xatimaa,711.,,Aaae.A-Zs eled Cafes Refolved ; By Mr. Thomas Shepard, I' E4i) ,S! Z. 'Zi. 6 (J ", J G` t
BOOKS Sold by ROGERS and FOWLE in BOST014 APrefent for a SL+RVANT MAID ; Or, The fare Means of gaining LovE and ESTEEM. In which are Directionsfor going to Market ; Alfa, for dre/ng any common Difh, whether Fle/h, Fifh, or Fowl. With Rules for Waling; &c. The whole calculated for mak- ing both the Mifirefs and Maid happy. The following Recommendation of the above Book is taken from the Gentleman's Magazine in London. c' This (mall Treatife is fo well done, andfo much ap- " proved of by Perfons ofall Ranks, that great Numbers R' have been fold hrr Landlords give them to their Te- nants, Parents tolireir Children, Miflrfs to their " Servants, Governors and Direíiors of Charity Schools " enjoin the MJlre'jfes to teach the Girls to read this Book, " as the bell extant to qualify them for Services ofany " kind." He Iliflory of the Martyrs : Being a Cloudof Wit - neffes ; Or, the S'ierers Miryour, made up of the Swan - like Songs, and other Choice Pelages of a great Number of Martyrs and Confefrs, in their Treatifes, Speeches, Letters, Prayers, &c. in their Prifoas, or Ex- iles : at the Bar, or State, &c. ColleEted out of the Ecclefiafical Hifories of EUSEBIUs, Fox, FULLER, CLARK, PETRIE, SCOTLAND, and Mr.SAMUEL WARD'S Life of Faith in Death, &c. By THOMAS MALL, M. A. With a Preface by Mr. FLATE.L. PRa8ical Difcoutfes on thePARABLE of theslen VIR- GINS. Being a ferious Call and Admonition to Watehfulnefs and Diligence in preparingfor Death and ,7udgment. By BENJAMIN COLMAN, D. D. Pallor of a Church in BOSTON NEW-ENGLAND. A Prefent for an Apprentice : Or, a fore Guide to . gain both Efteem and Eflate ; with Rulesfor bis ConduEt to his Mailer, and in the World. By a late LORD MAYOR of Landon.
S O M E Seleec Cafes R E SO L V E D. Specially, tending to the right Ordering of the Heart, that we may comfortably walk with God in our general and par- ticular Callings &cc. In a LETTER to a pious Friend in England. By THOMAS SHEPARD, M. A. Formerly of Emmanuel- allege in Cambridge in England : Afterward -1'Jl:ini.l:er of Cambridge in .Nkw-England. Corre&1ed by Four feveral Editions BOSTON: Printed and Sold by ROGERS and FowLE in Queen- ftreet. i 7 4 y. 9re
MENglgirtMEMAMMEI Imprimatur yofiph Caryl. mgarmentrwansmrm6 Imprimatur James Gra7aforde
Gh DdbIP qD 11pDad1c11p .!F. Pa 0°OG°GUD d <3D `í7G° aD °JD `<n-c74 Qc71 °OG aD dD° dD 'VW To the CHRISTIAN READER. H IS holy Letter of that ready Scribe of Chriff's Kingdom, [Mr. Shepard of New- England] is fo full of Grace and Truth, that it needs no other Epifile commendatory than it felf. Yet Peeing the Lot is unexpe&edly fallen upon my Pen, to give it a Superfcription that it may pafs current from Hand to Hand ; I do heartily in the firfi Place, dedicate it to thee, thou bleeding- troubled - Spirit, as a choice cor- dial Friend, an Interpreter, one of a Thoufand, that Beth not only fpeak thy Heart, but by the Comforter (whom Chrifl bath promifed to fend) to thy Heart. It may be this Paper prefent is fent on Embaj5, from Heaven, on Purpofe, to Pet thy Houle in Order, to unty thy Bofom- Knots, to bind theflrong Man, and call him out of thy Doors ; that thy Heart may be once againjet at Liberty, to %erve the Lord thy God in thy general andpar- ticular Calling, whole Service is thy Freedom. What is here lent by this .flmbafador of Chrifl, (v'ho is now the Voice of one crying in a Wildernefs) to a 'weary and heavy laden Soul in this Ifland ; I had rather it fhould appear to thy Yudgment in the ferious Reading, and to thy Confcience in the home Application thereof, than from my Opinion of it : Therefore I (hall only add (as the Con- tents of this Letter) certain felea Cafes, propofed and refolved in the feveral Paragraphs thereof, as they lye in Order in the Pages following, viz. I. Trouble
Ftf To the CHRISTIAN READER. I. Trouble of Mind in civil Affairs by the ferret Injeaion of religious Thoughts. Page 3. 2. From what Spirit, fuch Suggeftions do arife. P. 4. 3. How to entertain them when they crowd in. Page 8. 4. Concerning the not being humbled for firrful Dif- trat7ions that hinder and interrupt the Spiritual Perfor- mance of holy Duties. Page 12. 5. How a Chriflian, may be faid to be under the Covenant of Works. Page 16. 6. How to conceive aright of that Myfteryof My- Aeries, the bleffed Perfons in the Trinity. Page 19. 7. The Soul's .Aptnefs to go to God immediately in holy Duties, without taking (Thrift Jefus by the Hand., Page 22. 8. The End and Ufe of abfolute Promifs. Page 28. g. How to apply abfolute Promifs to thy fell, though they are made indefinitely without Condition. Page 27. & 31. i o. A notable Difcovery of a ferret Unzvillingne /s in the Soul, to f ek God in the fric`iell folann Servi- ces, before it entereth into them ; Weariae/s of them, while they laft ; and a Giadnefs, when they are ended. Page 39. 11. A found Confutation of that Heretical Arminian. Tenet ; viz. That the Strength of Grace is to be got rather by Argumentation, than inwardCmmunication and Influence arifing from Union with CHRIST. Page 42. I2. The Experiences of this tried Servant of Chrift, (who is the Pen -man hereof) how he 'was cured of atheflical Thoughts : whether they did wear out, or whether by the dint of Arguments, they were ration- ally overthrown. Page 44. 13. Lally, whether thofe Changes, which a Child of Gon hath fometimes, and thofe Movings of Spirit are caufed by a natural Temper, or Gon's Spirit. Page ill
