent this, ye would seek to have the Word of God dwelling richly in you, ye would meditate on it till ye be convinced of your hazard, and get the Affections some way stirred according to the nature of the Word ye meditate upon, whether Threatenings or Promises; the most part are affected with nothing, they know not what it is to tremble at a Threatning, nor smile as it were, on a Promise, through their not dwelling on the thoughts of the Word that it may produce such an Effect. 4. When this is done, Folks would endeavor a full up-giving with the Law of Righteousness as to their Justification, that if they cannot so positively and stayedly win to rest on Jesus Christ and His Righteousness, yet they may lay the weight of their Peace with God on no other thing; they would lay it down for a certain conclusion, that by the works of the Law they can never be justified, and would come with a stoped Mouth before God; thus tender Christians will find it sometimes easier, to give up with the Law, then to close with the Gospel, as to their distinct apprehension of the thing. 5. When this is done, Go as it were to the top of mount Nebo, and take a look of the pleasant Land of Promises, and of Christ held out in them, and let your Soul say, O! to have the Bargain well closed, to have my Heart stirred up to love Him, and to rest upon Him, O! to have Faith and to discern it in its actings; for when the Life of Faith is so weak that it cannot speak, yet it may breath; and though ye cannot exercise Faith as ye would, so as to grip to, and catch fast hold of the Object, yet essay seriously to do that far, as to esteem, love, and vehemently desire it; In this respect the Will is said to go before the Deed, though as to God's begetting of Faith there be a contemporariness of the Will and the Deed, yet as to our sense the Will outruns the Deed, even as in another sense (though it makes well for this purpose,) the Apostle says, To will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I know not; for we ought to have our Will running after Christ, and Believing on Him when we cannot attain to the distinct actings of it.

But it may be here objected and said, Is not this Presumption? Answ. If this were Presumption, then all we have said of the Warrand of the Gospel to Believe, is to no purpose; Christ never counted it Presumption to desire and endeavor in His own way to believe on Him for attaining of Life through Him; To desire Heaven and Peace with God, and to misken Christ and pass Him by, were indeed Presumption, but it is not so, to desire these through Him. 6. When ye have attained to this Heart desire, if ye cannot distinctly to your satisfaction act Believing on Christ, ye would firmly resolve to believe and essay it, and say, This is the way I will and must take, and no other, as David saith, Psal. 16.2. O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, thou art my Lord; Hence the exercise of Faith is called a choosing of God, Deut. 30.19. and Josh. 24. and seriously, sincerely, and firmly, to resolve thus, is our Duty when we can win to do no more; and it is no little advancement in Believing, when such resolution to Believe, is deliberately and soberly come under. 7. When this is done Folks would not hold at a resolution, for to resolve and not to set forward will be found to be but an empty resolution; therefore having resolved, (though still looking on the resolution as his gift,) we would set about to perform and believe as we may, and when we cannot go, we would creep, when we cannot speak words of Faith, we would let Faith breath; when it can neither speak nor breath distinctly, we would let it pant: In a word, to be essaying the exercise of Faith, and often renewing our essays at it, which if we did, we should come better speed in Believing then we do; thus though ye were walking under a Conviction, that ye would do no more at this then a Man whose Arm is withered can do, to streatch it forth, yet as the Man with the withered Hand at Christ's word of Command essayed to streatch it forth and it went with him, or as the Disciples when they had toiled long, even all the Night, and caught nothing, yet at Christ's word let down the Net and enclosed a multitude of Fishes; so, though ye have essayed to act Faith often, and yet come no speed, yet essaying it again on Christ's calling to it, it may, and will through Grace go with you. 8. When yet ye come not speed as ye would, your short-coming would be bemoaned and complained of to God, laying open to, and before Him the Heart, who can change it; and ye would have it for a piece of your weight and burden, that your Heart comes not so up to, and abides not so by Believing; I would think it a good Frame of Spirit, when the not having of the Heart standing so fixed at Believing, is an Exercise and a Burthen. 9. When all this is done, in some measure, ye would wait on in doing thus, and would continue in this way, looking to Him who is the Author and Finisher of Faith, for His influence to make it go with you, to look to Him to be helped, is the way to be helped to Believe, or to Pray to Him to better and amend Faith, is the way to have it bettered and amended; it's said Psal. 34.5. They looked to him and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed: And if it be said, How can one look that sees not? It's true, blind Folk cannot look, yet they may essay to look, and though there be but a glimmering, as the looking makes the faculty of Seeing the better and more strong, so the Exercise of Faith makes Faith to increase, this is it that the Psalmist hath, Psal. 30. v. last. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord; that is, if ye be weak, wait on and He shall strengthen you, Believe, and give not over, though to your Sense ye come not speed: Beginners that are looking conscientiously to their way, though they have but a glimmering weak sight of Christ, and be as the Man that at first saw M • n walking as Trees, yet if they wait on, they may attain to a more distinct seeing, and to a more close and firm gripping of Christ.

We close with this word of Advertisement, That as we speak not of these things as being in Man's power to be performed, so neither can they be gone about to purpose, but where there is some Faith and Love; yet when they are at first looked on, they are some way more within our reach then the distinct Exercise of Faith, which is a great Mystery. The Lord bless His Word, and make it useful to you.

SERMON IX.

IF Folks soberly and gravely considered of what concerment it is to make use of the Gospel, and what depends upon the profitable or unprofitable hearing of it, how serious would both Speakers and Hearers be? This same poor, mean and contemptible-like way of Speaking or Preaching, is the ordinary way that God hath chosen to save Souls, even by the foolishness of Preaching, as the Apostle hath it, 1 Cor. 1.21. and where Ministers have been tender, how near hath it lain to their Hearts, whether People profited or not: They that will read Isaiah, how he resented and complained of it, and how he was weighted with it, will easily be induced to think that he was in earnest, and that it was no little matter that made him thus cry out, Who hath believed our report?

We show that four things were comprehended in the words. First, That the great Errand of Ministers is, to bring the glad Tydings of Jesus Christ the Savior to Sinners. Secondly, That it is the great Duty of People to believe and receive the Offer of Jesus Christ in the Gospel. Thirdly, That it is the great Sin of a People that Hear the Gospel not to believe and receive Jesus Christ when He is offered unto them. The fourth and last thing which now we are to speak of, (having gone thorough the first three) is, That the great and heavy Complaint that a faithful Minister of the Gospel hath, is, when these good News are not received and welcomed, when they have it to say, Who hath believed our report? when it is but here one and there one that closes with Christ.

Considering these words, as they hold out the Prophets Resentment and Complaint, we shall from them draw four Observations which we shall speak shortly to, and reserve the Use and Application to the close of all.

Observ. 1. The first is, That its meet for, and the Duty of a Minister of the Gospel, to observe what Fruit and Success his Ministry hath among a People, and whether they Believe or not; Isaiah speaks not here at random, but from consideration of the Case of the People, and as observing what fruit his Ministry had among them; we would not have Ministers too curious in this, as to the state of particular Persons, neitner would we have them selfy or anxious in seeking any ground of boasting to themselves, yet they would seek to be so far distinct and clear anent their spiritual Case and Condition, as they may know how to speak suitably to it, and how to speak of it to God; that they may say as they have ground for it, that in such a Place, among such a People, a great door and effectual was opened unto us, as the Apostle saith, 1 Cor. 16.8. And in such another Place, and among such a People, Who hath believed our report? as here the Prophet doeth. It's said Luk. 10.17. and Mark 6.30. the Disciples returned, and with joy told Christ all that they had done, and how the Devils were subject to them, they made acccount what success they had in their Ministry; so it's necessary that a Minister know what success He hath among a People, that he may know, 1. How to carry before God in reference to them, what to Praise for, what to Lament for, and what to Pray for. 2. It's necessary as to the People, that he may carry right to them for the gaining of Strangers to God, and helping forward these who are entered into the Way, and that he may know what report to make of them. 3. It's necessary for a Minister himself, though no • simply as to his Peace, for that depends on his faithful discharge of his Office, yet as to his Joy and Rejoicing, to know when he labors in vain, and when not, among a People.

We would not then (as a passing word of Use. ) have you to think it curiousity, though something be said now and then, and asked at you, that some of you may possibly think impertinent; For it becomes a Physician to seek to know the state and condition of these whom he hath under his Hand and Cure, and ye would not take it ill, though after observation, we now and then speak and tell you, what we conceive to be your condition.

Observ. 2. The second Observation is, That it is most sad to a tender Minister, and will much affect him to see and observe Unbelief and Unfruitfulness among the People that He hath preached the Gospel to; This must be a certain and clear Truth, if we consider what it was that put Isaiah to this, even to cry, Who hath believed our report? Though a Minister should have never so great exercise of Gifts, never so much countenance and respect among a People, if he be tender, he will be more grieved and weighted with their Unbelief and Unfruitfulness then with Stripes and Imprisonment, there will be no suffering to this in his esteem, nothing so sad a ground of Complaint; This makes the Prophet, Mic. 7.1. to cry, alas and woe is me, I am as these who have gathered the summer-fruits, as the grapegleanings after the vintage, there is no cluster to eat, the good man is perished, and there is none upright among men, and he insists in this Complaint. How often was our Lord Jesus, the most excellent & tender Preacher that ever preached, put to this Complaint? All the Affronts and Reproaches He met with, grieved Him not so much as the Unbelief and Hardness of Heart that were in the People; It's said, Mar. 3.5. that He looked round about on them with anger, and was grieved for the hardness of their hearts; And it's said Mar. 6.6. that He marvelled because of their unbelief; yea, it so affected Him, that ( Luk. 19.42.) it's said, that when He came near the city He wept over it, saying, O that thou hadst known in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace. There is a fourfold Reason of this, that hath a fourfold Influence on the saddening of a serious and tender Minister of the Gospel. 1. Respect to Christ Jesus his Master, in whose stead he comes to bespeak and woo Souls to Christ; What would an Ambassador think of personal Respect and Honor, if his Master were reproached, and his Message rejected and despised? and can an honest and faithful Ambassador of Christ look on, and his Heart not be wounded, to see the Gospel Fruitless? the Lord's pleasure as it were Marred, and the work of Gathering in of Souls, Obstructed in his hand, and his Lord and Master Affronted and Slighted. 2. The Respect that a Faithful Minister hath to the Peoples Souls, hath influence on this; A tender Shepherd will watchfully care for, and wish the Sheep well, and be much affected when they are in an evil condition, and where the relation is of a more Spiritual nature, and the Flock off far, very far greater worth and concernment, what wonder the Shepherd be more affected? as Paul bespeaks the Galatians 4.19. My little children, of whom I travel again in birth till Christ be formed in you; To be travelling and bringing forth but Wind, cannot but prick and wound an honest Minister of the Gospel at the very Heart, so 2. Cor. 11.29. Paul saith, Who is offended and I burn not? The very hazard of a Soul, will be like a Fire burning the Heart that is tender and zealous of the spiritual good of Souls. 3. The respect that a Faithful Minister hath to the Duty in his Hand, hath influence on this; for such a one loves to neat his Duty, and to go neatly and lively about it, and the Unbelief and Unfruitfulness of the People clogs him in his Duty, and makes him drive heavily; hence it's said Mat. 13.58. and Mark 6.5. that our Lord could not do many mighty works there, or among that People, because of their unbelief; Unbelief straitens and shuts the Door, and makes Preaching become a very Burthen to a Faithful Minister, therefore the Apostle exhorts, Heb. 13.17. Obey them that have the rule over you, and watch for your souls, that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you; A necessity lies upon Ministers to go about their Work, but when the Word does no more but buff on them, so to speak, it makes them to cry as this same Prophet doeth, Chap. 6.11. How long Lord? And 4ly. This also hath influence on their being so much weighted, even the concern of honest Ministers own Joy and Comfort; It is true, as we hinted before, that neither a Faithful Minister's Peace, nor his reward of Grace doeth depend on it simply, I have spent my strength in vain, says Isaiah, chap. 49.4. yet my labor is with the Lord, and my reward from my God; As to that, there is no necessary connection, and it's of Grace it is so; yet as to a Minister's Satisfaction and Joy there is a connection, as we may see Philip. 2.16. where Paul saith, That I may joy in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, and labored in vain; And from his expostulation with the Galatians, chap. 4.9, 10, 11. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain.

I shall not prosecute the Use of this neither; only see here, that it is no marvel though sometimes we be necessitate to complain of you, and to expostulate with you; and considering the Case of People generally, if our Hearts were suitably tender, it would make us even burst for Grief to see so many sleeping securely and senselessly in their Sins, and in that pitiful posture posting to the Pit, if God prevent not.

Observ. 3. The third Observation is, That a Minister may, and sometimes will be put to it, to make report to God of what Fruit his Ministry hath, and sometimes to complain to Him of the Unbelief and Unfruitfulness of the People among whom he hath long preached the Gospel; Isaiah (sure) is not carried to this Complaint out of hatred to the People, neither from any pleasure he hath in it, nor any delight to tell ill Tales (to speak so) of them; The Lord needs no Information, yet he complains, and that to the Lord, as we show from Rom. 10.16. where it is said, Lord, Who hath believed our report? So then. Prophets and Apostles complain of this; It's Ezekiel 's Complaint no doubt to God, as it was the Lord's to him, This people are a rebellious house, and they will not bear; And Isaiah speaks here in his own name and in name of other Ministers of the Gospel, that they may join with him in this Complaint; and there is reason for it, if we consider, 1. The Relation that a Minister stands in to God, He ought to give an account to Him, who gives Obedience and who not, and what Is done by his Embassage, there being no Talent given, but a Reckoning how it was employed, will be called for. 2. The Subordination that a Minister stands in to Christ, wherein it is requisite he be keeped, as knowing the Work is the Lord's and not his, pleads for this. 3. That a Minister may be keeped from Carnalness and Vanity on the one hand, and from Discouragement on the other, he ought to be acquaint with, and to hold up both the Fruitfulness and Unfruitfulness of the People to God. 4. It's meet for the Good of the People it be so, not to irritate, but kindly to affect the People, that when he complains to God, they may be convinced that it is to get the Evil complained of amended, if so it may be.

This complaining will we fear be the result of much Preaching among you; for, either there must be more Faith and Fruits, else ye will have the moe Complainers, and the moe Complaints against you.

Observ. 4. The fourth Observation is, That it is and ought to be a very sad and weighty thing to a Minister, and also to a People, when he is put to complain to God of their Unbelief amongst whom he is laboring; It's the last thing he hath to do, and he can do no more, and it's the greatest and highest of Witness and Ditty against them, when a Minister hath been Preaching long, and observing the Fruit of his Ministry, and is out-wearied with their Unfruitfulness, and forced to cry, Lord there are none, or but very few that have believed the Report that I have brought to them; It's the heaviest and hardest word that Christ hath to say to Jerusalem, Mat. 23.37. and Luke 19.31. when He complains of their Unfruitfulness, harder and heavier then all the Woes He pronounced against the Scribes and Pharisees, or on other accounts, and at least equivalent to them pronounced on the same account; for the same Woe and Wrath follows both; O! saith He, that thou hadst known in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace, but now they are hid from thine eyes; This comes as the last and saddest word, holding out the desperateness of their Condition, when the powerful preaching of the Gospel hath no gracious Force, nor saving Effect following it, when Directions prevail not, when no sort of Ministerial Gifts do a People good, when it comes to that, Mat. 11.16. Whereunto shall I liken this generation, it is like children sitting in the market-place crying to their fellows, we have piped to you and ye have not danced, we have mourned to you and ye have not lamented; when both the sweet Offers of Grace and the terrible Threatenings of the Law, come forth to a People, and both are followed for a long time without Fruit, then comes out that word, Whereunto shall I liken this generation? John came neither eating nor drinking, and ye say he hath a devil; his austere way of Living and Preaching did you no good, ye could not away with it; The son of Man came eating and drinking, in a familiar way, and ye say, behold a man gluttenous, a wine-biber, a friend of Publicans and Sinners; They stumble on both unjustly, and so it is still even to this day, many stumble at the Messenger, cast at the Message, and then followeth the sad Complaint.

