Ambrose - Houston-Packer Collection BX5200 .A49 1674

Cane. z. 1). Jol> 1·3~ 15. .-Kingc 20. Jl, 32 1 3Y lfaiah s•· 10. Cant. 8. 5· rra. 12 3: !fa, ~·- 11 • Chrift, faith he, it is the Lords call, Come. to me., ~11ye that art weary: now this voyce eoming home to t':le heart, and the prevailing fweetneffe of the call over-powering the heart the. foul goes out and falls, und flings it [elf upon the riches ofGods grace. Se~on"dly, fr laic; f;ff ho!d ~tpon Chrift_: when the Lord faith, Come, my Love, my Dove: 0 come. away.! Behold, I come (faith fhe) and when fhe !Home, fhe ffljlme.th upon Chrift, faying, My beloved u mme, an~ I am hu '. Fatth lat_es hold on the Lord, and will not let Mercy go, but cleaves unto •t, though 1t confhCl: wtth the Lord; Sholfld he flay me, (faith Job) yet will I truft in him. The cafe is like Benhadads, who being overcome by .Ahab, his Servants thus advife him: We have heard that the Kings cf Ifracl are mcrcijlel Kings, wepray ehee.let m pur ropes abom oJtr n"kJ, andJackfloth "" o11r Loyncr, andgo ollt to the King, pe.radventnre he. willJave thy life: Thus the fervants go, and coming to .Ahab, they deliver the Meffage ; Thy fer-wmt Benhadad faith, I pray thee. let me live: and he faid, is heyet alive I he is my brother: Now the men diligently obfe1 ved whether any thing would come from him, and did hafiily catch at it, and they faid, Th;• brother Benhadad, and they went away rejoycing .- This is the lively Pi.:lure of a broken-hearted finner, after he hath taken up arms againfi the Almighty, and that the Lord hath let in Juflice, and he feeth (or harh feen) the anger of God bent againfl: him; then the foul reafons thus, I have heard,though I am a rebd/ious fnner, that none b~~tJinners are p::.rdoned, and God is a graciow Gud, and therrfvre m to him let me go: with this he falls down at the footflool of the Lord, and cries, 0 what jha/II do! what jhal! I Jay unto thee ? 0 1 ho11 preferver ofmen 1 0 let me /we, I pray thee in the fight •f my Lord ! The foul thus humbled, the Lord then lets in his fweet voyce of mercy, and faith, Thou art my.Jonne, my love, and thy fnnes are pardoned: Thcfe wcrds no fooner uttered, but he catcheth thereat,{aying, Mtrcy, Lord? ~nda fon, L ord ? and love, L ord? and a pardon, Lord? The heart holds it felfhere, and will never away. Thirdly, it jling1 the weight ofall its occafions and troubl" (guilt andcoruptions) upon the Lord 'jefm Chrift: He that walk.<;s in dar/z.nejfe, and bath no light, let him tmft in the Name of the Lord, andftay upon his <Jod ; that is, if a man be in extremity, hopeleffe in mifery, and walks in defperare difcouragemenrs, yea and harh no light of comfort, Let ·him tmj/ in the Name ofthe Lord, and Hay upon hio God: As when a man cannot go of himfelL- he !ayes all the weight of his body upon another; fo the foul goes to a Chrift, ·~nd layes all the weight of it felf upon Chrifl, and faith, I have no comfwt, 0 Lord, aft my difcomforts I lay ~tpon Chrij/, and I relie 11pon the Lord for confort and corfolaticn : Who is tb>.<, faith Solomon, thatcometh "P from the wi/dernefle, leaning upon herbel~ve.d l Cant. 8. 5· The party coming is the Church, the wi lderneffe is the troubles and vexations the Church meets withal, and the beloved is the Lord Jefus Chrift; now the Church leans her felf all upon her Husband,fhe walked along with him, bui he bare all the burthen: Caft allyoureare upon him, ( faith Peter) forhecareth for you, 1 Pet. ~- 7· the Original is, Hurle your eare. upcn the L ord : The Lord will not thank you for carrY.ing your cares ·and troubles about you,he requires that you h~trle rh<m upon him,for he careth for you. Fourthly, it drawes vertue, and derives power from the Lord Jefus Chrifl for fnccqor and fupplies; and here is the efpeciallife ofFairh,it goes for mercy, and grace, and corofort in Chrill:; he knowes 'tis to be had from him, and therefore he fetcheth all from him; With joy jha/1yedraw water om of the;wl/s offa/vation, Ifa. 12. 3. The fountain of Salvation is Chrifl, and all the waters of life, of grac,e and mercy, are in Chrifl: Jcfus: Now it is not enough to let down the bucket into the well, but it mull: be drawn out alfo; it is not enough to come to Chrifl, but we mufl draw the water of grace from Chrili to our felves; They jha/1fuc/z.and be fati<jied (faith Ifaiah) IVith the breajls ofher confolations, that they may milk,_ottt,_m;d be delighted with the abundance of her ~lory: The Church is compared to a childe,and the breath are the Promifes of the ~olpel; now the Ele& mull: ftlck out,and be fatislied with it; the word in the Original IS,_Ex"{/ upon the Prcmife , andon~effethe Promife, as the Oppreffor grindes the face of a poor man; fo with an holy kinde of oppreffion you fhould .exa~ from the Promife, andget what good you may from it. F1fthly, Faith leavesthe {o~tl with the Promife ; yea, notwithflanding all deJayes, d_emals, dtfcouragements from God, Faith brings·on the heart flill; it will be fure t<> . l1e at the gate, and keep the foul with the promife, whatever befals it, Excf!lent IS that paffage, Gen. p. 26. when the Lord and Jacob were wrefrling, Let mego, faith the Lord, Iwillle11ve thee t• thy f;lf, I "m not wh11t berrmnofthee; No, I wt/1 not lot · thee

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