To the CHRISTIAN READER, ?ll which fe£e& Cafes, (andmany more, that collates iue fi cm their Sides) are judiciou/ly refolved with much Pesfpicuity and Brevity in thefe few Sheets, by the only fudge of all Controverfes; the two -edged Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Thus humbly befeeching thee, to read over this Epiflle of Cbrifl to thee, with the fame Spirit of Love, andof a fittedMind, which indited every Line in it : Ido dcfre to leave thee at the Throne of Grace, in the Arms of Grill, with the Father of all Comfort ; that thou magefl receive the Peace of God whichpal- ph all Undcrflanding, and be crowned with 70) un- fpcakable and full of Glory. I fubfcribe my Pelf, Friend, Thine in any fpiritual Furtherance of thy Faith, Dated from Charter-hok`e in London, Feb. I. 1 647, TL'zlliam ,fldderle; d
EREERREEIMETEM Chriftian Reader. BEing &fired toperule and give our Opinion ofthe: Refolutions in this Letter now prefented to thy View, We muft confefs, they appeared to us very .: precious. For 'we have feldom feen .4cutenefi, Nofounclnels, and Godlinefs, fo eminently, equally, and happily matched. There are in Chrifi's School divers Forms, Eitmentaries, and Men of exercifed Wits, Ths Scholar propofing theft Cafes was no Fully, and he was happy in rneeti1/2g with a Teacher fo able for Refolution. Therefore, who ever reads and heeds, will not repent of his Labour. But the more knowing the Reader is, and the more experienced in the Ways of Chrifl, the more De light may he take in, and the more profit may he reap by thrle pious andprofound Refolutions. So We are Thine in Chrift Jefus, March 27. 1648. John Geree, And William Greenhill. ,loaa 11 CORRECTIONS. Page. Line. Read. 8. 17. banith from you 9. 4, 5. Your Friends have had the Welcome and have lodged 12. 13, 14. involuntary zo. 16. ( as Ele6iion 48. 21, 22. Again to your Complaint, [ And I fuppofe this Paragraph fhould come in at the End a Page I. J
( I ) 7.) o..`,ti; Dear Sir, Dare not multiply many words in acknow- ledging and . profefiing my own unfitnefh and infufficiency to yield your loving and moil welcome Letter,that fatisfaétion which both Yourfelf defire, and it deferves: Nei- ther yet will Î be fo unfaithful to you ; teeing your expeation puts me to reply : Neither ought I ( I think ) be fo unferviceable to JEsys CHRIST, who in you, and by you, beckens to me to take this call to write to you, and not to neglect fo fair a feafon ; feeing efpecially it may 6e poffible my dying Letter to you, before I depart from hence, and return to him, as not, knowing but our la/1 difafiers and Seafiraits, of which I wrote to you, may be but preparationsfor the executio*s of this next approaching voyage. Yet our eyes are to the hills, and our defires are your prayers and at this time my endeavour (hall be in refpea of your felf, to break open that light to you, and to prepare it to you, with that brevity I may, and with what plainnefs I am able : befeeching the God and Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift, ,yho mutt be when all fails, the wonderful Counfellor,,
2 Of ORDERING the THOUGHTS Counfellor, to give you the fpirit ofrevela- tion ; and that after you have fufFered, a while by thefe outward temptations, doubts, fears, defections, diftraaions, which the Letter men- tions, he would make you perfea, ftablifh, ilrengthen, and fettle you. And this I verily think will be the unexpe6 ed, yet happy, joy- ful and molt glorious end of them ó For farce I have obferved and feen the lamentable ruins of the foul, and feeming graces of many men, by being rock'd afleep in a quiet Rill calm, eafy performance of duties without fuch a- waking temptations and tumults within, which it felf complains of > I fay fince I have ob- ferved ' what a deal of mud is in the bottom of fuch ftanding Pool's, and what a deal of filth is in fuch Motes, which are inwardly at Cafe, and not emptied from veffel to vefrel ; next unto the donation of the Lord Jefus to a man, I have accounted fuch tumultuous heart-dorms and uproars, together with the fruitfnj orange effeas of them, the fecond mercy. For I never faw that man kept from fecret putrefaaion and corruption, that was not ufu- ally falted with fuch temptations, (efpecialiy in a Chriftian's firft Apprentifhip) which ufually preferve him entire till death. And there- fore, Dear Sir, faint not ; for Jefus Chrift will raife a world of bleffings out of your pre- fent Chaos and confufions. But I make hafte to anfwer, before your reply to my first Letter. Your complaints are many. CASE