It's meet that now we speak to a word of Use, but we profess we know not well how to follow it, there is so much ground to Complain, and we are not (alas!) suitably sensible of our own unfitness to follow the Complaint, which makes us think that it would become another better; But what shall we say? It's the Word of the Lord, and it were needful that both ye and we should forget and take our eyes off Man, and remember that it is the Lord God, and some commissioned from Him, that we have to do with, that so we may accept of the Message. 1. Then, We may say that it is no pleasure to us to be hewing you, and speaking sadly to you, (the Lord knows,) would to God there were moe that needed Healing-Medicines, and that fewer had need of Hewing and Wounding; but the truth is, Carnal Security, Spiritual Pride, Hypocrisy and Formality, are so rife, and become so much the Plague of this Generation, that People believe not their hazard. Neither 2ly. Is it our desire nor design to speak to all of you indifferently and without Discrimination, for as the Lord saith, Mat. 11.19. Wisdom is justified of her children; Though the Generality despise this Word, yet we are confident the Lord hath some that He allows not to be grieved; and we shall desire, that such may not wrong themselves nor mar our freedom in speaking the Word of the Lord to others. 3ly. We shall not desire to speak peremptorly as to the Case of particular Persons, though we will not deny nor conceal our Fears and sad Apprehensions as to many of you; only what we have to say, ye would know and be assured that it is not spoken at random by us, but as having some acquaintance with many of your Conditions, and we may gather from these what is very probably the Condition of others.

And now as to what we would say to you; Some have been preaching this Gospel to you who are flitted and removed to another part of the Vineyard, other some are gone to another World, and some are yet continued Preaching to you, but what Fruit is brought forth by the Ministry of all? If we were put to make a report of you, as we will be put to it, what could we say? we are afraid to speak our apprehensions; O! how little is this Gospel, as to it's Fruit and Success, upon the growing hand among you? We shall therefore forbear to speak of that which we think hath deep Impressions on ourselves concerning you, but we would have you to look thorough Matters how they stand betwixt God and you, and if we may humbly lay claim to any measure of the judgment of Discerning; may we not ask where is there a Man or a Woman amongst most of us, that hath a Conversation suitable to this Gospel? If we begin at the great Folks that have the things of the World in abundance, it's their work for most part not to be Religious, but to gather and heap up Riches, and to have somewhat of a Name, or a piece of Credit in the World, this is the farthest that many of such design: And if we come and take a look of the way of the Poorer sort, they live as if they were not called to be exercised to Godliness; and this is the condition of the Generality, to live as if God were not to call them to a reckoning; ye will say, we are poor ignorant Folks, and are not Book-learned, but have ye not Souls to be saved? and is there any other way to be saved then that royal Way wherein Believers have walked? But if we should yet look a little further through you, how many are there that have not the very form of Godliness, who never studied to be Christians, either in your fellowship with others, nor when alone, or in your Families; There are some, O! that I might not say, many, who are hearing me, that will not once in the Year bow their Knee to God in their Families, many of you spend your time in Tipling, Jeasting, Loose-speaking, which are not convenient; yea, I dare say, there are many that spend more time in Tipling, Jeasting, and Idle-speaking, then in the Duties of Religion, either in public or in private, what report shall we make of you? Shall we say that such a man spent three or four Hours every day in going up and down the Streets, or in Tipling and Sporting, and would not spend half an Hour of the Day on God and His Worship; and further, how many are yet ignorant of the first Principles of Religion, a fault that is often complained of, and yet we would be ashamed to have it heard of, that such Ignorance should be under half a Years preaching of the Gospel, that is in this Place under many Years preaching of it, and this not only among the Poorer sort, but even amongst those who hold their Heads very high, and are above others, who can guide and govern their own Affairs, and give others a good counsel in things concerning the World, yet if we come to speak with them of Repentance, or of Faith in its Exercise, of Convictions and Challenges for Sin, of Communion with God, of the working of God's Spirit in the Regenerate, or of the Fruits of the Spirit, they have not a Mouth to speak a word of these things; and if they speak anything, O! but it looks wersh, tasteless, and thieveless like; Put them to discourse of Religion, it hath no gust, (to say so,) it relishes not, they have no understanding of it, at least, that is experimental; doeth this look like Folks that have heard and received the Gospel? let me say it, the Wisdom of this World, and the Knowledge of Christ, are far different things; and if some of you go that length as to get the Questions of the Catechism, which is well done in itself; if we put you but to express them in other words, ye cannot, which says plainly that ye are not Masters of your Knowledge: And what shall we say of others? of whom we cannot say but we get respect enough from them, yet how do Selfishness and Worldly-mindedness abound in them? and how Graceless and Christless are they found to be, when put to the trial? We would also say to you, that there is great difference betwixt Civility and Christianity; Fairfashions will never pass in Christ's account for the suitable Fruits of the Gospel, and will never hinder us from having a just ground of Complaint against you; How many have a Form of Religion, and want the Power of it? who think themselves something, when they are indeed nothing, and their Profession is so thin and holled, to speak so, that their Rottenness and Hypocrisy may be seen thorough it. Though these things be but general, yet they will comprehend a great many of you that are here in this Assembly; and if so, is there not just ground of Complaint of, and Expostulation with you, as a People among whom this Word hath no suitable Fruit: And as for you that live Prophanely and Hypocritically, what shall we say to you? or how shall we deal with you? we bring the Word to you, but ye make no more use of it then if ye had never heard it; no more Religion showeth itself in you, then if ye lived among Heathens; Shall we say to God, the Fruit of the Gospel is there? Dare we be answerable to God, or can we be faithful to you, to flatter you over, as if all were well with you? and must not our Complaint then rather be this, Lord they have not believed our report; though we be feckless, and though there be ground of Complaint of us, yet the Word is His Word and will take hold of you. I know that Folks do not readily digest such Doctrine well, and it may be some think that few Ministers are better dealt with then we are; but we say, that that is not our Complaint; we confess if we look from the beginning of the World to this Time, there will be few Ministers of the Gospel, found to have been better dealt with as to outward and civil things, but alas! should that stop our Mouth? yea rather ought it not to be the more sad to us to be so dealt with, and to live in civil Love with Men and Women who yet do not receive the Gospel, nor deal kindly with our Master; Do not think that we will take external respect to us for the Fruit of the Gospel; as we have no cause to complain of other things, so let us not be put to complain of this, but receive Christ in your Heart, let Him and His precious Wares have Change and go off amongst you, make use of Him for Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption, and go not for the fashion about the Means that should bring you near Him, but be in good earnest, and this would satisfy us much, and prevent Complaints. Lastly, I would ask you what will come of it, if we shall go on in Preaching, and ye in Hearing, and yet continuing still in Unbelief? will there not be an account craved of us? and must we not make a report? and if ye think we must report, can we report any other way then it is with you? Shall we, or dare we say, that such a Man was a fine civil Man, and that therefore he will not be reckoned with though he believed not in Christ? No, no, but this must be the report, that such a Man, and such a kind of Men, though Christ was long wooing them, would not embrace Him, though He invited them to the Wedding, yet they would not come, nay they mocked and spurned at it, they trode the Blood of the Covenant under Foot, and counted God a Liar in all His Offers, and said by their Practice, that they should be happy though they took not this way; many of you who would not take it well if we should speak this to you in particular, will find it to be a Truth one day: And if ye shall say, What would we be at? The answer is at hand, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and ye shall be saved; This is the End of the Gospel, and the mean of your Happiness; it's the great and the main thing that we call for, which if it be not obtained, the ground of the Complaint will continue: And do you think this any strange, hard, or uncouth thing, that when we bring to you the Offer of Christ in the Gospel, we bid you receive it, and flee in to Him to hide you from the Wrath to come; and yet this is all we seek of you; it's neither your Shame nor your Skaith that we seek, but that ye may take with your Sin, that ye may judge and condemn yourselves, that your Mouth may be stopped before God, and that ye may flee to Jesus Christ in earnest, and close with Him on His own Terms: As therefore ye would prevent the greatly aggravated Sin, to wit, sinning against the Gospel, and the Complaint of the Ministers thereof against you, and the terrible Vengeance of the Mediator, Kiss the Son, cast open the everlasting Doors of your Hearts, and let the Gospel, and Christ the King of Glory have access: We pray you stand not in the way of your own Happiness, refuse not to do Him that much pleasure and satisfaction for all the travel of His Soul, as to give Him your Souls to be saved. Now God Himself keep you from this Folly and Soul-destroying madness.

SERMON X.

WE have spoken somewhat these days past, to sundry Doctrines from this part of the Verse, and particularly of the sad Complaint which Isaiah hath in his own name, and in the name of all the Ministers of the Gospel, that the savoury Report concerning Jesus Christ is not received, and that though Life and Salvation through Him be offered to many, yet there are but few, scarce here one and there one that do embrace it, this is the sad result, Lord, who hath believed our report? Words, that being spoken by such a Prophet, and so often mentioned in the New-Testament, may and should as often as we speak, hear, or re • d them, put both Ministers and People to a holy demur, and to look what becomes of all our Preaching and Hearing, when this was all the Fruit, even of Isaiah 's Preaching, as to the greatest part of his Hearers.

Ere we leave this part of the Verse, it will not be unmeet that we speak a little to these three. First, To what may be the Causes why, when the Gospel is powerfully Preached, there are so few Believers. Secondly, How it comes to pass, seeing so few Believe, that generally so many think they Believe, and so few suspect their own Faith. And Thirdly, To the necessity that lies on the Hearers of the Gospel, to inquire at, and try themselves concerning their Faith, and to have some solid Satisfaction in it.

Although we mention no particular Doctrines now, yet considering the Doctrines we spoke to before, these things will not be unsuitable to them, nor impertinent to you.

For the first, The Causes why so few believe the Gospel, we cleared to you already, That generally the powerful Preaching of the Gospel hath been with little Fruit, so that Isaiah hath this sad Complaint, Lord, who hath believed our report? and our Lord Jesus hath it also on the matter, Mat. 11.7. We have piped to you and ye have not danced, we have mourned to you and ye have not lamented, and in the same express words, John 12.38. And when it is so with sweet Isaiah in the Old Testament, and with our blessed Lord in the New, that spoke with such Power and Authority, ye may see there is reason for us to inquire into the Causes, why it is that so few Believe? In speaking to which. 1. We intend not to touch on all the Reasons that may be gathered together, of Peoples not profiting under the Gospel, but of these that ye have most reason to look to, and that are most obstructive of Faith in you. 2. Though we might speak of Reasons on the side of them that speak to you, for who is sufficient for these things? and we shall not deny but we have culpable accession to your Unfruitfulness, yet it were not much to your edifying to insist on these. 3. Neither will we speak to these sovereign Causes on God's part, who in His Holy Justice gives up People to Unfruitfulness, when they receive not the Truth in Love. Neither 4ly. Shall we insist on these Causes that may arise from the Devil, who waits on wherever the Word is preached, to mar the Fruit of it, as we may see Mat. 13.19. the evil Spirits, like as many Crows, when the Seed of the Word is sown, waiting on to pick it up, and ye would know, that ye never come to hear the Word, but there are, as it were, Flocks of Devils attending you; Hence it is that some are rocked and lulled asleep, some have their Minds filled with worldly Thoughts, some forget all that they Hear ere they go out of Doors, thus it is with many Hearers of this Gospel, their Hearts are trode upon as the Way-side by Devils and Foul-Spirits, that never a word takes impression on them, and though ye may think such expressions uncouth-like and strange, yet they are sadly true; Satan waited on when Christ preached, and sure he will scar no more to do so at our Preaching than he did at His, if he stood at Joshua 's right Hand to resist him, he will no doubt be at ours; But we say we will not insist on these. But 5ly. We shall speak a little to these Causes that are common in you, which ye yourselves m • ght know if ye would observe them, and we would exhort you to take notice of them, when we tell you of them.

First, Then we offer, or rather assert this for a Cause, The want of serious minding the great concernment of the work of your Salvation, and that this preached Gospel is the Word of the Lord by which ye must be saved; Alas! though ye have immortal Souls, and though this Word be the mean of your Salvation, yet there are Hundreds of you that never lay it to Heart, that your Souls are in hazard, and that this Word must be it that ye must live by, and live upon; I appeal to your Consciences if ye think upon this seriously, want of this Consideration fosters Security, breeds Laziness, and makes and keeps you Careless and Carnal; I shall instance the want of it in three respects. 1. Look how ye are affected towards this Word, and your own edification by it before ye come to hear it, How few are hungering and thirsting, or preparing for benefit by it, or preparing to meet with God in it? In effect ye come not with a design to profit; so that if it were known, it would be wondered at, wherefore ye come to hear the Word, as Christ says of some, They came not because they saw the miracles, but because they did eat of the loaves and were filled; so may we say of you, that ye come not to profit by the Word, but on some crooked carnal design. 2. Look how ye carry when ye are come, How many sleep a great part of the Sermon? so that it's a shame to look on the face of our Meetings, when in every corner some are Sleeping, whose Consciences God will waken ere long, and the Timber and Stones of the House will bear witness against them; Were you in any other Meeting, about ordinary Business, there would not be such Sleeping; But when ye are Waking, what is your Carriage? for ye may be Waking, and your Heart far away, or fast asleep, how seldom can ye give account of what is said? though your Bodies be present, your Hearts are wandering; ye are like these spoken of Ezek. 33.31. who sat before the Prophet as God's people, but their hearts went after their covetousness; how often while ye are sitting here is your Heart away? some in their Thoughts running after their Trade, some after their Merchandice, some after one thing, some after another: This is one sad instance of it, that there are many of you who have had Preaching forty or fifty Years, that can scarce tell one Note of it all, and no wonder, for ye were not attentive in the Hearing of it. 3. Look how ye carry after the Word is heard; What unedifying Discourse will ye be engaged in ere ye be well at the Door? how carnally and carelessly do many rush unto, and go away from hearing of the Word? and when ye get a word that meets with your Souls Case, do ye go to your Knees with it before God, desiring Him to breath on it, and to keep it warm? or do ye meditate upon it? Now put these three together, your Carriage before, in the time, and after your Hearing the Word, ye will find that there is just cause to say, that the most part that hear this Gospel are not serious, what wonder then that it do them no good? In the end of that Parable of the Sower, Matth. 13. Mark 4. and Luke 8. its said by the Lord, Take heed how ye hear, for whosoever hath, to him shall be given, &c. If ye improve well your Hearing, ye will get yet more, but so long as ye take no heed how ye hear, ye cannot profit.

A second Ground or Cause is this, That the most part of Hearers never come to look on this Word as the Word of God, they come never almost to have a Historical Faith of it, it's said Heb. 11.6. He that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that seek Him diligently; But when Folk do not really believe that God is, what wonder they seek Him not, that they fear neither Judgment nor Hell, and that they study not Holiness? they say in their Hearts they shall have Peace, though they walk in the imagination of their own Hearts, and that the way to Heaven is not so narrow as Ministers say it is, that God will not condemn poor christened Bodies, this is the language of many Hearts and of some Mouths; Need there any evidences of it be given? if ye believed that the way to Heaven is so strait, and that Holiness is so extensive, could ye possibly with any seriousness reflect on your Heart and Way and not be affrighted? But the truth is, this Word gets not leave to sink in you as the Word of God, therefore saith our Lord to His Disciples, Luke 9.44. Let these sayings sink into your ears; There are these things I fear ye do not Believe, and let me not be thought to take on me to judge your Consciences, when there are so many that profess they know God, but in works they deny Him, as it is Tit. 1.16. when we see such things in your Carriage, we know that there is a principle of Unbelief whence they spring. 1. There are many of you that really believe not there is a God, or that He is such as His Word reveals Him to be, to wit, Holy, Just, Powerful, &c. else ye durst not live at feed with Him, The fool hath said in his heart there is not a God, they are corrupt, &c. your practical Atheism and Profanity say ye believe not there is a God. 2. Ye never believed the ill of your Nature, Do ye think (as James bespeaks these he writes to, chap. 4.5.) that the Scripture saith in vain, the spirit that is in you lusts to envy? Ye do not think, that your Heart is deceitful and desperately wicked? though we should Preach never so much on this Subject, yet ye lay it not to Heart, ye take it not to you in particular. 3. We are afraid that many of you believe not a Judgment, and your particular and personal coming to it, nay there are among you, who are like to these Mockers spoken of by Peter in his second Epistle, chap. 3. ver. 3, 4. who say, where is the promise of his coming? And as there were in Paul 's days some th • t denied the Resurrection, 1 Cor. 15. so there are still, who do it on the matter, at least; Ye have the same corrupt Nature; We would think that we had prevailed to some purpose, if ye were brought really to believe that there is a God, Life to come, and a Day of Judgment; and if ye did so, ye would be more serious in Duty, and would come more Hungry and Thirsty to the Word. 4. The Mean and Mids of Salvation is not believed, to wit, That the way to Peace with God is Faith in Jesus Christ, and that there is no way to Heaven but the way of Holiness; If all your thoughts were spoke out, it would be found that ye have another mids than Faith, and another way than that of Holiness; And to make out this, we need go no further then to your Practice, we are sure many of you live in Profanity, and yet ye have all a hope of Heaven, and what says this? but that ye think not Faith and Holiness necessary, but that ye may come to Heaven another way, and this is an old Fault and Deceit, it was in Moses his days, for some are brought in ( Deut. 29.19.) saying, I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of my own heart, and add drunkenness to thirst, though I tipple daily at my Four Hours, though I follow my Lusts and Pleasures, and take my fouth and fill of the World, we cannot be all Saints, &c. The Lord will not spare that man, but His anger and jealousy shall smoke against him, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under Heaven; and though this be not now believed, it shall be found verified; There are many when they come to Judgment, that will know to their cost, the truth of many things they never believed before? as we find in that rich Man, who says to Abraham, Send some to tell my brethren, that they come not to this place of torment, it says as much, as that He in his life-time did not believe how terribly-tormenting a place Hell is, and it is even so still; Though Men and Women have immortal Souls, yet they go on following their sinful way, and believe not that any evil shall befall them, till God's Curse and Vengeance overtake them.

A third Ground or Cause is, That Folk never think themselves in hazard, nor suffer their hazard to affect them, and therefore they seek not after the Remedy, hence the J • ws, Scribes, and Pharisees rejected Christ, why? they were righteous Persons whole, and needed not the Physici • n; And thus it is with many of you, ye will take with it that ye are Sinners, but not with the gracelesness of your Nature, and this makes it, that when Life, and Reconciliation with God, are offered, we have almost none to accept of it, why so? ye are generally in your own opinion, good Friends with God already, none of you almost think that ye have hatred at God, and so ye carelessly and unconcernedly let the opportunity of making your Peace with Him slip over, even like these Jews spoke of Joh. 8.44, 45. who when Christ said to them, Ye have the devil to your father, answered, he had a devil, and that God was their Father, that they were come of Abraham, and were not born of fornication; So it is with many of you, ye could never endure to even yourselves to Hell, nor to take with it that ye were heirs of Wrath, as if ye had been born with other Natures then the ordinary Race of Mankind is, and this keeps so many of you that ye get no good of this Gospel, for it seeks Sinners to pardon them, and Enemies to reconcile them, and till the Feud be once taken with, the Friendship will never be sought after, nor will it find Merchants, though when once the Enmity is taken with, the Gospel hath many sweet, peaceful, and comfortable words to speak to the Man afterwards.

A fourth Ground is, The love of Money and of the World, which is the root of all ill, This is given as a main Cause, Matth. 13. why the Word profits not, The seed is sown among thorns, and the thorns spring up and chock it, the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches chocked the Word; This is not oppression nor stealing, but entanglement with, and addictedness to the things of this present World, Folks allowing themselves too much satisfaction in their Riches and Pelf, counting themselves as if all were well if they have it, and grieved if they want it, as if there were nothing but that to make Happy, being wholly taken up about it, and leaving no room for the concerns of their Souls, for Prayer and Seeking of God, nor for Challenges to work on them, they are so wholly taken up with their Callings and Business; for they lay it for a Ground that they must be rich, and then they give themselves wholly to all things that may contribute to that end, and that chockes and suffocates the Word that it never comes up, that nothing comes to perfection, therefore Christ says, Luke 21.24. Take heed ye be not overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life; I am afraid that many moe among you who are civil, and esteemed virtuous and frugal, shall perish in this Pit of Worldly-mindedness, then shall perish by Drunkenness, Gluttony, Fornication, or the like, and yet there is nothing more frequent in Scripture, then words spoken to scar Folk from Earthly-mindedness, How hard is it (says Christ) for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of Heaven? and such a Man is he that is taken up with Riches, and places his Happiness and Contentment in them, whether he have more or less of them; We speak not this to foster Idleness in any, but to press Moderation in the use of lawful things; Ye think it enough if we cannot charge you with Oppression, Stealing, Whoring, and the like, but this Gospel will charge you with the love of Money, and if it find the love of the World in you, the love of the Father will not be found in you; Doth not your experience tell you, that it's not an easy matter to be much taken up with the World, and to win at a suitable disposition for Duties of Religion, and to be painful in them?

A fifth Ground is, Folks little prizing of the Gospel and the Benefits that come by it; They look not upon it as their Happiness to have Communion with God, they who are invited to the Marriage of the King's Son, Mat. 22. will not come, and the reason is given, they made light of it, the Offer of the Gospel hath no weight, it relishes not; If a Market of fine things at a cheap Rate were procla • med, ye would all run to it, but ye delight not in the Word of God, ye prize not the Gospel and the precious Wares that it exposeth to sale amongst you: And to evidence and make out this, I would ask you these few Questions, And 1. I would ask you how often, or rather how seldom have you sitten down purposely and thanked God for sending the Gospel to you? ye have given thanks for your Dinner, but how often have ye given Him thanks that ye have the Gospel Sabbath-days, and Week-days? 2. How little do many of you wait on the Preaching of it? were there a Message sent to you but from some ordinary Man, let be from a great Man, ye would straiten yourselves and your Business too somewhat that ye might hear it, and yet it's a wonder to think how some in this Place, except on the Sabbath, will hardly be seen in the Church from one end of the Year to the other. 3. Had ye any evident to draw of House or Land, ye would seek to have it drawn very well and sure, but many of you never sought to have the evidents of Heaven made sure; ye know, how interruptions of, and threatenings to remove the preached Gospel from you, never troubled you; That business of the Tender gave a proof, that if ye might brook your ease and the things of the World, ye cared not what became of the Gospel and of the Liberties of Christ's Kingdom among you; nay we may say, the Gospel was never less set by, never more reproached, despised, and trode upon, then in the time wherein we live, and who lays it to Heart? If it were well tried, there is more pains taken on seckless particulars in a Week, then ye take upon your Souls in a Year, and which may be spoken to the shame of some, more time taken up in Tipling, Drinking and Debauching, then in Prayer, or any other Religious Duty; And is not that an undeniable evidence that ye make light of the Gospel? They made light of it, and went their ways, &c. saying on the matter, care for yonder Invitation who wili, as for us, we have somewhat else to do.

A sixth Ground or Cause, though possibly it be not so rife, is a shifting of Convictions and Challenges, a quenching of any begun Exercise in the Conscience; Some of you have been made sometimes to tremble as Felix did, but ye shifted it, and put it off to another time, and went away to some Company or Recreation, that so ye might stifle it, and drive it out of your thoughts; Is there any of you, but in Sickness, or under some other sad Cross, or at a Communion, ye have had your own Convictions, Challenges, and Frights about your Souls estate? and yet ye have smothered, extinguished, and put them out again.

A seventh Ground or Cause (which is as large and comprehensive as any,) is Folks resting and sitting down, before they have any solid Ground to rest upon, taking a counterfite Work for a real one, like these spoken of Hosea 7.16. of whom it's said, They return, but not to the most High; Some attain to a sort of outside Reformation, and they trow that on that account they are well enough and in good terms with God, and when such are called to return, they say as these do, Mal. 3.7. Wherein shall we return? they think they are returned, and that their Peace is made already; They cannot endure to be bidden Believe, or to lay a new Foundation, for they think it's laid already: In a word, as Laodicea did, they think themselves rich and increased in goods, when yet they are poor, blind, miserable, wretched and naked, but they know not, and so are well satisfied with themselves as gracious Persons; resting on these and the like Grounds, As 1. It may be they Pray and think something of that. 2. They think they have Faith enough, if they have a Historical Faith. 3. It may be they have had some resolutions, and fits of a sort of Tenderness, and these they rest upon: We shall not insist to show the rottenness of these Props, but shall only say, it were in some respect good for many of you, that ye had never had the little pieces of Profession ye have: There is a sort of civil, legal, formal, fairfashioned Men and Women among us, whose Conversation and Communication relishes to none but themselves, and speak the Word who will, they think that they are without the reach of it; I must say this sad word, th • t I think m • ny of you have as much believing as keeps you from Faith in Christ, that is, ye have as much Presumption and Security as makes you that ye are never serious with the Lord to amend it, and to bring you indeed to Believe, so that it's a greater difficulty, to beat you off from your rotten Grounds, then it is to get you right, though both require the Omnipotent Power of God; ye think ye Believe always, and ye have no Doubts about it, and therefore ye think ye have Faith enough to do your turn; Ah! when will ye know that Security is no Faith, and that there is great difference betwixt Presumption and solid resting by Faith on Christ?

Eighthly, We think that this wrongs many of you, because ye are not among the worst sort, and others esteem well of you, ye think ye are well enough, and this makes us, that as to many of you we know not whether to be more familiar with, or to stand at a distance from you, because ye are ready to rest on so very slender Grounds; It is not the commendation of Men, but the commendation of God that ye should seek mainly after, and yet if ye think good Men esteem well of you, ye apprehend ye are good enough; This was it that mad • the foolish Virgins so secure, because the wise took them and retained them in their Company, and this is the neck-break of many, especially when they look about them and observe some Sin in others which they have win to abstain from; As if it had been enough in Herod, and a sufficient proof of the reality of his Religion, That he heard John gladly, and did many things on the hearing of him.

A ninth Ground is (and it's a very poor one,) Folks sitting down on the Means when they have them, as if when they have gotten the Gospel they were in no hazard, and could Believe when they list; I make no question, but where the Gospel is powerfully in any measure preached, there are many more secure and fearless then if they had it not, and it's very probable somewhat of this is hinted at, Luke 13.26. where some are brought in saying to Christ, We have eaten and drunken in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets, who when He boasts them away from Him at the great Day, they will in a manner hardly believe that He is in earnest, and they give this for the reason of it, that they have heard Him Preach, and they have run out to the Fields after Him; It were good to fear while ye have the Word, lest ye miss the Fruit of it; compare to this purpose Heb. 3. at the close, with Heb. 4.1. and we will find this commended to us, So we see, saith the Apostle, that they could not enter in because of unbelief, let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of us should seem to come short of it; It's much, yea the first step to Faith, to get Folks made suitably afraid to miss the Fruit and Blessing of the Ordinances while they have them; It's good to be afraid, to come to the Church and not to get good of the Preaching, or to go and read a Chapter of the Bible and not profit by it, always to put a difference betwixt the Ordinance and the Blessing of it, and to be afraid in the use of the Ordinances to miss the Blessing of them.

There may be many other Causes, and we would not stint and limit you to these, but sure these are Causes why this Gospel profits not: We may add these few, 1. There are some that stumble at the Messenger, some at the Message; Some thought Christ a Friend of Publicans and Sinners, and said He had a Devil, and so they said of John the Baptist; There are some that can abide neither free nor fair Speaking, and they think it's not the Word but the Speaker that they offend at, but Prejudices against the Carriers of the Word have never done good, but much ill; and ye would guard against them. 2. Sometimes there is a stumbling at the Spiritual Truths of the Gospel, and a sort of new-fangleness in the Hearers of it that lasts not; John 's Hearers rejoiced in his light for a season; something of it also was in Christ 's Hearers, but they soon turned the Back on Him when He tells them of eating His Flesh and drinking His Blood, and of the necessity of it, else they could have no Life in them; This (say they) is a hard saying and who can bear it? If we would consider these things, we might see convincing Causes of our little Thriving, and they might also (through God's Blessing) be made use of for directions to Thriving, and if we could once bring you to be single and serious in Hearing, and spiritually Thrifty, in making use of every Sermon and Sabbath for edification, we had gained a great point of you.

SERMON XI.

IF we would soberly consider the frame of the most part of Men and Women that live under the Gospel, it would be hard to know whether it were more strange that so few should receive the Report, and be brought to believe for all that can be said of Jesus Christ; or whether that among the generality of Hearers that do not receive the Report, there are so few that will let it light but that they Believe; It's wonderful and strange to see Unbelief so rife, and it's as strange and wonderful that among these many Unbelievers there are so few that think they want Faith.

Ye remember the last day, we proposed to answer this Doubt or Question, What can be the reason, that when so few Believe, all, almost think they Believe? and then to speak a word to the last Use that rises from the Matter that formerly we have handled on these Words: We show you, and we think the Scripture is very clear for it, That among the generality that hear the Gospel, they are very rare and thin sawen that do believe it, and yet go thorough them all, there will not one among many be found, but will assert they B • lieve, and they will (to speak so) be crabbed and picqued to tell them that they want Faith, and so the most part of Hearers live and die in this Delusion; a thing that Experience clears as well as the Word of God, and a thing that doleful Experience will clear at the great Day, therefore some are brought in saying, Luk, 13.26. We have eaten and drunken in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets, to whom Christ will say, I know you not, depart f • om me; which doth import this much, that some will come (as it were) to the very Gate of Heaven, having no doubt of their Faith and Interest in God, or of their entry into it, and will therefore in a manner plead with Christ to be in, and who would never once doubt of it nor put it in question, but they were Believers and in Friendship with Him; Although there will be no such debate or dispute after Death, or at the Day of Judgment, yet it says this • hat many Hearers of the Gospel have drunken in this opinion which goes to Death with them, and no Preaching will beat them from it, that they are Believers, and in g • o • • erms with God, till the intimation of the S • ntence of Condemnation do it, and the Wrath and Curse of God meet them in the Face; And O how terrible a disappointment will such meet with in that Day? May it not then very reasonably and justly be inquired, what can be the reason • nd cause, when this is granted so generally to be a truth, that there are few Believers, that yet it should be • s true that few question or make any doubt of thei • Faith, and how this comes to pass? I shall give you some reasons of it, which if ye would think upon, and suff • r to sink down in your Hearts, ye would not marvel that so many are in this Mistake and Desusion, and would put many of you, to have quite other thoughts of your own condition then ye have; We shall only speak to such Reasons as are sinful, culpable upon your part.

The Reasons then are these. First, The most part never seriously think on the matter whether they Believe or not, or they never put their Faith to a trial, if the foolish Virgin light her Lamp, and never look whether there be Oil in it, and take on a fair outward Profession of Religion, and never look what is within it, or how it is lined, to speak so, what wonder she go up and down with the Lamp in her hand, and never know whether there be Oil in her Vessel or not, since she never considers, nor puts the Matter to proof and trial? The People are expostulated with ( Isai. 44. from ver. 9.) for making of Images, That a Man should cut down a Tree, and with one piece of it should warm himself, with another piece of it should bake his Bread, and of a third piece should make a god and fall down and worship it, and this is given for the ground of it, ver. 18, 19. They have not known and understood, and none considereth in his heart, or as the word is, seeth to his heart; they consider not that that cannot be a god; Folks would think that natural Reason might easily discover this folly: We are persuaded that some of you will think your Faith as great a Folly, when there shall be as clear evidences to prove the ro • ten • s of your Faith and Hope, as there were even to common Sense to prove the Image made of a piece Tree, not to be God; when it shall be found and • ecl • red, that though ye were never convinced of Sin, nor of your Misery and lost Condition, were never humbled nor touched under the kindly sense of it, never fled to Jesus Christ in earnest, nor never had the exercise of G • ace, yet out over the want of all these, ye would needs keep up a good opinion of your Faith and Hope; We say, the reason why ye entertain this conceit and opinion, is, because ye never sit down seriously and soberly before God to consider the Matter, nor do ye put your selv •• to Proof and Trial; Let me therefore pose your Consciences, if ye who have this opinion of your Faith, durst assert to Him, that this Faith of yours is the result of your serious Examination and Trial; is it not rather a guessing of fanciful opinion that ye Believe? And do ye think that such a Faith as that will abide the Trial before God, that never did abide your own Trial? It will doubtless be a sore beguile to go off the World with such an opinion of Faith, and to have the Door shut in your very Teeth; Alas! there will be no amending or bettering of your Condition after Death; The Day comes when many of you, if God graciously prevent not, shall curse yourselves that ever ye should have been such Fools as to have trusted your own Hearts, or to have taken up this opinion of your Faith without ground: We would therefore seriously recommend to you the putting of your Faith more frequently to the trial, and that ye would often read and think on that place, 2 Cor. 13.5. Examine yourselves whether ye be in the Faith, prove your own selves, &c. O! do not think that a matter of such concernment should be left lying at conjecture and utter uncertainty, who loseth, when ye are so palpably accessory to your own Ruin, by not endeavoring to put yourselves to so much as a Trial? Do not say here for excuse, We have no more Grace then God gives us; when ye never endeavored to be so much as at the form of the Duty, or to go the length ye might have gone in putting yourselves to the Trial; The deceit then, being desperate and irredeemable, if continued in, do not, for the Lord's sake, after all that is said to you, continue beguiling yourselves.