in CIVIL EM PI. OYMEMTS. CASE I. Of ordering the Thoughts in Civil. Employments. Your fir/` Trouble is, concerning your dill turbances in Civil affairs, by the ferret injection of religious thoughts ; fo that you know not how to follow the one, without hazard of grieving the fpirit, and breaking your peace, in not maintaining and nourifhing at the fame time the other : and hence being drawn to go two ways at the fame time, which you cannot well do, your heart is difquieted, and your peace much, interrupted. This of, yours, puts me in mind of ,thecom- plaint of an honeft, yet plain man, to an able, Minifaer once, who in bewailing his co'di- ". (ion to him, ,(among other miferies,_ this was not the leàft ; (viz) that he was exceedingly troubled with good thoughts, fo that he could not follow his place, unlefs very oft he did hand hill and pray, for fear of grieving the Spi- rit, (as he thought ) and lofirfg his feafon "of being;, heard in heaven : For Paid Confcience oft unto him, How dolt thou know but this may he thy acepted time, and if thou doff not 'take it, it may be thou (halt never have it again ? I have forgot the Minifter's anfwer but I am fuse in there complaints you go not alone : I have lately known one very able, wife, and godly, put upon the Rack in there kind of thoughts, by him, that envying God's people's peace, knows how to change himfelf into
4 if ORDERING the THOUGHTS into an Angel of light. For it being his ufual courfe in the time of his health, to make a Diary of his hourly life, and finding much be- ne&it by it, he was in confcience pea by the power and delufion of Satan, to make and take the fame daily furvey of his life in the time of his ficknefs ; by means of which, he fpent his enfeebled fpirits, caft on fuel to fire ' his ficknefs and had not a friend of his convin- ced him of his erroneous confcience, miflead- ing him at that time, he had rnurderd his body, out of confcience to fave his foul, and to preferve his grace. And do you think thefe were the motions of Gvd's fpirit, which like thole Locufs, Rev. 9. 9, Io, had faces like men, but had tails like Scorpions, and flings in their tails. Your thoughts I know, are not likely to produce the fame effeas although you have the fame efficient and becaufe you fay your peace is hereby difturbed by ignorance, as not knowing what to do in the midft of thefe civil a6tions and thefe religious thoughts I conceive that two things are to be fad ly confìdered" of, for the cure of them. Fir! how to know when fuch religious pious dboughts comefromGod'sfpirit, and when from the Devil transforming himfelf into an Angel of light ; or from a well-melted flirting confcience, yet blind. For when you know they come fromGod's fpirit, you are bound to nourith them ; but when nor, you are not bound to embrace nor comply with them. Secondly, Learn how your foul ib so
hi CIVIL EMPLOYMENTS. 5 to behave and carry it fell in Civil employments For when you fee how you do, and may ho- nour God in following them, your fpirit will not be fo unquiet, if at any time you embrace not the fuggeflions of the other. i. For the frr/i briefly ; all good motions and thoughts are not the fpirit's motions as may thus appear. ' There be three things chiefly by which we may difcern the motions, fuggeflions, and thot's which come from God's fpirit : all which concur- ; ring together in a good action, or thought, or word(not one alone) will make difcovery whether they are from God's fpirit or not. I. If it be fuggefted for God's ends, its from God's fpirit : to ad fo high as for a fuper- natural end, mutt arife from a fupernatural prin- ciple, which only is God's fpirit. Pharifaical actions were for a double felfifh end, and hence not from God's fpirit, but nature, and their own fpirit, Y. To be feen of men. 2. If they did any of them abhor this, yet it was to purchafe and gender in their own minds an opinion of hoiinefs before God : and hence Chrift gives them this Item, in giving Alms, that they fhould not let their right hand know what their left hand doth : for man' men will do good ads, leaft they fhould by the neg- led of them, think themfelves hypocrites, and fo be troubled for them. Chrifl would have us not to take notice of what we do for fuch an end. 2, If they be animated and quickned from God's
6 Of ijRDERING the THOUGHTS God's command, for the higher meafure of holinefs, for glorious ends, without a warrant from the Word, is the more fordid fuperfti- tion. Chrift healed the leper : when he char- ged him with anger to tell no man ; he, no quef}ion for a good end, pubiifhed the Mira- cle the more : this was a good motion, but it was finful in him, being crofs to Chrift's command. When Chrift would have wafhed Peter's feet, he had many thoughts that cam:' into his head, concerning his own vilenfs, and Chrift's glory ; and had a good end and meaning in his anfwers; yet his humility croffing Chrift's command, the Lord profelfeth againft it and him for it, that he had no part in him, if he fhould go on in it. 3. God's Spirit Pets . a man on work in due feafon : For let the duty be commanded and rightly direaed, yet if it be not done in fea- fon, it is not from God's Spirit : Hence Pfal. r. The righteous bring forth fruit in its feafon and hence Solomon fpeaks of words fpoken in feafon, are as apples of Gold : and hence we read in Ecclefiaftes, of a time' and feafon for every thing under the Sun. And therefore when there is a feafon of God's appointing for civil things or bufinefs ; it is not feafon now to be moleffed or perplexed in it, by the injeaion and evocation of thofe thoughts which we think to proceed from the Spirit of GOD. I know indeed, that the Spirit of God doth enable a man to do whatever good he doth ;- but as Grace makes Nature fometimes to ferve, fo fin- ful