A second Reason is, Folks settling themselves on unsound evidences and principles of Peace that will not bear them thorough before God; I do not say that they have nothing to say in word for themselves, but that all they have to say will be no ground to prove their Faith, or to bear it thorough before God that they do believe indeed; It will be found at the best to be but a lie, as it's said of that Man, Isa. 44.20. A deceived heart hath turned him aside, he feeds on ashes, he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, is there not a lie in my right hand? He may have a seeming reason for his Faith, but it's no reason indeed: If many of you were going now to die, what reason have ye to prove your Believing by? some will say, God hath always been good, kind, and gracious to me, I was in many straits and difficulties, and I prayed and got many deliveries; Thus all the ground of thy Faith is but Temporal Favors or Deliveries, which is even as if Israel should have made their receiving of Temporal Deliveries and their acknowledging of them, and having some sort of Faith of them, to be ground enough to prove their receiving of Jesus Christ • avingly; There is a doleful proof of the unsoundness of this ground, Psal. 78.34, 35, 36, 37. When he slew them, then they sought him, and returned and inquired early after God, they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer; They looked to God's by-gone Favors for them when they were in the Wilderness, and at the Red Sea, and they believed that he could do so still; But they did flatter him with their mouth, and lied unto him with their tongue, for their hearts were not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his Covenant; whereupon He destroyed them, and through their Unbelief they did not enter into God's Rest; It's also said a little before in that Psalm, verse. 32. For all this they sinned still; There may be many Temporal Favors and Deliveries, and these acknowledged too, and yet no receiving of Christ for making our Peace with God, for removing the Quarrel betwixt Him and us, and for making us cease from Sin: Consider if it will be a good ground to plead with God upon, to say to Him, Lord thou must bring me to Heaven because I was in Sickness and thou raised me up, I was in this and that strait, and under this and that Cross, and thou carried me thorough and brought me out of it; The Lord will say to such that have no more to say, ye had so many evidences of my Power and yet ye sinned still; and yet this will be all the Pleading and Reasoning that will be found with many of you, and the sad Reply you will meet with from God.

A third Reason is, Folks giving an external Countenance to Ordinances, and their formal going about of them; They trow they have Faith, because they keep the Church and are not open Contemners and Misregarders of Ordinances as some others are, because they Pray, Read, Hear, &c. It seems it was something like this, that the persuasion of these spoken of Luk. 13.26. is built upon, Lord (say they) we have heard thee preach, and have eaten and drunken in thy presence; It's not simply that they heard Christ Preach, for many heard Him Preach who stoned Him, but that when others stoned Him, they followed Him and were not openly Profane, nor professed Contemners of Him and of His Preaching, as these others were; such like words fall sometimes from your Mouths: Ye will possibly say, what would we have of you? ye are not Profane, ye wait on Preaching, and live like your Neighbors, and ye content yourselves with that; Alas! this is a poor, yea, a doleful Fruit of Ordinances, and of your attendance on them; If there be more security, presumption, and desperate hazarding on the Wrath of God, and less taking with the Quarrel betwixt Him and you on that ground.

A fourth Reason is, Folks Hope, even such a Hope, that contrair to the nature of Hope, will make the most part of you ashamed; Ye trow ye Believe, because ye hope ye Believe, and that ye will get Mercy, because ye think ye hope in God's Mercy, and ye will not let anything light to the contrair, nor so much as think that ye may be deceived; The opinion that Folk have of obtaining Mercy, that is maintained without any ground but their vain hope, is the rifest, most unreasonable, and prejudicial evil that is among the Professors of this Gospel; henc • if any ground and evidence of their Peace be asked for, they will answer, that they Believe; If it be again • sked, how know ye that ye Believe, they answer, we hope and believe it is so, and can give no ground for it. Many are like these spoken of Isa. 57.10. Thou hast found the life of thine hand, therefor • thou was not grieved; They have a Faith and a Hope of their own making, and this keeps them off, that the Word of God takes no hold on them; We preach that ye are naturally at Feed with God, and offer Peace and Reconciliation through Jesus Christ, but ye are Deaf, for ye think your Peace is made already; and but very few come sensible of a Quarrel with God, to this Word as to the Ministry of Reconciliation; This is wondered at (in a manner) by the Lord Himself, Micah 3.11. where we have a People whose way is very unlike the Gospel, The heads judge for a reward, and the priests teach for hire, and the prophets divine for money, yet will they lean upon the Lord and say, is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us; It is not for real Believing that they are charged, but for their confident asserting their Believing when there was no ground for it; So it is with many, they will say, they hope to escape Hell, and to get their Sin pardoned, and to win to Heaven, and they believe it will be so, when in the mean time there is no ground for it, but clear ground to the contrary.

A fifth Ground is, Folks spiritual and practical Ignorance of the Righteousness of God, whereof the Apostle speaking, Rom. 10.3. saith, Being ignorant of the righteousness of God, they go about to establish their own, &c. that which I mean is, Folks being ignorant of their Natural Condition, of the Spiritualness of God's Law, what it requires, and of the way of Faith, and of the command of Believing, and the nature of it: It's from the ignorance of these three, to wit, of the Mischief that is in them by Nature, of the Spiritualness of the Law, and of the Spiritualness of Faith, and of the Exercise of it, that they sleep on in Security, and think they have Faith when they have it not; And though sometimes they will say their Faith is weak, yet they cannot be beaten from it, but that they Believe; and their Faith is up and down as their Security stands or falls: This the Apostle makes clear from his own experience, Rom. 7.9. where before his Conversion he says, he was a living Man, but after his Conversion he begins to think himself nothing but a dead and gone Man, the reason is, because before Conversion he knew not himself, he knew not the Law, nor the nature of the Covenant of Grace, Before the Law came (saith he) I was alive, he knew not the spiritual meaning of it, and therefore he thought he observed it, and so thought himself sure of Heaven, and had no doubts nor disputings concerning his Interest in God; But (saith he) when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died; I saw myself then to be lost and gone, and in everything guilty, that which I thought had been Humility. I saw it to be Pride, that which I took for Faith, I found it to be Presumption an • Unbelief, and my Holiness, I found to be Hypocrisy; not that his Sin grew more upon his hand, but the Sin that before was veiled, was now discovered, and staired him in the face; This is a sad truth, yet a most real truth; The good Believing (as many of you call it) and the Faith that ye have is a surer ground of your strangeness to God, and of your Unbelief, then any other thing ye have can be a ground whereupon to conclude ye have Faith and are good Friends with God; ye are yet alive, Strangers to God, Strangers to your Selves, Strangers to the spiritual meaning of the Law, and to the exercise of Faith; If ye would set yourselves to ponder seriously this one Consideration, I think ye might be somewhat convinced of it; Do ye not see many that understand more of God then ye do, and that are more tender in their Walk then ye are, who yet are loather, more difficu • ted and afraid to assert their Faith and Confidence in God then ye are? and they are oftener brangled and put to question their Faith, will ye then consider what can be the reason that ye have so strong a Faith that ye never doubted, and they are troubled with doubting sometimes, yea often, though they Pray more, and are more diligent in the use of all the Means, and holier in their Conversation then ye are, and ye will • (it may be) say, well's them that are like such a Person; this is the reason of it, they see their Sin, and the spiritualness of the Law, and the nature of Faith, and are dead to the Law; but ye are yet alive in your conceit; Do ye, or can ye think, that much Praying, Reading, Meditation, and Tenderness in Folks Walk, will weaken Faith and occasion Doubting? or is it not rather like, that Faith will be more confirmed by these, then by the neglect of them? how is it then that ye are so strong in your Faith, when they find themselves so weak and doubting? or have ye an infused Faith without the Means? or doeth God deal with you in a more indulgent way then He uses to deal with His People? how is it then that these of whom ye cannot say but they are more tender then ye are, cannot almost name Faith, or assert their confid • nce in God, without trembling and fear that they presume; and yet ye dare very confidently take a mouthful of it without any hi • k or • esitation, and yet live carnally and without fear? Do not many of you wonder wh • t ails some Folks, what need they to be so much troubled, and why do they stand in need of some to Pray for them and with them, and to answer their Doubts, and ye (mean while) need no such thing; and all your remedy is, that ye assure yourselves ye Believe, and think the questioning of your Security is the very undoing of your Faith; God help, ye are in a woeful taking.

A sixth Reason is, That Folk drink in some Carnal Principles that have no warrand in the Word of God, and accordingly square everything that comes in their way. 1. They lay it for a Ground, that Folk should never doubt of God's Mercy; we do not say that Folk should doubt of God's being most real in His offer of Mercy to Sinners in the Gospel, but from that it will not follow, that never one should doubt of God's love to them, or of their coming to Heaven, whether they close with the Offer or not; Are there not many whom God curseth? and should not these doubt? A second Carnal Principle is, That there is no such reality in the Threatenings of God as there is in His Promises, as if He were utterly averse from executing a Threa • ning, and as if it were a rare thing to Him to condemn any; and is there anything more opposite to Scripture then this Principle is? Hath He not said in the same place, to wit, Ex. 34. where He proclaims Himself to be gracious, merciful, longsuffering, &c. That He is a God that will not clear the guilty; And hath not the Scripture said, that it's but a remnant that are saved, but (as it were) here one and there one, and that there are many damned for one that is saved; But know it of a certain, that He will make you one day vomit up these Principles, with exquisite torment, when out of your own Mouth He will convince you of your Mistake and Delusion. 3. When Folks want many things, they supply all with an honest Mind; This supplies your want of Knowledge, your want of Faith and of Repentance, and of everything whereof ye are said to be shor • ; Though ye live and should die Carnal and Unrenewed, yet ye think still ye have an honest Mind or Heart for all that, and what, I pray is your honest Mind? but a rotten and profane Heart that vails your Hypocrisy with a pretext of Honesty; Would ye think that Man honest, spoke of Isa. 44.19. who with one part of the Tree warmed himself, and with another part made a god and fell down and prayed to it? and yet in your Sense, he hath an honest Mind, for he followeth his light which is but darkness, and the deceit of his Heart carrying him away from God, though he cannot see it; he discerns not, because he considers not that there is a lie in his hand, and that a deceived heart hath led him aside, so it is with you; and if many of you saw what is latent under that honest Mind and Heart, there would be nothing that would make you loath yourselves more; a little time will convince you, that that which ye looked for most good from, was your greatest and most traitorous Enemy; He that trusts in his own heart is a fool, saith Solomon, Prov. 28.26. it supposes that Folks are ready to lippen to their Heart, and to hearken to the language of it concerning their Spiritual Estate, but it says also, that they are Fools that do so, for it betrays them, and there is no folly comparable to that whereby a Man betrays his own immortal Soul; and that he doth who trusts in his own Heart.

A seventh Reason is from the deceitfulness of our Heart, and the natural Corruption that sticks to us; There is naturally in us, Pride and Self-conceit, we are disposed and given to think anything that is our own, though it be but a show, is as good as others reality; to think our own Light and Knowledge, our own other Parts and Gifts to be as good as those of any others, whosoever they be; And with Pride there is joined Self-love, we dow not abide to think evil of ourselves, or to suspect ourselves; Though this Self-love be indeed Self-hatred, and is but love to our Corruptions, and makes us that when we live in hatred of God, to think that we love Him, so that we cannot be induced to think that we love Him not, for we know that love to God is good, and we love ourselves so well, that we cannot endure to think that we want it; hence it's said of some in the last Times, 2 Tim. 3.2, 3. That they shall he covetous, proud, boasters, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, &c. having a form of godliness, and denying the power of it, and the foun • ain of all is Self-love, for (saith he) men shall be lovers of their own selves; And as Self-love is the fountain of much Evil, so it's the fountain of Self-deceit, and keeps out anything that may make Men question their own Condition, so that if a word come in and say, thou hast no ground for thy Faith, the Heart will be ready to answer and say, it cannot be that I am a Self-deceiver, and Self-love as a partial Judge will offer to vindicate the Man, and so makes him shift the Challenge. Now when all these are put together, you may see how many Grounds Folks have to go wrong upon, and Men having Hearts disposing and inclining them to go wrong, and little pains being taken to discover the deceit of them, is it any wonder that they think they Believe, when indeed they Believe not, and be empty and toom-handed, having little or nothing to rest upon, while they think they are Rich and want nothing; These are not fancied and far fetched things but obvious, and at Hand, and may easily be gathered from your daily Practice; In all which, it's our design and scope to bring you to try your long unquestioned Peace; do not therefore think that it is impossible to be thus persuaded, as many of you are, and yet to be mistaken, (which is another Ground of Folks deceit,) for Laodicea was very confident in thinking herself to be rich and increased in goods, and to stand in need of nothing, when she was in the mean time, poor, blind, miserable, wretched, and naked; and the Galatians, as we may see chap. 5.8. had a persuasion which was not of God; As there may be a persuasion of a point of Doctrine as being right, which yet is an error, so there may be a persuasion of a Man's Spiritual State as being right, and which he will stoutly maintain to be so, while in the mean time that persuasion is not of God that calleth him, but a strong Delusion; If all that be Faith that ye call Faith, then certainly the way to Heaven is much broader then the Scripture hath chalked it out, and Ministers needed not say, Who believes our report? for all should thus believe it: It will then, and must then turn to this, that your persuasion is not of Him that calleth you; and if a deceit may lie and lurk under this persuasion of yours, ye have certainly so much the more need to put the business to trial.

And this is the last Use, which we cannot now insist on, That seeing so many think they Believe who Believe not, and that there are but few that believe the Report, and indeed rest on Christ for their Salvation, as He is offered to them in the Gospel, it is of your concernment to endeavor to put yourselves without the reach of this Complaint, and to make it sure that ye have believed and received the Report; Is there anything of concernment if this be not? even to mak • your Calling and Election sure; and that cannot be made sure as to you, till your Faith be made sure; If we could prevail this far with you, we would count it a blessed Fruit of this and of many other Preachings, even that some of you who have never qu • stioned your Faith, might be engaged first seriously to close with Christ, and then to put yourselves to the trial, that on distinct grounds ye might be able to say, I know in whom I have believed, and that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day; There are many of you that talk of Faith, and yet cannot only not assert your Interest in Christ distinctly, but cannot so much as give any solid grounds of your Believing, and should not this, think ye, put you to try it? Is there not a Day coming wherein ye will all be tried, whether your alleged Faith was true Faith, or but Presumption? and wherein the Conscience which is now quiet, and which it may be never keeped you from an hours Sleep, shall awake and put forth its Sting, and shall bite and gnaw, and ye who shall continue under the power of this Delusion, will be put to gnaw your Tongues for pain and horror under the gnawings of your Conscience; Ye that never knew all along your life what these things mean'd, had need to stand the more in awe, and to be afraid when ye come near Death. Though it be a sad matter, that when we should be Preaching, and would fain preach the Doctrine of Faith, it should, by reason of your Delusion, be the great part of our work to be thus digging you out of your Presumption, and overturning your carnal and ill-grounded Hope; yet we have the greater confidence and the more peace, to speak to, and insist in these Truths, because they lie so near to the great design of the Gospel, and to your immortal Souls Salvation; and though we were able to preach more plausible and sweet things to you, yet if these Doct • ines profit you not, these would not; S • ing therefore they are so profitable, we should not weary to speak, and ye should not weary to hear them spoken of; Would to God ye were seriously • nd sincerely aiming to be clear and through in the matter of Believing, and that ye stood in need, and were more capable of more pleasant Truths; if so, we might have more comfor • able, though we will not say more profitable Doctrines to insist upon to you.

SERMON XII.

WE have spoken at several occasions to this first part of the Verse, and before we leave it, there is one Use several times hinted at already, to which there is good ground to speak, it being the design and purpose of these words to hold forth of what great concernment Believing is, and of what great difficulty it is, and so many being to the ruin of their Souls mistaken about it, there is ground to draw this Use of Exhortation from it, to wit, That then all the Hearers of this Gospel would be exhorted to advert well to this, that they make Faith sure in itself, and that they make it sure to themselves, seeing, as I said, so many are mistaken about it and beguile themselves; The more pressingly that the Gospel calls for Faith in Christ, and the more weightily the Lord expostulates with the Hearers of the Gospel because of their Unbelief, they are doubtless so much the more concerned to receive it in its Offer, and also to look well that they content not themselves with guessing at Faith, and that they never think that things are well with them, except they can give good proof and warrand that they are so, and that it is Saving Faith that they have, seeing there are so many that satisfy themselves as being Believers, when yet so few are Believers ind • ed; The s • d mistake and disappointment of many, should have so much influence upon us as to put us to more watchfulness, and to a more narrow trial of our own state and condition, that we may know how it is with us; All that we have spoken to the Doctrines of this first part of the Verse, may be as so many Motives to stir you up to both these, and would to God we could be persuaded to this as the Use of so many Preachings, once to admit and take it for granted that it is the Truth of God; that there is a necessity, an absolute necessity for us to be really rolled and casten over upon Jesus Christ by Faith, for attaining of Life through Him; Though this be a very common Doctrine, and ye would think a very common Use of it, yet it is the great thing that God requires in the Gospel, and the neglect of it, or not receiving His Son, the very contest and quarrel that God hath with the Hearers of it, and the cause of the ruin of so many Souls that perish under the Gospel; We shall therefore propose to you some Considerations that may stir you up to this, and briefly answer a Question in each of these two branches of the Use.

And first, For stirring you up to this receiving of Christ by Faith, 1. Consider if there be not a standing Quarrel and Contraversie betwixt God and you for Sin; and if there be, as no doubt there is, consider how that Contraversie is to be removed, is there any other possible way but by Faith in Christ? If we were Preaching to such as had never sinned, and were never under the hazard of the. Wrath of God, there might possibly be a difficulty to persuade to a receiving of Christ; But when ye have all this in your Conscience, that there is Sin, and a Curse following Sin, and that there is no other way for removing that Curse but by Jesus Christ, is there not reason to expect that ye should receive this Truth? will any of you think to stand and bide it out against God? and if not, then there is sure a necessity of Believing in Jesus Christ, or of lying under the Wrath of God forever.

2. Consider that this Gospel and Word of Salvation is preached to you in particular; When we speak of Salvation, we do not say, that Christ was once preached to the Jews, or that in such a far-off Nation there is a door opened for Salvation in the Gospel; but we would turn over the words of the Apostle ( Acts 13.38.) to you, and say to you in his words, Be it known to you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man (to wit Jesus Christ,) is preached to you remission of sins, &c. and this brings the Gospel near you, even to your door; it lays before you the way of access to God by Christ, and puts it so close and home to you, that Christ must either have a refusal, or a welcome from you: The first consideration of your own Sinfulness and Misery might put you to seek after a Savior, though he were at a great distance, but this other brings Him to your Heart and Mouth; and is it fit (think ye) to neglect such a fair occasion? and will it be wisdom, when Salvation follows you, and cries after you, and Wisdom lifts up its voice in the Streets, saying, O ye simple ones, how long will ye love foo • ishness, &c. to stop your ear, or to turn away from Christ, and to run upon your destruction? Do ye think that this Gospel will be silent always, or that your Conscience will be deaf and dumb always? There are many Nations that have not the Gospel so near them; and it's hard to know but the day may come when ye would be content to buy an offer of the Gospel at a dearer ra • e, and when there shall not be a Tryster nor a D • ys-man to be had between God and you, and these days will then be remembered with horror, which now ye securely slip over:

3. Consider what will come of this if ye do not believe the Gospel; Know ye not that many perish that hear the Gospel, and that upon this same very ground, that they did not receive Christ and Salvation through Him offered to them therein, and whereof they are now deprived? Are there not many this day cursing in Hell, under the Wrath of God, that they let slip and passed over so many golden Opportunities of the Gospel without improvement? and know ye not that it will come to the same sad pass with you, if ye do not receive it? Do Men live always? Is there not an appointed time for all Men upon Earth? If before we have savingly exercised Faith on Him for making Peace with God, we be drawn to a reckoning before His Tribunal, what will come of it? and are not our precious Opportunites apace and always sliping by? and is not the work of Faith by delays still the more difficult? are not our Bonds still the more strengthened? and doth not our Indisposition still grow the greater? and is it not very ordinary to see these who have slighted the work of Faith in their Youth. to live stupid in their old Age, and die Senseless?

4. Consider what sort of Folk they are, of whom the Scripture speaks as Unbelievers, and whom the Word of God holds forth to be eternally secluded from the presence of God for the want of Faith; Many think that it's but the grossly Profane, or such as never had so much as the form of Religion, and such as others would scunner and loath to hear them but mentioned, that it's (I say) only such that are accounted Unbelievers; But the Scripture speaks of some that seek to enter in and shall not be able; that desire to be in Heaven, and take some pains to win in, and yet are never admitted to enter into it, and what is the reason, because they took not the way of Believing for the obtaining of Life and coming to Heaven; they took the way of Works, they took the way of Prayer, of Purposes, Promises and Resolutions to ammend and grow better, quite overlooking Christ and the way of Believing in Him, and so took the way of Presumption, and promised themselves Peace when there was no true Peace, nor any solid ground for it.

5. Consider (which is of affinity with the former Consideration) them that are secluded from the presence of God for the want of Faith, they are even Men and Women as we are, that lived in the same Kingdom and City with us, that prayed in the same Company with us, that thought themselves as sure of Heaven as many of us do, that were guilty of the same or like Sins, that we are guilty of, that have heard many of the same Preachings that we have heard, and yet they perish for want of Faith, for not believing in the Son of God; Why then should we think that impossible as to us, that is so common and frequent in others? Is not the same Nature in us that's in others, and are not our Hearts naturally as deceitful and corrupt as those of others? and so may not we be beguiled as well as others? And is it not the same rule that He will walk by in judging of us, that He walked by in judging of others? What can be the reason, that Folk will read and hear the Word, and will promise to themselves Heaven, when the same Word clears it plainly, that Destruction is that which they have to look for from the Lord: It is nothing else but this confident and proud Presumption that many take for Faith. Let not your precious opportunities slip away, and beguile not yourselves in such a concerning matter as Faith is; ye will never get this loss made up afterwards if ye miss Faith here.

Lastly, Consider the great necessity that the Lo • d hath laid upon all Men and Women, by a peremptory Command and Charge, to believe in the Son of God; He hath not with greater peremptoriness required Prayer, nor dependence upon Him, nor any other Duty, then He hath required this, 1 John 3.23. And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the Name of His Son Jesus Christ; yea it's singled out as His main Commandment: If that great iniquiry be made, What shall I do to be saved? this is the answer, Believe on Jesus Christ; Do ye think that our Lord, (who hath so marked and signalized this Command in so special a manner,) will never take account for the slighting of it? or do ye think to satisfy Him by your other Duties without minding this? It cannot be; Suppose ye should mourn all your Life-time, and your Life were a pattern to others, yet if ye want this one thing, Faith in Christ, ye will be found Transgressours, as having neglected the main work.

Now for the Question, ye will say, What this is we are bidding you do when we bid you Believe? Answ. When we call you to Believe, we call you, 1. To be suitably affected with the sense of your own Naughtiness, Sinfulness, and H • za • d; Till there be something of this Faith in our Lord Jesus hath no access, nor will ever get welcome; Deep apprehensions of the Wrath that is coming, and a standing in awe at the thoughts of our appearing before Him, contribute much to it; I am not preaching Desperation to you, as some mutter, but we would press upon you the Faith of the Word of God, that tells you what we are, and liveliness under that impression, that ye may not be stopped or letted till ye come to a thorough closure with Christ; The most part of Hearers come never this length, and this is the reason why many stumble in the very Threshold, and make never Progress. 2. We call for and commend this to you, that ye would study to be through and clear as to the Usefulness and Excellency of Jesus Christ, as to the efficacy of His Death, as to the terms of the Covenant of Grace, whereby a Sinner comes to obtain Right to Him; to be sensible of Sin and Hazard without this, is only the way to make a Man desperate and mad, but when this is clear, it makes an open door to the Sinner that he may see whither to run from the Wrath to come; I do not only mean that ye would get the Cat • chism, and be able to answer to all the Questions concerning the Fundamentals of Religion contained therein, but that ye would also and mainly seek to have the Faith of these things in your H • arts, and to have Faith in God, that ye may be persuaded, that He that was, and is God, died for Sinners, and that by the application of His Satisfaction, Sinners may obtain Life, and that there is a sufficient Warrand given to a Sinner to hazard himself upon Him. The first of these speaks the necessity of some Sense, the second holds out the necessity of a general Faith, according to that word, Heb. 11. He that comes to God, must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him; We must know that there is a Warrand to come, and ground to expect Acceptance from God upon our coming, or else we will never come to, nor believe in Christ. The third thing that we call you to, when we call you to Believe, is, That the Sinner would actually stretch out that Faith, as the Souls Hand for the receiving of Christ, and for the Application of Him to himself, and would actually cast himself upon the Satisfaction of Jesus Christ for covering that Sinfulness that is in him, and would catch hold of, and grip to Him that is an able Savior, for keeping the Sinner from sinking under the weight of Sin that he lieth under; This is the Exercise and Practice of Faith when it flows from the general Doctrine of the necessity of believing such things to be Truths in themselves, and when it's extended and put forth in Practice, that we who are so certainly and sensibly lost, must needs share of that Salvation which we believe to be in Jesus Christ, and so for that, roll ourselves on Him; The first piece of Sense may be in a Reprobate, the second piece of Faith, that there is a sufficient Salvation in Christ to be gotten by them that believe in Him, may be in a Devil; But this third of actual use-making of the Satisfaction of Christ, for paying our Debt, and rolling ourselves upon Him, that's the Faith and Exercise of it that is peculiar to a sound Believer, and the very thing that constitutes a Believer, and it is that which we commend to you, that ye may not stand and please yourselves with looking only upon Christ, but that ye may cast and roll yourselves over upon Him, that Christ may get your Weight, and that all your Burthens and Wants may be upon Him, which to do ye must be enabled by the mighty Power of Grace, whereof in the next part of the Verse.

The second Branch of the Use which follows upon this, is, That we would desire you not only to follow this way of making your Peace with God, but to follow the trying and proving of it to your own satisfaction, that ye may be warrantably confident that it is so: There is a great difference betwixt these, to believe in Christ, and to be clear and certain that we do believe in Him; As there is a necessity of the first, without which there cannot be Peace with God, so there is a necessity of the second, though not simply, as without which there can be no Peace with God, yet upon this account, as without which we cannot be so comforted in God; And seeing there are so many who do not Believe, who yet think themselves to be Believers, and seeing there is nothing more common among the Hearers of the Gospel, then to reject Christ offered in it, and to Misbelieve, and yet nothing more common then to be confident that they do Believe; There is good ground here to exhort you to put your Faith to the Touch-stone, that ye may know whether ye can abide the Trial, and whether ye may confidently assert your own Faith upon good ground, and abide by it: We would think if it were remembered, and seriously considered, how great a scarcety there is of Believers, and how rare a thing it is to get any to receive Christ, that Folk needed not be much pressed to put their Faith to the Trial; and when there will not be one among many found who will pass under the account of a real Believer with Jesus Christ, should not the most part suspect themselves, seeing the most part that hear the Gospel are the object of this Complaint, Who hath believed our report? or very few have believed it; ye would study to have some well grounded confidence in this, that ye are not guessing and presuming, and going upon grounds that will fail you at last, but that ye be in case to say on solid grounds with the Apostle, I know whom I have believed, &c. There is a Faith and Hope that will make many ashamed; and certainly, in the day of Judgment, when Christ shall have to do with these Persons, that never once thought to be thrust away from Him, they of all Men shall be thrust away from Him with greatest Shame; O! the confusion that will fill and overwhelm them who had a profession of Christ, and yet had never the root of the matter in them above and beyond many others: Dare many of you, upon the confidence ye have, look Death in the Face? It's no great matter to be confident in the time of Health; but will ye then be able to comfort yourselves in the Promises of God? do not promise to yourselves the things in the Covenant, except ye be endeavoring in God's way to be sure ye are Believers indeed. Our Life depends upon our Faith, but our Consolation depends much upon our clearness that we have Faith, and that we are in Christ, and therefore there is much need to press this upon you; There is no way to rid you of the Terrors of God, and to make you comfortably sure of your particular Interest in the Promises of God, but by making it sure and clear that ye are Believers in Christ indeed.

There are three or four sorts of People to whom we would speak a little here. 1. There are some who think that if they could do other Duties, though they should never do this, to wit, to make their Calling and Election sure, they would be and do well enough; Are there not many of you that never so much as set yourselves to try whether your Faith would abide God's trial or not? Ah! Ah! an atheistical Indifferency, a slighting of the Consolations of God, aboundeth amongst many, so that they think the Promises and the Consolation that is to be gotten in the Promises, are not of so much worth, as to be thereby put to take pains to try and see whether they belong to them or not; but the Day will come that many of you will curse yourselves for your neglecting and slighting of this. A second sort are these, who because they were never sure of Peace with God themselves, and because they were never sure of their own Faith, neither ever concernedly endeavored to be, they think it's all but fancy that's spoken of assurance of Faith, and of Peace with God, they think it's but guessing at the best; There is such a sort of Persons, who think they may be doing as they dow, and need not trouble themselves with such fancies or nice things, but if ye ask them what will come of them at last? they will tell you, they will lippen that to God: Think ye it for naught that God hath laid so many Commands on you to make your Calling and Election sure? and think ye it for naught that He hath given so many Marks to try it by? and that some of the People of God do holily and humbly glory and boast so much of their Communion with God out of their assurance of His love to them, and of their special interest in Him? do not all these say that there is such a thing as this to be had? There is a third sort that please themselves with mere conjectures about this Matter, and the greater their Security be, they persuade themselves the more that they have Faith; This is as sad as any of the former, when they grant all, that Folks should make their Calling and Election sure, and should endeavor to be sure of their Faith, but in the mean time take Peace with the Devil, and Peace with their Lusts for Peace with God, and a Covenant with Hell and Death, for a real Bargain with God: This is as true as this Word of God is, that there are many that put by all Challenges by this, and never suspect their Faith, they hope that all shall be well, and they must always Believe; as if that were the whole Duty of Faith to keep down all Challenges. A fourth sort is, even of the generation of them that have something of God in them, who scar in a manner to make all sure, and think it is a piece of Humility. and of holy and tender walking to maintain Doub • ing, even as others think it Faith to ma •• tain Presumption; They are always complaining, as if all things were wrong, and nothing right in their Case and so foster and cherish Misbelief; There is such a thing as this, that marreth even serious Souls in their endeavors to make their Calling and Election sure, and as long as this is, they cannot win to the suitable discovery of this excellent Grace that God calls them to Exercise, even Faith in the Lord Jesus: Need we make use of Motives to press you to this trial of your Faith, and to this giving of all diligence to make it sure, who have especially hitherto neglected it? If ye knew anything of the vexation that Unbelief hath with it, and what horror in Conscience from the sense of distance from God were, ye would think it a great matter to be clear in this thing; and if it were known and believed how this delusion and unsickerness of Faith destroys the most part of Men in the World, even of the visible Church; Durst Men lie in their Security as most do, without all endeavors to make it sure on good ground, that they do indeed Believe? Durst they lie still under God's Curse, if they thought themselves to be really under it, and did not foolishly fancy that it is otherways with them? Durst Men treasure up Wrath to themselves, if they thought not that the Hope they had were good enough? O! but Presumption beguiles and destroys many Souls; and particularly this same Presumption of Folks thinking themselves right when they are wrong, hath destroyed, and doeth destroy, and will destroy moe Members of the visible Church, then Profanity, Drunkenness, Whoredom, Theft, Desperation, or any other of these gross, and much abhorred Evils do; This is the thing that locks Folk up in their Sin, even their Presumption, when they say on the matter, We shall have peace though we walk in the imagination of our own heart? It's this that makes Men without fear, Steal, and Lie, and commit Adultery, &c. that they say, Is not the Lord among us? Is not this the thing that keeps many of you that ye never tremble at the Word of God? we have Faith in God (say ye,) we lippen and trust in Him; therefore seeing Presumption is so rife, have ye not need to try your Faith? If there were so much counterfeit Money in the Country, that it were a rare thing to get one good and upright piece of Money, ye would think yourselves greatly concerned and obliged to try it well, lest ye were cheated with base and counterfeit Coyn; Is there not need then, yea infinitely much more need for them that would be so wise as not to be beguiled about the salvation of their Souls, to search and try whether their Faith will abide God's trial or not?