iii CIqIL EMPLOYMEiVT5. 7 ful Nature brings Grace into 'captivity, (which Paul complains of, Rom. 7.) and makes Grace to ferve it. To exhort and reprove another for fin, is from God's fpirit that it is done ; but to, reprove at an unfeafonable time its from firrful corruption, abufing God's grace, and ma- king Sampfon to grind. Its from the excel- lency of a knife to cut well ; but to cut my finger with it when I fhould be cutting my meat with it arifeth not from the end of the knife, nor from the intention of him that made it ; fo to think of good things, it is from the fpirit, I grant ; but to think of them in fuch a feafon that God Pets you a work to mind and follow other occafions, its from the ene- my of God's fpirit, and your own peace. For as it is a fin to nourifh worldly thoughts when God lets you a work in fpiritual heavenly em- ployments ; fo it is, in fome refpeas, as great a fin to fuffer your fell to be dif}raaed by fpi- ritual thoughts, when God Pets you on work in civil, yet 'lawful, employmnénts t fuch thoughts, I conceive, are but the leaven of Monkifh holinefs, if they divert you from your lawful affairs, when the Lord calls you to fol- low them. For the Lord never calls you to two divers employments at the fame time, un- lefs you make the one to be a means to fur- ther the good of the other ; which fuch pious thoughts in fome civil employments do ; it be- ing no piece of chriftian wifdom or honefty to turn round in worldly employments fo long till by giddinefs we fall downs but by fecret Reps$
é Of ORDERING thr THOUGHTS ffeps, ever and anon to look up to heaven and to behold the face of God, to whom only therein we are to approve our felves. But yet it teems your thoughts are fo far from being fubfervient the one to the other, that you are diftra&ed and molefted, and your piece interrupted, arid your Chriftian courfe made troublefome, and an heavy burthen ; which furely cannot be by the yoke of Jefus Chrift : therefore you muff firff bring your troubles in this particular to this iffue ; either you may follow your Civil affairs, and nourifh thefe thoughts as helps to main- tain. your peace, and make you heavenly minded in them, (and if they ferve fuftciently to fuch an end, why are you troubled with them ?) or elfe you cannot follow God comfortably in civil anions, unlefs you banifh from your thoughts which do fo miferably diftran you ; and then why do you fear you shall grieve God's fpirir, if at the fame time you do not give entertainment to them, the unfeafon- ablenefs of which, (peaks plainly they came not from the fpirit's fuggeftions ; betides their hindrance of comfortably walking with God, which the Employments tnemfeives can never hinder. But you will fay, when is the f afota of nou.- rifhing fuch thoughts ? I anfwer, Entertain thofe thoughts as, it may be, you have done fome friends, who came to you at that time you had bufinefs with ftrangers, whom you love not fo well as Tour friends ; you have defined thern to Ray a hilg
in CI ITIL EMPLOYMENTS; *hilt, until you have done with the other, and then you have returned to your friends, and when the other hath been fhut out of the doors, the other bath had the welcome, and hath lodged with you al! night ; and thus your have grieved neither, but pleafed both. It is fo in this cafe, Worldly employments are our ftrangers, yet they muff be fpoke with : Reli- gious thoughts and praetices are our friends, thefe come unto us while God calls us to parley with the other, you cannot fpeak with both at one time, in one place, without much perplexity : take therefore this courfe, make much of the good thoughts, but parley not with them till your bufinefs is done with ftrangers ; and to- wards evening, which is your feafon, let Ionic time apart very day for meditation, and then make them welcome ; then confider and ponder well what was fuggefted to you in the day time, and lift every good thought to the brari for then is your feafon, and after that let them fup and lodge with you all night, and keep the houfe with you every day. And finely when the Lord jefus fhall fee what a friend you fhall make of his Spirit thus, and how (wifely you walk therein, you fhall not need to fear any grieving of it, at unfeafonable times : nay (I lay) you will rrinf} fearfully grieve his Spirit, if you parley with the con- ceived fuggeftions of it at unfeafonable times What thou 49 ' do it with all thine heart, faith Solomon. Ecclef. 9. Therefore when you arc to gray, confer, or meditate,