Ye will readily move this Question, What then are the Characters or Evidences of a solid and sicker Faith that will abide the trial, by which the pretended. Faith that is among the Men of this Generation may be examined and put to just trial?

I shall first name some direct Scriptures holding out some things essentially accompanying Faith, and then shall add others having more condescending Characters for the more particular differencing of this, helping to the decision of this great Question.

The first Mark whereby ye may try your Faith is, The ground and rise of it, or that whereby it is begotten and cherished; Faith comes (saith the Apostle, Rom. 10.10. by hearing; Doctrinal Faith comes by the preaching of the Gospel, and Saving Faith is wrought instrumentally by the same Word of God, it being the power of God to salvation; it being this Word that is the very ground of our Faith; I would ask you where from your Faith comes, and what hand the Word of God hath in it? There are many that have a sort of Faith not only without, but contrary to the Word of God, whereby they believe that they will get Heaven, while in the mean time the Word of God does directly exclude them, Get ye your Faith maintained without ever knowing the necessity of a Promise for that effect? Can ye maintain your Peace and not have so much as any foundation in the truth and faithfulness of God to build it upon? Love never that Faith that hungers not after the Word, that is supposed to be lively without being ever fed by the Word, that cannot claim either its rise and original, or its growth from the Word; I will not say from this or that word in particular, or at this or that time read or heard, but from the Word of God; the Word is the very foundation that Faith builds upon: If we look to what either accompanieth or followeth Faith, there are some plain Scriptures that will make that clear, as Acts 15.9. and put no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by faith, (there was indeed once a great difference between Jews and Gentiles, but now when he hath brought both to believe in Christ, the difference is removed,) There is an efficacy in it to circumcise the Heart, to purify it, and to banish Lusts out of it, for it closes and unites with Christ, and so brings him home to dwell in the Heart, and where Christ dwells He commands, and so whatever opposes Him is banished; Faith gives Christ welcome, and will give nothing welcome to dwell with Him that's opposite and displeasing to Him, Faith improves Christ for the subduing of its Lusts and mortifying its Corruptions; whereas before there might be an fair outside of a Profession, and something clean outwardly, and much filthiness and rottenness within, but when Faith is exercised on Christ, it purifies from all filthiness of the Spirit as well as of the Flesh, it applies the Promises for that end, even to get the inside made clean as well as the outside; yea, its main work is, to have the inside, the Heart purified, that being the fountain of all the pollution that defiles the Man, and brings the other necessarily along with it; never love that Faith that leaves the Heart as a Swines-sty to Lusts, that leaves it swarming with unclean and vain Thoughts, or that leaves the Heart just as it was before; or that Faith that only cleanseth the outside and does no more; such a Faith, however esteemed by the Man, will never be accounted for true Saving Faith before God; I do not, I dare not say that Believers will always discern this heart-purity or cleanness; but this I say, that true Faith will set the Man a work to purify the Heart, and will be making use of Christ for that end, not only to have the arm of the dominion of Sin broken, but to have the Soul more and more delivered from the indwelling power of it, and this will the design that he will sincerely drive, to get the Heart purified within as well as the outward Man; inward Heart-abominations will be grievous and burdensome to him as well as scandalous out-breakings.

A second place is, Gal. 2.20, 21. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me, and the life, &c If ye would know a Companion of true Faith here is one, it hath a life of Faith with it; There is one life killed, and another life is quickened, the life that is killed is that whereby the Man sometime lived to the Law, I am dead to the Law (says the Apostle,) a Man's good conceit of himself, that once he had is killed and taken away, he wonders how it came that he thought himself Holy, or a Believer, or how he could promise to himself Heaven in the condition he was in; There is another life comes in the place of that, and it's a life that is quickened and maintained by, and from nothing in the Man himself, but it's wholly from and by Christ; The Believer hath his holiness and strength for doing all called for Duties, and his comfort also from Christ. and he holds withal his very Natural Life, his present Being in the World from Christ. his all is in Christ; his stock of life, strength and furniture is not in himself, but he lives by a continual Traffick, as it were on Bills of Exchange betwixt Christ and him; when he wants, he sends a Bill to Christ, and it's answered in everything that he stands in need of, and that is good for him; He is a dead Man, and he is a living Man, and where ever true Faith is, there the Man is dead and there the Man is living; Do not I pray mistake it, by thinking that true Faith is but vented, puts forth itself only in reference to this or that particular, or at this or that particular time only, for F • ith must be exercised not only at starts, as when when we are under Challenges for Sin, or at Prayer, but we must design and endeavor to exercise Faith thorough all our Life; that is, we must by Faith look for everything that is useful and needful for us from Christ, and be always endeavoring to drive on a common Trade of living this way; we must be habituating ourselves to seek after Peace, Strength and Consolation, and what else we need, out of the fullness that is in Him; This Life of Faith is to see the want of all things in ourselves, and yet to have all things by making use of Christ in all things; contenting and comforting our selves that there is Strength in Him though we be weak in ourselves, and that He hath gotten the victory over all His and our Enemies, and that we shall at last through Him, be victorious in our own Persons, contenting and satisfying ourselves that He hath complete Righteousness, though we be Bankrupt and have none of our own, and betaking ourselves allenarly to that Righteousness for our Justification before God; Thus making a Life to ourselves in Him, He living in us by His Spirit, and we living in Him by Faith? O sweet and desirable but mysteriou • Life!

The third place is Gal. 5.6. In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith that worketh by love; He doth not simply say Faith, but faith that works by love; for Faith is an operative Grace, and this is the main vent of it, the thing by which it works, it works by Love; Faith is the hand of the new Creature, whereby everything is wrought, it having Life from Christ, and we may say that Love is in a manner the hand of Faith, or rather like the fingers upon the hand of Faith, whereby it handleth everything tenderly, even out of love to God in Christ, and to others for His sake; Faith works, and it works by Love; that's a sound and good Faith that warms the Heart with love to Christ, and the nearer that Faith brings the Believer to Him, it warms the Heart with more love to others; And therefore love to the People of God is given as an evidence of one that is born of God, 1 Joh. 5.1. because, wherever true Faith is, there cannot but be love to the Children of God flowing from love to Him that begets them; That Faith that's not affected with God's dishonor out of love to Him, and that can endure to look upon the Difficulties, Sufferings and Afflictions of the Children of God, without sympathizing and being kindly affected therewith, is not to be taken for a sound Faith, but to be suspected for a Counterfeit.

The fourth place is James 2 14. Shew me thy saith by thy works, &c. True Faith hath always sound Holiness with it, in all manner of Conversation in the design and endeavor of the Believer, which is withal through Grace in some measure attained; What avails it for a Man to say that he loves another, when being naked or destitute, he bid • him depart in Peace, be warmed, be filled, and yet in the mean time gives him nothing that he stands in need of, would not such a poor Man think himself but mocked? Even so, will not God reckon you to be but Mock-believers, or Mockers of Faith when ye profess yourselves to be Believers in Christ, while in the mean time ye have neither indeed Heart-purity, nor Holiness in your outside Conversation? that is but such a Faith as Devils may have that will never do you good: Ye would believe this for a truth, that there will never a Faith pass for Faith in God's account, and so there should never a Faith pass for Faith in your account, but that Faith that sets the Man a work to the study of Holiness; that Faith that works by Love, that Faith that purifies the Heart, and that Faith that puts the Person in whom it is, to study to have Christ living in him, and himself living in Christ.

I promised to name a few Scriptures that speak out some more condescending Characters of Faith. And 1. I would think it a good token of Faith, to have Folk feared for missing and falling short of the Promises, which may be gathered from Heb. 4.1. that stout confidence that thinks it's impossible to miss the Promises, is a suspect and dangerous Faith, not to be loved; it's a much better Faith that fears, then that Faith that's more stout, except there be a sweet mixture of holy stoutness and fear together; It's said Heb. 11.7. that by Faith Noah being moved with fear, prepared an Ark, &c. Noah had the Faith of God's Promise, that he should be keeped free from being drowned by the Deluge with the rest of the World, and yet he was mourning and trembling in preparing the Ark; If there were much Faith among you, it would make many of you more holily feared then ye are; Love not that Faith the worse that ye never hear a threatening but ye tremble at it, and are touched by it in the quick. 2. It's a good token of Saving Faith, when it hath a discovery and holy suspicion of Unbelief wairing on it, so that the Person dare not so lippen and trust his own Faith, as not to dread Unbelief, and to tell Christ of it; There is a poor Man that comes to Christ, Mat. 9.23, 24. to whom the Lord faith, If thou canst believe, or canst thou believe? yes Lord (says he) I believe, help thou mine unbelief; there was some Faith in him, but there was also Unbelief mixed with it; his Unbelief was so great that it was almost like to drown his Faith, but he puts it in Christ's hand, and will neither deny his Faith nor his Unbelief, but puts the matter sincerely over upon Christ, to strengthen his Faith, and to amend and help his Unbelief; It's a suspect Faith that's at the top of Perfection at the very first, and ere ever ye wot; There are some serious Souls, that think because they have some Unbelief, that therefore they have no Faith at all, but true Faith is such a Faith that is by and beside suspected and feared or seen Unbelief; That Faith is surest where Folk fear and suspect Unbelief, and see it, and when they are weighted with their Unbelief, and cry out under it, and make their Unbelief an errand to Christ, it's a token there is Faith there. 3. The third Character is, That it will have with it a sticking to Christ, and a fear to presume in sticking to Him; There will be two things striving together, an eagerness to be at Him, and a fear that they be found presumptuous in meddling with Him, and an holy trembling to think on it; yet notwithstanding it must and will be adventured upon; the Woman spoken of Mark 5.28. lays this reckoning with herself, If I can but touch his clothes I shall be whole; and she not only believeth this to be truth, but crowds and thrimbles in to be at him, yet verse. 33. when she comes before Christ, she trembles as if she had been taken in a fault, not having dared to come openly to Him, but behind him, she behooved to have a touch of him, but she durst not in a manner own and avouch her doing of it till she be unavoidably put to it; It's a suspect and unsound Faith that never trembled at minting to Believe; there is reason to be jealous that Faith not to be of the right stamp, that never walked under the impression of the great distance between Christ and the Person, the sense whereof is the thing that makes the trembling, I say not desperation, nor any utter distrust of Christ's kindness, but trembling arising from the consideration of the great distance and disproportion that's between Him and the Person; Faith holds the Sinner a going to Christ, and the sense of its own sinfulness and worthlessness keeps him under holy fear and in the exercise of Humility; Paul once thought himself a jolly man, (as we may see Rom. 7.9.) but when he was brought to believe in Christ, he sees that he was a dead and undone man before: I give you these three marks of a true Faith from that Chapter. 1. It discovers to a Man his former Sinfulness, and particularly his former Self-conceit, Pride and Presumption, I was, saith Paul, alive without the Law once, &c. a man living upon the thoughts of his own Holiness, but when the Law came I died; he fell quite from these high thoughts. A second Mark is, A greater restlessness of the Body of Death, it becoming in some respect worse Company, more fretful, and struggling more then ever it did before; Sin revived saith Paul, though he had no more Corruption in him then he had before, but it wakened and bestirred itself more; I dare say that though there be not so much Corruption in a Believer as there is in a natural Man, yet it struggleth much more, and is more painful and disquieting to the Believer, and breeds him a great dale more trouble, for says the Apostle on the matter, when God graciously poured Light and Life into me, Sin took that occasion to grow angry, and to be enraged that such a neighbor was brought in beside it, it could not endure that; as an unruly and currish Dog barks most bitterly when an honest Guest comes to the House, so doth Corruption bark and make more noise then it did before when Grace takes place in the Soul: There are some that trow they have the more Faith because they feel no Corruption stir in them, and there are others that think they have no Faith at all, because they feel Corruption str • gling more, and growing more troublesome to them; but the stirring and struggling of Corruption, if Folk be indeed burdened, and affected, and afflicted with it, will rather prove their having of Faith then their wanting of it; Love that Faith well that puts and keeps Folk bickerring (to say so) in the Fight with the Body of Death; for though this be not good in itself that Corruption stirreth, yet Sin is of that sinful nature, that it flies always more in their face that look God and Heavenwards, then of others that are sleeping securely under its Dominion. A third Mark is, When the Soul hath never Peace in any of its Conflicts or Combats with Corruption, but when it resolves in Faith exercised on Jesus Christ, as it was with Paul, in that Chapter after his Conversion; That is a sound Faith that only makes Peace at first by Christ, but that cannot (to say so) fight one fair stroke in the Spiritual Warfare, nor look Corruption in the face, nor promise to itself an outgate from any assault of the Enemy, but by Faith in Jesus Christ, as it was with the Apostle, who toward the end of that Chapter, lamentably cries, O! wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? yet immediately subjoins Faiths triumphing in Christ, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord; he, belike, before his Conversion thought he could do well enough all alone, but it is not so now, when he can do nothing without Christ, especially in this sore War with his Corruption; That is a sound Faith that makes the Sinner to make use of Christ in everything he is called to, that yokes him (I mean Christ) to work on every occasion, and particularly when it comes as it were to grappling and hand blows with this formidable Enemy the Body of Death this Monster, whereof when one H • a • is cut off, another as it were starts up in its place.

For a close of this Purpose, I be • eech and obtest such of you as are strangers to Saving Faith (who are I fear far the greatest part,) to consider seriously all I have spoken of the nature and native evidences of it, that you may be undeceived of your Soul-ruining Mistakes about it; and let sincere and sound Believers, from a • l, be more cleared, confirmed, and comforted in their Faith.

SERMON XIII.

THere are many mistakes in the way of Religion, wherewith the most part are poss • ssed, and amongst the rest there is one, that generally the Hearers of the Gospel think it so easy to Believe, that there is no difficulty in that by anything; they think it hard to Pray, to keep the Sab • ath, to be Holy, but the most part think there is no difficulty in Believing, and yet Unbelief is so rife, and Faith so rare and difficult, that the Prophet Isaiah here in his own name, and in name of all the Ministers of the Gospel cries out, Lord who hath believed our report? he complains that he could get but very few to take the Word off his hand; and because it weighted him to find it so, and because he would fain have it to take impression on his Hearers, he doubles expressions to the same purpose, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? which in sum is, there is much Preaching and many Hearers of the Gospel, but little believing of it, few in whose Heart the work of Faith is wrought; It's but here one and there one that this Gospel hath efficacy upon, for uniting of them to Jesus Christ, and for working a work of Saving Grace in them; the effectual working of God's Grace reaches the Hearts but of a few.

For opening the words, we shall speak a little to these three. 1. To what is meant by the Arm of the Lord. 2. To what is meant by the revealing of the Arm of the Lord. 3. To the scope and dependence of these words on the former.

For the first, In general know, the Arm of the Lord is no to be understood properly; the Lord being a Spirit. hath no Arms, Hands, nor Feet as Men have; But it's to be understood figuratively, as holding out some Property or Attribute of God; By the Arm of the Lord then we understand in general the Power of God, the Arm of Man being that whereby He exerceth His Power, performeth Exploits, or doth any Work: So the Arm of the Lord is His Power whereby He produceth His Mighty Acts; as it's said in the Psalms, The right hand of the Lord hath done valiantly, His hand and his arm hath got him the victory; and because the Power of God is taken either more generally for that which is exerced in the Works of common Providence, or more particul • rly for that which is put forth in the Work of Saving Grace; We t • ke it here in short to be the Grace of God exercing its Power in and by the Gospel, for the converting of Souls, and causing them savingly to Believe, so Rom. 1.16. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone that believes; not simply as it consists in speaking of good, sweet, and seasonable words, but as it cometh backed by the irresistable Power of the Grace of God, as the word is, 1 Cor. 1.23, 24. We preach Christ to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness but unto them who are called both Jews and Greeks, the power of God and the wisdom of God; and that it is so to be taken here, the con •••• ion of these words with the former will make it clear, for sure he is not speaking of the Power of God in the works of common Providence, but of His Power in the conversion of Souls to Christ, even of that Power which works Saving Faith in the Elect.