Of ORDERING th: THOUGHTS meditate, do it with all your mind, and all your thoughts, and all your ftren,th. So when God calls you to worldly employments, do them with all your mind and might ; and when the feafon of meditation comes, take it : which glorious ordinance of God, although many chriftians ufe it occafionally, and againft fome good time, or when they have leifure meeting with them, yet to fet fome time apart for it in a folemn manner every day, and that in confcience as we do for prayer generally, where is the man to be found that does thus ? Thofe men that thus neglea their feafon of mufing and entring into parley with God's fpi- rit daily, may be well faid to grieve the fpi- rit : through the neglea of which Ordinance, God's fpirit is as much grieved by profeffors in England, as by any courfe I know. The Lord awaken us : but I have run too far al- ready in this firft part of my anfwer. For the fecond means, viz. How the fed is to carry it fell in civil employments, that fo you may not think you do for better, when you liften to good thoughts as you mention. I fay out two things ; j. Learri to follow them out of, an aw- ful refpea to the eye, prefence, and command of Jefus Chrift : and to do what you do in civil bufineffes, as the work of Chrift : When you are riding, or making up breaches between man and man, and then think I am now a- bout the work of Jefus Chrift le Seeing your felt thus working in worldly employments
in CIVIL EMPLOYMENTS; employment for him, you may eafily apprehend t:/at for that time God calls you to them, and you attend upon the work of Jefus Chrift in them ; that you honour God as much, nay more by the meaneft fervile worldly aCt, than if you fhould have (pent all that time in medi- tation, prayer, or any other fpiritual - employ- rr,nt, to which you had no call at that time. It is noted therefore by fume of Peter's wives mother, that when Chrift had healed her of her fever, the fate not down at table with Chrift in communion with him, which, no oueft on,, was fweet ; but miniftred at the ta- ble, and ran too and fro, and fo ferved him, and aCted for him ; wherein the (hewed more love, and gave him more honour, viz, in that mean fervice, and in aCting for h:m, than in Laving communion with him. Now if the Lord would out of his abundant goodnefs, let the foul in fuck an acting frame for him, and if it could do its worldly employments, as the work of Chrift, and fee how greatly it. honours Ch:ift in attending on him ; Oh what peace fhould a chriftian enjoy, notwithftanding all his diftraaions every day ! and how eafily would fach devout thoughts you fpeak of, be repell'd like darknefs before the light i For the noble- nefs of thofe good thoughts you fpeak of pre- fenting themfelves againft the mean and bale outfides of civil affairs, makes you ready to honour the one, when you are cal'd to ferve the other but now, by feeing you do the work of Chrilt jefus in them, you flail hereby to
2 Of being Humi3LE17 fee a glory in the meaneft fervice you perform in civil affairs, and this will snake you cleave unto them. But I have Paid too ' much about repelling of good thoughts in there tithes, where - in men have fo few ; though, it may be, little enough to fatisfy you. CASE II. ,Of being humbled fir fin=fr<l D raiiarle. Your .fecond trouble is this, viz. That your heart . is kept from being humbled for jinrul drflra 3ions, that hinder and interrupt the fpiritual performance o; holy duties, and that for two reafons : Fìrfl, Becaufe they be volun- tary and accidental. Secondly, becaufe they can- not break the covenant between GOD and your Soul, being but infirmities. Anfw. For the latter claufe concerning breach of covenant, together with the other. ir. I fay, not only infi-mities do not, but the greateft fins cannot make a breach of co tsenant between GOD and the foul that is once really (not nominally) wrap: up in the cove- nant of grace. Indeed grofs fcandalous fins, nay, infirmities, when they are given way to, and not refitted, may keep the foul from the fruition, for a time, of God's covenant, but Inver from the eternal jus and right unto it. For as the Habit of faith or grace gives a man a conftant right to the promife and cove- manta which Iced ever remains, which habit óver
fir SINFUL DISTRACTIONS. ever, lafis, T. Jer. ° 3. 9. fo the icri of faith or grace gives a, man fruition of the cove- nant and the benefit of the promife. And hence by the acing and venting of fome fins, wherein there is included the negle`t' of the ex- erode of grace, he.' that is really in covenant with God, may be deprived of the fruition of it ; yet fccing the feed of God, and , Che ha- bit of grace ever remains, he cannot by any in break his covenant -: For the covenant of grace is abfolute, wherein the Lore loth not only promife the good, but to begin, and per - fecl, and fulfil the condition abfolutely, with- out refpea of fîn`; ex parte "creatùrae. Indeed if God's covenant of grace did ( as that of works) depend upon man to fulfil the condi- tion, having fufhicient grace to fulfil it, then grofs fin might well break the covenant : but teeing GOD hath undertaken to fulfil th,; co- venant abfolutely, notwithftanding all the evils and fins of the foul, no fin can poflibly break that knot and covenant, which fo firm and re- falute love bath once knit. And therefore, if this be a good argument, infirmities cannot break covenant : What caufe have I to b hurn bled for them ? fo as to fay, It is thy mercy Lord that I am not confumed foe them, (s you write ;) you may upon the fame ground 'ay fo, If the Lord fhould defert you, or you forfake the Lord, and fo fall into the foulef} fin, which I fuppofe corrupt confcience dares not be fo bold as to think or allow of. a, fay the leaf fins or infirmities do break the
Of being HUMBLED the firft covenant of works : and hence you do, pot only deferve, but are under the fentence of death, and curie of God, immediately after the leaft hair's breadth, fwerving from the Law by the fmalleft fin, and molt involuntary ac- &dental infirmity. According to the tenour of the law, the foul that ftnneth {hall dy ; and, curled is he that continueth not in all things of the Law, Gal. 3. i o. The leaif fin being, (ex parte objetti) in refpea of God again{{ whom it is committed, as horrible and as great as the greateft. ror it being an infinite wrong, b-- ing the dithonour of an infinite Majefty, there can be no greater wrong thar an infinite one ; unlefs you can imagine a thing greater than that which is . infinite : And therefore in this refpecl, there is as much veno in and mifchief done againft God in the leaft, as in the greateft fin : And therefore it, and whofoever commits it, deferves death for it, as if they had com- mitted the fouleft fin in the world; And therefore after the leaft and fmalleft infirmities, you may from hence fPe what caufe you have freely to be humbled, and to confefs for, them how worthy you are - to be deftroyed ; yea, even to look upon your feif as lyit.g under the fentence of the law and death immediately after the cotnmifl.îon of them, and fo to mourn bitterly for them. ObjeEt. But you will fay, a ' Chriflian that is under the covenant of grace, is not within ' the covenant of Works, that Bond' is can- celled, the laft Will Inuit Rand ; and there-
fir SINFUL DISTRACTIONS. 15 R fore he being out of that covenant, no fins ' of his can be laid to bleak the covenant; ' for no man can be laid to break that law ' under which he is not, and which he it not ' l-ound to keep. Anfw. I anfwer, every believer has a double being or handing, and fo there may be put upon him a double refpe&t. r. Firft, he may be confidered as united to and having a fpiritual being on Chri/i ; and fo it is true, he is under Grace, and the cove- - r.ant of Grace, and not under the Law, nor the covenant of works ; and hence not being under the Law, nor bound to keep it as a covenant of life (though it be a rule of life) no fin can condemn him, there being no con- demnation to them that are Chrifi plus, Ram. 8. But as Chrift is above condemnation, and law, and death, and curie, fo is he. And this truly underfiood, is the foundation of a Chriftian's joy and peace, anc glory, every day ; yet fo, as tho' fin doth not condemn him, y c t he has good rearan, to fay, it is mercy, and meer mercy, Lord, that I am not confumed, that I u m not condemned. For fin is the fame ; n. y graceand God's love aggravates fin ; for to fin again!{ the law, deferves death without recovery ; but to fin when grace . has received me, and loved me ; when the blood of Chrift has been flied abundantly, to deliver me from fin ; Oh this makes the moft fecret Went fin a crying one So that if you do confider this well, you may fee what little caufe there is to have your heart
.16 _. Of being HUMBLED heart tiling againft the deepef{ humiliation for the leaf} fin, though you be in Chriff, and under grace ; For as Daniel, when he was put into the Lions den, had not he caufe to won- der that he was not torn in pieces by them ? and why ? becaufe it was not from any defect on their parts to tear him in pieces, but from the omnipotent power, and mercy, and grace of his God, that muzzel'd their mouths ; fo though no Lion can tear, though no fins can hurt or condemn a Chriffian, as he is confa- dered in Chriff, yet, has not he caufe to con- fefs and wonder, and fay, Lord, it is thy meet grace and mercy that it is not fo ? Which is the as of humiliation your letter faith you can hardly come unto ; and why ' not becaufe God's grace puts any lets evil in fin, but be- caufe it is rneerly grace Ciat keeps it from (pitting that venom which otherwife it would. 2. Secondly, A Chriflian may be confidered in refpeet of his natural being in hirn/elf ; and thus he is ev?r under the Law, and as oft as he finneth, under the fentence of death, arid as the Apoffle (peaks, by nature even we (juflified, quickr.co) are the children of wrath as well as others. And thus after the leaíft involuntary accidental fin, you may eafily fee what caufe yuu have to lie down deeply humbled, mourn- ing under the fentence of death, and God's eternal curie, as a condemned man going to execution, to feel that fire that (hall never go out ; looking upon your felf as you are in your felt; a forlorn. Gaff-away every moment o and this