For the second, The revealing of the Arm of the Lord, By this we do not understand the revealing of it objectively as it's brought to light by the preaching of the Gospel, for thus it's revealed to all the Hearers of the Gospel, it's in this respect not keeped hid, but brought forth clearly to them in the Word: And therefore secondly, The revealing of this Arm or Power of the Lord, is to be understood of the subjective inward manif • sting of it, with efficacy and life to the Heart, by the effectual operation of the Spirit of the Lord; as it's said of the great things prepared for them that love God, 1 Cor. 2.10. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; it's that which is called 1 Cor. 2. the demonstration of the spirit and of power, which makes plain and powerful to the spirit of the Hearer inwardly that which the Word preacheth outwardly to the Ear, which without this would strick only on the Ear, and yet remain still an hidden Mystery; This is the revealing of the Lord's Arm that is here spoken of, because it is that on which Believing dependeth and of the want whereof the Prophet sadly complaineth, even where there was much Preaching.

For the third, to wit, the Scope, Dependance, and connection of these words with the former, We conceive they come in, both for Confirmation and for Explication of the former words. 1. For Confirmation, There are (as hath been said) but few that Believe, for there are but few that have this saving and effectual work of God's Grace re • ching their Heart; though they have the Word preached to them, yet they have not the Arm of the Power of God's Grace manifested to them, and so He confirms His former Doctrine concerning the paucity of Believers under the preaching of the Gospel. First, By asserting the fewness of them that are brought to Believe, to be converted, and effectually called by the Gospel; which comes to pass through their own Unbelief: And Secondly, By asserting their fewness in respect of God's sovereign applying of His Grace in the Gospel, which is but to few; it's but few that Believe, for it's but few that He makes effectual application of His Grace to. 2. We say it comes in to clear and explicate the former words, whether we take it by way of a Reason, or of an answer to an Objection; For if it be said, how can it be that Isaiah, Paul, yea, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself, should preach so powerfully, and yet that so few should Believe? he answers, it's not to be marvelled at, in respect of God as if he were frustrate of his design, no such matter; It's because the Power of Jesus Christ is revealed but to few; and we take this the rather to be the meaning of these words, because when Christ is preaching and many take offense and stumble, Joh. 6.43, 44. he says, Murmure not among yourselves, no man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me, draw him; there must be an effectual work of the Grace of God put forth on the Heart, else none will believe on me: So its said Joh. 12.37, 38. that they believed not on Him, that the saying of Isaiah might be fulfilled which he spoke, Lord who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? therefore they could not believe, because that Isaiah said again, He hath blinded their eyes, &c. he speaketh not so, to appologize for, or to excuse their Unbelief, but to show the connection that is betwixt these two, the not revealing of the Arm of the Lord, and their not Believing; even so here, the Lord shows the connection that is betwixt the efficacy of the work of Grace, and believing or turning to God, that where the powerful and effectual work of His Grace goeth not forth with the preached Gospel, there will be then no believing nor conversion, no saving change of the Person from Nature to Grace.

That which we would say from these words, may be drawn to three Doctrines, which I shall first propose, and then clear and apply them for use. The first is, That in the work of Conversion and begetting of Saving Faith, there is requisite and necessary, beside the preaching of the Word, a distinct, inward, peculiar, real, immediate, efficacious, and powerful work of the Spirit of the Lord on the Hearts of as many Hearers as are converted by this Gospel. 2. That it is but few of many Hearers in whom the Lord thus efficaciously and effectually works by His Spirit and the Power of His Grace, it's but here one and there one, a very few who are thus wrought upon and converted. 3. That there is a necessary and inseparable connection betwixt this inward and efficacious work of the Spirit, and Faith or Conversion; Where this work of Grace is not, there cannot be Faith, and where it is, Faith necessarily must be, otherways these two could not be commensurable of equal extent and reciprocal, Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? He is not, neither can be a Believer to whom it is not revealed, and he is, and cannot but be a Believer to whom it is revealed.

For the first, We say there is in the work of Conversion, and begetting of Faith, beside the preaching of the Gospel, a distinct, inward, peculiar, real, immediate, efficacious, and powerful work of the Spirit of the Lord requisite and necessary for Conversion and begetting of Faith, to convince of Sin, and to humble for it, to enlighten the Mind in the Knowledge of Christ, to renew the Will and Affections, and to persuade and enable the Soul of the Sinner to embrace and receive Jesus Christ as He is offered in the Gospel. We shall first take notice of, and clear some words in the Doctrine, and then confirm it.

First, For clearing of some words in the Doctrine, we say, 1. It is a distinct work of the Spirit, distinguished and separable from the Word; though it goes along as He pleaseth with the Word, yet it is not as if there were some Power infused into the Word, and went always and necessarily along with the Word, which is the foolish and groundless conceit of some, for albeit it accompany the Word, yet it's from a distinct Agent, working, and a distinct work, and is separable (as I said) from the Word, though it be wrought on the Heart of the same Sinner to whose Ear the Word is preached. 2. It's an inward work of the Spirit, for beside the outward and external preaching and calling by the Word, there is an inward, powerful, effectual work and calling of the Spirit in the conversion of a Sinner, which speaks to the Heart, as well as the Word speaks to the Ear; so that this work of the Spirit that goes along in Conversion, is much more then any external persuasion of the preached Word can produce. 3. We say it's a peculiar work, to difference it from what is common to the Hearers of the Gospel, for it's a work that is peculiar to them whom the Lord converts, and is applied to none other, but to those in whom He works Faith, and whom He effectually calleth by His Grace; It's a peculiar work then and not common, for if it were common to all the Hearers of the Gospel, and not peculiar to some, these two could not go together and be commensurable (as we said) Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? 4. We say it's a real work as well as powerful; A real work of the Spirit, that is not only able and powerful to produce the effect, and to convert the Sinner, but real and powerful in producing and bringing of it about, and to pass by a real influence of the Spirit, actually renewing the Will, infusing and creating the habits of Grace, & particularly the very habit of Faith amongst others in the Soul; which is quite another thing then the supposing and saying that a Man hath power to Believe and be Converted, that there is no more requisite to his Conversion, but to persuade him to put forth that Power or Strength which he hath into Exercise or Practice; It's a real work of the Spirit, and a powerful bringing about of the conversion of the Sinner in a physical way, as they say in the School. 5. We say it is an immediate work of the Spirit on the Heart, to difference it from a mediate persuasion, or moral suasion (as it's called) as if there were no more requisite in Conversion but God's enlightening of the Mind, and by that persuading the Will to close with Jesus Christ, without any immediate work of the Spirit on the Will itself; In this Doctrine, we take in all these according to the Scripture, in opposition to the several Errors vented by Men of corrupt Minds, anent the work of Conversion and of Saving Faith; God's Arm and Hand must be revealed, the work and power of His efficacious Grace must be put forth, for moving and inclining the Heart and Affections, and for determining the Will itself.

We might farther clear and confirm all these from that famous instance of Lydia, Act. 16.14. where Paul preaching to some Women, it's said of her, Whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended to the things which were spoken of Paul, where we find these things differenced. 1. The Lord's powerful work on her heart from Paul 's preaching to her Ear, the Lord opened her Heart. 2. It's an inward work, for it's on the Heart. 3. It's a peculiar work, it's not all who hear Paul preach whose Hearts are opened, but it's the Heart of one Lydia. 4. It's in the nature of it a real work, that makes a real inward change on her. 5. It's an immediate work, for the Lord not only enlightens her Judgment, but goes down to the Heart and opens it, and works a change in it immediately; Paul indeed by his preaching opens the way of Salvation to all that heard him, from which, though many go away with their Hearts unopened, yet the Lord hath a secret, mysterious, real, inward work on her Heart, which is evidenced by the effect, for He not only enlightens her Mind, but makes her willingly yield to the call of the Gospel, by opening of her Heart.

In the second place, To speak a little for confirmation of the Doctrine, we would consider these four or five Grounds or Reasons, to show that there is such a work of the Spirit wherever Faith is begotten, and that most intelligibly in them that are at Age. 1. It's clear from these places of Scripture, where there is an express distinction and difference put betwixt the outward Ministry of the Word, and this inward, powerful, efficacious work of Grace on the Heart, and wherein the great weight of Conversion is laid on this inward work and not on the outward Ministry of the Word; as Deut 29.4. where the Lord by Moses tells the People how many things they had seen and heard, and yet says he, The Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day; They had the outward Means in plenty, when they wanted in the mean time the inward Power; The gift of a spiritual Life, and the making them spiritually active to exerce it, was withholden, and therefore they did not savingly perceive, see, nor • ear; Joh. 6.44. Murmure not among yourselves, no man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him; It's written in the Prophets, and they shall be all taught of God, every man therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me; where there is very clearly a distinction put betwixt the outward teaching and the Father's drawing, betwixt the Ministers teaching and God's teaching; It was one thing to be taught outwardly by Christ as the Prophet of His Church, and another thing to be drawn and taught inwardly of the Father; This inward teaching is called drawing, to show that it is not external Oratory or Eloquence consisting in words, to persuade, that can effect the business, but a powerful draught of the Arm of the Lord reaching the Heart: There are several other Scriptures full and clear to this purpose, as Psal. 110.3. and Acts 11.21. A second Ground, of kin to the former, Is from the many and various expressions that are used in the Scriptures for holding forth this work of the Spirit of God in Conversion, that point out, not only an Hand working, and an work wrought; but an inward powerful way of working and bringing about the woe • k, as Je • . 31.34. I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts: Ezek. 11.19. I will give them one heart, I will put a new spirit within them, and will take away the stony heart out of their flesh: Ezek. 36.26 27. A new heart will I give unto you, and a new spirit will I put within you, &c. Jer. 32.40. I will put my fear in their heart, that they shall not depart from me; It's called the Father's drawing, John 6.44. as I show. In the Saints Prayers (as Psal. 51.) it's called even as to further degrees of this work, or restoring of lost degrees, creating of a clean heart, and renewing a right spirit within; And many moe the like expressions there are, which show not only Mans impotency and inability to convert or savingly to change himself; but also that to his Conversion there is necessary, an inward, real, peculiar, efficacious, powerful work of the Spirit of Grace. 3. It's clear, and may be confirmed from the Power of God which He puts forth and applies in the begetting of Faith and in working Conversion; It's not a mediate work whereby He only persuades congruously, as some love to speak, but an immediate and efficacious work, whereby with mighty Power He works Conversion, It is God (saith the Apostle, Phil. 2 13.) that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure; and as he not only persuadeth but effectually worketh, so he not only works on the Judgment to the enlightening of it, but on the Will, to incline and determine it, by curing it of its crookedness and perverseness, backwardness, obstinacy, and rebellion; and the Power whereby He worketh this great work is said, Eph. 1.19. To be that same mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, that ye may know saith the Apostle, what is the exceeding greatness of his pow • r to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand, &c. It is such a Power that works Faith, and so exercised in the working of Faith, as it was in the raising of Christ from the Dead; Now, could there be use for such a Power, if there were no more requisite to Conversion but an objective suasion, or a bare proposal of the object with external persuasion to embrace it, wherein the Soul is left to itself to choice or refuse as it pleaseth? certainly if there were no more, considering our natural enmity at God • nd His Gr • ce, the Devil and Corruption would have much more influence, and a far greater stroke upon the Heart to closing up of the same in Unbelief, then any outward persuasion would have as to the opening of the Heart, and the begetting of Faith; therefore His Power is necessarily called for, and the Lord addeth it in converting Sinners, else the work would forever lie behind; and if Men be sp • ritually dead in Sins and Trespasses, (as all Men by Nature are) as real a Power must be exerced in raising and quickening of them, as there is exerced in raising and quickening of the Dead. 4. It may also be cleared from some in whom this Power is exerced, as some Children, some deaf Persons, and others, whom we cannot deny to be reached by the Grace of God, and yet there can be no other way how th • y are reached but by this effectual, efficacious, and immediate powerful work of the Spirit, they not being capable of reasoning or persuasion by force of Argument.

We shall only add two Reasons further, to confirm and some-way to clear why it is that the Lord works, and must work thus distinctly, inwardly, really, powerfully, and immediately in working Faith and converting of Sinners: The first is drawn from the exceeding great deadness, indisposition, averness, perverseness, impotency, inability, and impossibility that is in us naturally for the exercising of Faith in Christ; If Men naturally be dead in Sins and Trespasses, if the Mind be blind, if the Affections be quite disordered, and if the Will be utterly corrupted and perverted; then that which converts, and changes and renues them, must be a real inward, peculiar, immediate, powerful work of the Spirit of God; there being no inward seed of the Grace of God in them to be quickened, that seed must be communicate to them, and sown in them ere they can believe, which can be done by no less nor lower Power then this Power of God's Grace; It's not Oratory as I said, nor excellency of Speech that will do it; it's such a work as begers the Man again, and actually renews him. The second is drawn from God's end in the way of giving Grace, comunicating it to some and not to others; If God's end in being gracious to s • me one and not to others, be to commend His Grace folly, and to make them alone in Grace common or debt, then the work of Grace in Conversion must be peculiar and immediate, and wrought by the Power of the Spirit of God, leaving nothing to Man's Free-will to diff • rence himself from another, or on which such an effect should depend; But if we look to Scripture, we will find, that it's God's end in the whole way and conduct of His Grace, in Election, Redemp • ion, Calling, Justification, &c. to commend His Grace folly, and to stop all Mouths, and to cut off all ground of boasting in the Creature, as it is 2 Cor. 4.7. Who makes thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou hast not received? now if thou didst receive it, why doest thou glory as if thou didst not receive? This being certain, that if the work of Grace in Conversion, were not a distinct, inward, peculiar, real, immediate work, and did not produce the effect of itself by its own strength, and not by virtue of anything in Man; the Man would still be supposed to have had some Power for the work in himself, and some way to have differenced himself from another; but the Lord hath designed the contrary, and therefore the work of Grace in Conversion must be suitable to his design.

Use 1. The first Use is for the refutation of several Errors, and for the confirmation of a great Truth of the Gospel which we profess.