for SINFUL I7ISTRkOT1ONS. this truly underflood is the foundation of a Chrìs íliau's forrow, fhame, and confufion of face, felt- loathing, felt- forgetting, felt-forfaking, and condemning every day. And, believe it Sir, it is no fmall Piece of a Chriftian's fkill and work, to put a difference between himfelf and himfelf, himfelf as he is in Chriff, and fo to joy and triumph ; and himfelf as he is grow- ing on his firft root, and fo to forrow, and loath, and condemn himfelf : fo that, to wind up all that I have Paid, look upon your felt as in Chrift, you may fay thefe involuntary in- firmities do nor, (hall not, condemn me. But Lord it is Grace, Grace that it is not, fo, and this is Evangelical humiliation. Look again upon your fell, as you Eland on your own bottom, and live in your own nature, and fo you may fay after the leafl infirmity, I have now broken a molt holy and righteous Law, and therefore I am already condemned : (O woe is me, I have already undone my felf by mine iniquity : and this is Legal humiliation. which ferves for mortification, as the fiat for vification. I know it is very difficult to bring the heart to acknowledge freely it deferves death after fo fmall an involuntary offence. But when the Lord reveals two things, Fir/!, himfelf in his glory, Secondly, how the leafs fin ftrikea him ; I perfwade my fell, the vileflr heart can- not but be forced to confefs how juft God fhould be in his fevereft proceedinga againft k..m. And withal confider, the more involun- k?ry any fin is, the tnon iton,s and natural. it
Of being 'HUMBLED it is, and the more the more horrible ; as to be a natural Thief is far'worfe than to be a deliberate, thief, who fornetimes flea's ' and therefore, good Sir, take heed of looking," no deeper, nor feeing no further than the ' bare aa, and unvoluntarinefs and accidentalnefs, and fuddennefs of your infirmities : for if you do, you look through the wrong end of the glafs, and they will appear fo final!, that you will find it a very tough work to bring your heart confentively, to fay, ( if I may fay and ufe your own phrafe) It is thy mercy Lord that I am not confumed for them- : But look upon them as indeed they are, in refpea of that in- finite glory you flrike, doing the g'reatefl mil chiefs to God by them, and (which makes them thee viler) as they are fo flrong you can - not remove them, and fo horrible as that it is natural to you to commit them, &c ; and furely you will not through grace, find fuch thoughts , haunt you long : Not but that they Will be, haply, riling and tempting, but never alway vexing -and prevailing. Satan's ground reaching as far as the minds of God's people ; and therefore fo far he ' may come," and there " he may walk ; (for he came into the mind of innocent fldam, nay Yefrrs Chriff, by his fuggefling" temptations :) but the heart is Chrift's peculiar poffeflion and purchafe and if he (hall fill there offer to come in and vex you, and prevail againfl you, and to lodge his fuggeflions this or any other way with you, you have Law and Chriff on your fides' by this little light ilaw given you, r I t-af Nvi out C A
Of Conceiving arigbi CASE. IlL Of conceiving aright of the Holy Trinity. The third thing that troubles you, is the dif ranking of the Perjons in the Trinity : For though you think the Holy Ghoft' is God, yet you have not fo high a repute of him, as of the Father and' the Son, becaufe the Son ad dreí%th himfelf to God the Father in all his prayers and acknowledgments, in a more im- mediate manner than unto the holy Ghof ; and therefore you would know, if the word Father (as in the Lord's Prayer) includes not the Unity in Trinity. To this briefly confider three things. z. Without all queflion, Lhe fame God which lies under that relative property of Father, is . the fame God with the God -head of the Son, and the God -head of the Holy Ghofi, there be- ing not three. Gods : and therefore the God-head of the Son and Spirit, are not excluded, but 'included in the God- head of the Father, when we look upon the Father as God, in the Lord's Prayer, or any where elle. 2.. But fecondly, the Father as Father, is never taken for the fame Holy Ghoft in Scripture ; ror the Son as Son, is taken for the Father.; nor the Holy Ghoff as Holy Ghoff, is at any t=me taken .for the Son For it is a rule in Theologie, though the res fubflsata, the thing that lies under the Relative property (viz.. the God-head) of every perfon, be common and