It serves I say, First, For the refutation of Errors, which in such an Auditory we love not to insist on; yet we cannot here, the Ground being so clear, and the Call so cogent, forbear to say somewhat bri • fly this way, and the rather that the Devil hath taken many wa • s, and driven many d • signs, to weaken the estima • ion of God's Grace among Men, and to exalt proud Nature, and that there is here a collection and concatenation of these designs and ways against the Truth which this Doctrine holds forth, vented by corrupt Men. As 1. They will have nothing to be necessarily applied for the working of Conversion, bu • the preaching of the Word; taking it for gran • ed, that all Men have universal or common Grace, which God by His Sovereignty, say they was obliged to give, else he could not not reasonably require Faith of them; and upon this comes in the pleaded for Power of Free-will, and Mans ability to turn himself to God; others by pleading for this notion of a Light within Men, become to be Patrons of proud and petulant corrupt Nature, as if there were need of nothing to beget Saving Faith but that common Grace within, and Oratory or Swasion of Mouth from without; And hence they came to maintain the foulest Errors, which have not only been condemned by the Chu • ch of God in all Ages, b • t have even by some Papists been abominated; and many of these same Errors are creeping in even in these times wherein we live, the design whereof is to tempt Folk to turn loose, vain, and proud, and to turn the Grace of God into wantonness, as if they needed not at all to depend on God and His Grace, having a sufficient stock within themselves on which they can live well enough: And it's not only the Errors of Papists, Pelagians, Socinians, Arminians, or Errors in the Judgment that we have to do with; but of such as overturn the very foundation of the work of Man's Salvation, and who though pretending to higher notions, do yet go beyond all these. But if it be true, that in the work of Conversion, beside the preaching of the Word, there is a distinct, real, inward, peculiar, immediate, efficacious work of the Spirit, necessary for bringing about such an effect; Then there is no common and universal Grace that all the Hearers of the Gospel have, nor is there any Power or Ability in Man to believe of himself; otherwise there were no necessity of such a work as this for the converting of a Sinner, the Prophet needed not to cry, Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? And Christ needed not say, No man can come to me except the Father draw him; for Men might come without drawing, and believe without the revelation of God's Arm: But in opposition to that, we say and have made it clear, that the work of Conversion is brought about by a distinct, peculiar, powerful, real, and immediate work of the Spirit on the Heart, whereby he not only enlightens the Mind, but renews the Will and rectifies the Affections. 2. There is another Error that this refutes, which seems to be more subtle, for some will grant a necessary connection betwixt the effect, and the Grace of God, who yet say that it is suasion or persuasion (for here we take these for the same,) so and so trysted to prevail with some, that brings about the effect or work of Conversion in them, and not in others where that persuasion is not so trysted; but this opinion lays not the weight of Conversion on the Arm of the Lord, but on some circumstances accompanying the work, and leaves still some ground of boasting in the Creature. 3. A third Error which this Doctrine refutes, is that of some others, who will have Grace necessarily to go along with the Word in the working of Faith, but so as it reacheth not the Will, but that the Will necessarily determines itself; as if the Will were not corrupt, or as if that Corruption that is in the Will were indeed no Corruption, as if that Corruption that is in the Will could be anymore removed from the Will without the immediate work of the Spirit upon it, then Darkness can be removed from the Judgment without the Spirits immediate work on it: But seeing the Will is the prime seat of Man's perverseness while in Nature, and the principal part to be renewed; It's a strange thing to say, that in the work of Conversion, other faculties and powers of the Soul must be renewed, and yet that this which comes nearest to the life of the Soul sho • ld be neglected, or not stand in need of renovation: But from this Text it is clear, that in Conversion the Arm of the Lord must be revealed, and that there is a powerful work of Grace that not only presents reasons from the Word to move the Will, but really regenerates and renews the Will: Now what is for the refutation of it these Errors serves also to confirm us in the Truth of the Doctrine opposite to these Errors.

2. It serves to refute something in Folks Practice, and that is, their little sense of the need of Grace; Most part come and hear Preaching as if they had the habit of Faith, and as if it were natural to them, and pretend to the exercise of Faith, never once suspecting their want of Faith, nor thinking that they stand in need of such a work of Grace to work it in them, as if it were impossible for them not to Believe; Hence many think that they have Grace enough, and if they Pray, it's that they may do well, never minding the corruption of Nature that is in them, and indeed it is no wonder that such Persons fall readily into Error, when their Practice says plainly they think they have Grace enough already.

The second Doctrine is, That this distinct, real, inward, efficacious, powerful work of the Grace of God in Conversion, is not common to all the Hearers of the Gospel, but is a rare thing applied but to few, it's even as rare as Faith is; And what we touched on to evidence the rarity of Faith, will serve also to evidence the rarity of this work of Grace in Conversion; It's on as many as are Believers, and are saved, that the work of Grace is revealed, and no moe, Jer. 3.14. I will take one of a city, and two of a family, and bring you to Zion, saith the Lord; It's two or three in the corner of a Paroch, or in the end of a Town, to speak so, who are converted, and the rest are suffered to lie in black Nature. If the reason hereof be erquired after, this might be sufficient to stop all Mouths, which the Lord gives, Mat. 11.28. Even so Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight; It is of the Lord, who is Debitor to none, and who as it is Rom. 9.15. shows mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardens; and here we must be silent and lay our hand on our Mouth and answer no more, all being found guilty, He is just in what He doeth, in calling or not calling, effectually, as He ple • seth; And yet secondly, The Lord hath thought good to call few of many, for holy and wise ends, As 1. To hold forth His own Sovereignty, and that He is free, and will walk freely in the dispensing of His own Grace; Hence, He not only takes few, but ordinarily these that are the most mean, contemptible, silly, and in a manner foolish, of the multitude of Hearers; It is not many noble, not many wise, according to the flesh, not many rich, not many learned, that He chooseth and converteth, very ordinarily He hides His Grace from these; It's but seldom that He calls and takes the stout and valiant Man, and the learned Scholar, but it's this and that poor mean Man, the Weaver, the Shoemaker, the simple Plough-man, &c. whom most ordinarily He calls, when He suffers others to continue in their Sin. 2. That He may make all the Hearers of the Gospel walk in holy fear and awe of Him, He reveals His Grace in few; It's not the multitude that believes, but here one and there one, that all that have the Offer of Grace may fear lest they miss it and receive it in vain, and may be careful to entertain and make right use of the Means of Grace, and may withal cherish the Spirit in His motions, and not grieve Him. O! if ye knew and believed what a rare thing the work of the Spirit of Grace is, ye would be feared to quench, extinguish, or put out any of His motions. 3. As to the Godly, He does thus, To make them admire, adore, and praise His Grace, and the Power of it so much the more.

The Uses are three. 1. It serves to move all to reverence, adore, and admire the Grace of God, and His sovereign way in it; Presume not to debate or dispute with Him, because there are few that believe, and few that He hath determined His Grace for, it's an evidence of His dread, a proof of His sovereignty, in which he should be silently stooped unto, and reverently adored, and not disputed with; we ought to bound all our reasoning within His good pleasure, who might have taken many and left few, or taken none as pleased Him; And we should not think strange, nor fret that the Gospel is powerful but on few, here is the reason of it that may qui • t us, the Lord hath determined effectually to c • ll but few, and yet he will not want one of His own; All that the Father hath given to Christ, shall come to Him, though none come but as they are drawn in. A thing that we should be sensible of, but yet calm and quiet our Spirits, rather wondering that He hath chosen and calleth one, then fret because he hath past by many.

Use 2. The second Use is to exhort you that are Hearers of the Gospel, and have not had this distinct and powerful work of Grace begetting Faith in you, to be persuaded of this Truth, that Faith and the work of Grace is no common thing; The most part alas! think that they have Grace, and that it is not one of many that want it, they will readily say, it's true I cannot believe of myself, but God hath given me the Grace; But I would ask you this question, Do you think that Grace is so common a thing that it comes to you and ye never know how, or so common that never a Body wants it? If not, how cometh it then to pass that ye think and speak of Grace as ye do? we would think it a great length, if many of you could be persuaded of your Gracelesness; It's not our part to point particularly at the Man and Woman, though the deeds of many of you say within our Heart that there is no fear of God before your eyes, and that many of you think ye have Grace who never had it; And therefore we wou • d say these three or four words to you. 1. Begin and suspect yourselves that matters are not right betwixt God and you, we bid none of you despair, but we bid the most part of you be suspicious of your condition; suspect, nay be assured, that Hypocrisy is not Grace, and that your Presumption is not Fai • h, for if but few get Grace, then many should suspect them • elves, and seeing Grace is so rare a thing, do not ye think it common. 2. Neglect no means that may bring you through Grace to believe, but be diligent in the use of them all, of the Word, Prayer, Sacraments, Meditation, &c. It's by these that the Lord begets Grace, and by neglecting of them ye may make yourselves guilty of destroying your own Souls. 3. Beaware of quenching the Spirit in any of His Operations or Motions, of smothering or putting out any Challenges or Convictions; If the Conscience be at any time touched, or the Affections tickled, go not away as the temporary Believer doeth, sitting down there without going any further; Fear to strangle the beginnings of the life of Grace, for Grace may begin at little; and if ye quench any Motion, Conviction, or Challenge, ye know not if ever ye shall meet with the like again, because when He knocked hard at your Heart ye held Him out and keeped Him at the door; and ye may be in hazard of that terrible charge, Acts 7.31. Ye uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye have always resisted the Holy Ghost, as your Fathers did so do ye. 4. Seeing this work is not common to all the Hearers of the Gospel, but peculiar to some, labor to have it made sure to yourselves, by putting it to proof and trial in good earnest.

Use 3. The third Use is for you that are Believers, (and would God there were many such,) to whom I would also speak three or four words. 1. Learn from this to be humble, What hast thou man but what thou hast received? and if thou hast received it, why doest thou boast as if thou hadst not received it? O! but it's unsuitable to Believers who are Free-Graces-Debtors and Beggers (whereof yet none need to think shame,) to be proud and forget themselves; Thou hast nothing Believer to boast of, but that He hath shamed thee with His Grace, and shouldest thou be proud of that as if thou had made thyself thus? therefore guard watchfully against all puffing up, self-conceit, and high-mindedness, and study to be humble, and to carry a low S • il, else thou mayest break out into some scand • lous offense, and may become a shame and reproach to the Gospel; We commend Humility to you above many things, for we think that in these days. Folks pride is like to break their Necks; for when once Conceit creeps in, they begin to think they are so far advanced in Holiness, that they must not keep Company with others, nor join in Worship with them, and from that they go to another thing, and from that to a third, that it is hard to tell where they will • halt or end; they grow so giddy that they are scarcely like to leave so much Ground as themselves may stand upon: O! think shame of Pride, it's a most intolerable thing to be proud of that which God hath given, wherein ye have no more hand, and whereof ye can no more boast, then they who never had it. 2. Be thankful and give God the praise of that ye have gotten; It becomes the upright to be thankful; It's no little matter to have God's Power manifested in the working of Faith and conferring Grace; The temporal Throne and Kingdom, and great things in the World, are nothing to this, it's peculiar to the Lord's own, and not common; Many get their fill of the World, who never get nor will get this; The World is of so little value with the Lord, that to speak so, He doeth not much regard who get it, though it be ex • ctly distributed by His Providence, but converting and upbuilding Grace is peculiarized to His Favorites; Being therefore clear that He hath bestowed Grace on you, O how should ye exult in blessing God (as David did,) for giving you counsel to make choice of such a portion, and for His powerful determining of your Heart by His Grace to embrace it, for which ye have not yourselves to thank but God. 3. Be compassionate and tender towards others, considering that it is only Grace that hath made the difference betwixt you and them, and not any good nature in you which was not in them as some foolishly fancy; Be not puffed up at the faults and falls of any, but rather mourn for them as well as for your own, and be the more humble when ye think of the difference that Grace hath made, lest ye fall; and since your standing is by Grace, be not high-minded, but fear; of all Persons it worse becomes you to look lightly on. let be to mock at the falls of others, considering who, and what hath made the diff • rence. 4. If it be so peculiar a privilege • to be p • rtakers of this powerful and sp • ci • l Gr • ce of God that is put forth in the great work of Conversion; Then sure there is • omething peculiar called for in your Conversation, even that it may in all things be as it becometh the Gospel, and answerable to this Grace bestowed on you, O! what manner of Persons ought ye to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness?

SERMON XIV.

THE way of the Grace of God is a very difficult Subject to be thought on or spoken of suitably and as it becomes, Grace having a sovereign and unsearchable Channel of its own wherein it runs; yet no doubt it is very useful now and then to consider it, if we knew how to make use of it aright; yea even these steps of Grace that are most cross and contrary to carnal Reason, may not a little profit when duly pondered; Thus when the Prophet hath been looking on the scarcity of Faith, and on the paucity of true Believers, he looks a little further then on the external preaching of the Gospel, even in upon the way of God's Grace, not out of any curi • sity, nor from a fretting humor, because of the unsuccessfulnesse of his Ministry, but that he may thereby get himself stayed and composed, and that he may bring both himself and others, to reverence and adore the holy and sovereign way of God therein; To whom (saith he) is the arm of the Lord revealed? It's a word like that which Christ had on the like occasion, John 6.44. Murmure not among yourselves, no man can come to me, except the Father who hath sent me, draw him.

We opened up the meaning of the words the last day; In short they come to this, as if he had said, how few are they that believe the Gospel, and who take the Word off the hand of His sent Ministers? and how few are they on whom the Grace of God that only can make men believe, does effectually work; the Prophet pointing at a higher hand then that of the Ministers in the success and fruitlessness of the Gospel, and coupling these two together, the Preaching of the Word and the Power of God's Grace in the working of Faith and Conversion in Sinners.

We proposed these three Doctrines to be spoken to from the words. 1. That in the work of Conversion and begetting of Faith, beside the preaching of the Word, there is a powerful, internal, immediate work of the Grace of God, exercised within Men's Hearts, as well as the Word is preached outwardly to the Ear, wherever Faith is begotten, these two go together, the Word without, and the power of Grace within the one of which is distinct from the other.

2. That this powerful, internal, and immediate work of Grace within, is not common to all the Hearers of the Gospel, but a rare, and peculiar thing to some, to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? it's but one or few of many to whom it's revealed; To these we have spoken already.

3. The third is (which indeed holds out the scope of all,) that there is an inseparable connection betwixt these two, the begetting of Faith in the Hearers of the Gospel, and the application of this powerful work of the Grace of God for working of it, so that where this powerful work of Grace is not, there is never Faith nor Conversion wrought, and where this powerful work of Grace is, there is Faith and Conversion; The Prophet makes them reciprocal and commensurable; who is the Believer? he to whom the Arm of the Lord is revealed; and who is the Unbeliever? he to whom the Arm of the Lord is not revealed; These two are so conjoined and knit together, as they are never separated, and so they must stand or fall together.

That we may be the more clear, we shall take up the Doctrine in two distinct Branches, The first whereof is, That except the powerful work of God's Grace concur, the most powerful preaching of the Gospel will never beget Faith in the Hearts of the Hearers of it. The second is, That where ever this powerful work of Grace goes along with the preaching of the Gospel, or wherever the Lord applies His Grace with the Word preached, there Faith is begotten in the Heart, and that Soul is effectually united to Christ, and savingly changed; The one of these Branches serves to show the necessity of God's Grace from the consideration of our sinfulness and impotency or inability, and of the emptiness and ineffectualness of all outward Means in themselves, and so to stop all Men's Mouthes as being utterly unable to contribute anything to their own spiritual Good or Conversion, that being the product of the Grace of God; The other Branch serves mightily to commend the Grace of God, as being the powerful Arm of the Lord, that brings to Believe, that calls and converts such and such Persons, according to a prior engagement and transaction betwixt the Father and the Son.

As for the first of these, It will easily be believed among Men and Women that have any true sense and feeling of the Corruption of their Nature, and find daily somewhat of the Law of the Members warring against the Law of the Mind; and we are persuaded, if all that ever received Faith were brought to depone in this matter, they would bear witness, that there is no Mean that without the effectual Power of the Grace of God, can bring a stranger Sinner to close with Christ and believe on Him; and if all that are now before the Throne of God in Heaven, were called to speak to this great Truth, they would put their seal to it, and say, Not unto us, but to thy Name be the glory of our believing, we had never believed if it had been left to the power of our own Free-will, and if the power of thy Grace had not wrought in us the very Will as well as the Deed or Act of believing. Yet because this Doctrine (as we said) serves to discover the sinfulness and impotency of Nature, and how little we are obliged to ourselves in this great work; and to hold forth the absolute necessity of the Grace of God, and how much we are obliged to it in the work of Faith and Conversion; and to hold forth withal the emptiness and ineffectualness of all outward Means without this Grace, and because it wants not its own considerable opposition from the enemies of the Truth, we shall give you some Grounds for confirmation of it, The first whereof is drawn from these express instances of Scripture wherein it is clear, That there hath been much powerful Preaching, and by the most eminent Preachers, and yet the generality of People have been fruitless under it, and their fruitlessness hath been brought to this very Ground, to wit, that the work of God's Grace and His out-stretched Arm went not along with it. The first instance is Deut. 29.4. That Moses was a skilled Preacher, who will deny? he being faithful in all the House of God, yet says he, after much and long Preaching, and after many Signs and Wonders wrought, the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear unto this day; where he not only puts a difference betwixt the preaching of the Word without, and the work of Grace within, but shows the necessity of the conc • rrence of the work of Grace, and lays the great weight of the Peoples profiting or not profiting, on the wanting or having of that: A second instance, is in this Prophet Isaiah; were there any among all the Preachers before or since, that preached in a more Evangelic strain then he did? and yet when he hath complained of the paucity of Believers, saying, who hath believed our report? he fixes and stays on this as the cause, to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? And Chap. 6.9, 10. he gives an account of the sad Commission he had from the Lord, who said to him, Go and tell the people, Hear ye indeed but understand not, and see ye indeed but perceive not, make the heart of this people sat, &c. where there is also a clear distinction made betwixt the inward working of Grace, and the outward Ministry. A third instance, and one that is beyond all exception, is in our blessed Lord Jesus,