if the HOLY TRINITY; communicated ; yet the fame God-head cordi- dered as clothed with his Relative property (as Father, Son and Spirit) it is not common, but peculiar. For the God-head of the Father as Fither, is, not the God-head of the Son as Son, Sze. 3.. Hence it follows, that when Chrifl addref feth himfelf to the Father as Father in Scrip- ture, it is not becaufe He is either a diverfe or greater God than the Holy Ghvi, but it is for two other reafons: i. Becaufe the Father as Father, received primarily the wrong that fin did aaainft his work of creation : For the Father being the firft perfon in order and creation, the firft tranfcient aa as ( eleaion and reprobation were The firft immanent ); hence this work is attri- buted chiefly to God the Father, in refpea of our orderly apprehenfion : and hence man fin- ning then when he was only made, this is, chiefly attributed to be againft the Father, be- caufe his work appeared to be chiefly there ; and not againft the Son, for his work chiefly appears in redemption, he being the fecond Perfon, and this the fecond main and wonder- ful work ; neither againft the Holy Ghoft, for his work chiefly appears to us in application, being the third Perfon, and this the third main a6t that ever God will do, or fhow forth to the world in this life. Hence God the Fa- ther receiving to our apprehenfion, the wrong in creation by fin, He is the Perfon that is to be fatisfied, and not the Holy WV. And hence
Of Conceiving aright hence 7efus Chri/l, is all his, prayers has a moth fpecial eye to Him, and not to the Holy Ghoj ( as Holy .Ghoft ).becaufe He came into the world, by his death, and interceffion, and ftrong cries to fatisfie God the Father,, and not God the Holy Ghoft as a third Perfon. And hence it is 'laid, r. John 2. r, 2. If any fin, we have én Advocate with God the Father, (not God the, Holy Ghofi) becaufe He was, rto our a.pprehen- fion, the Perfon: wronged : and 'hence we are, after fins committed, chiefly .to eye the Father in our prayers, and to go to him for pardon with our Advocate with us ; becaufe to whom of- fence is chiefly offered, from him chiefl<!.par- don and reconciliation is to be expe&:d. 2. Therefore ChriJi addteffeth himfelf chiefly in his prayers to God the Father, becaufe he is -; the original and firft caufe of all good ; becaufe he is the firft Perfon in order of fubfifting, and therefore firft too in the manner of conveying. I know the God-head is the original of all good : but confider the Perfons one with ano- ther, and fo the Father, is ever the firf} in ope- ration, as the Holy Goof: is the Taft in con - fummation ; for all good comes from the Father, James i. 17, through the Son by the Holy GhoJI. And hence in all our prayers we are to look for all good from the Father, for his Son's fake, to be conveyed us by the Holy Ghaf! : and hence it is (aid, John 6. r o. No man comes to me but whom the Father draws : Why ? It is the im- mediate office and work of the Holy Ghoft to- draw and apply the foul unto Chrift ; why Jeri
ax Of going to GOD immediately. is it laid, Unlefi the Father draw ? The reafan is, becaufé that which was perfeted and con - fummated by the Holy Ghoft,was intentionally and by way of purpofe and decree begun originally by the Father : and this is that which Chriti's words have chiefly reference unto, viz, the Father through the Son by the Holy GIoft draws. But I have waded too far in this Divinity, the clear knowledge of which, is referved for us in heaven : But thus much to fatisfie you. Yet the word Father in the Lord's Prayer, I conceive under correion, as it doth not exclude any perfon of the God -head, fo its chiefly fet down there, not fo much to denote the Perfon . of the Father, as the Aittion of God as a Fa- ther to us his Sorts by Chriff : which we are to, believe in our firfl approaching to our prayers, to be as, nay to tranfcend the affe6tion of any Father to his Son ; when we come to call upon him for thofe fix things which the Petitions fet down for thofe three ends, Kingdom, Power, and Glory, which the Prayer concludes withal, CASE. IV. Of going to GOD immediately. Your fourth trouble is your aptnefs to go to God immediately, efpecially when his graces are moft ftriving in his ordinances, contrary to that of Chriff, Ye believe in God believe all; in me. Anfw. So indeed it is ufual for religious na- ture often to out -run and get the hart of grace as
Of going to GOD blartediately. 23' as it appears in many other, fo in this, cafe you put. Look as it is with every man when God awakens him effedually>, he fir l feels to his kitchin phyfick to fave himfelf by his duties, praying, mourning, reforming, endeavouring, re- peating, working, before he will feek out to the Ph) fician, and to Chrift to fave him : Be- caufe it was natural to Adam to feek to live by his working, it is natural to every Son and branch of that root, to leek to fave himfelf by doing as well as he can, or as God gives him the ftrength and grace : So it is here. It was natural to Adam to depend upon, and go to God immediately, as a creature to a Creator, as a Son to go nakedly to God as a Father: Chrift was not then known nor feen : fo it is natural to every man when reé1ihed Nature is furred up, to go immediately to God. It is grace in the fecond Covenant that reveals . and draws to Jefus Chrifi, and to God by Chrift, Heb. 7. 25. For cure of this diflerper, ponder but thefe three things. 1. Clearly convince the foul that the immor- tal, invifible, and molt holy God, that dwelleth in an "unapproachable light, has fet out himfelf to be feen, or made himf;"lf only vifible in Jefus Chrift ; fo that he would have no man look upon him any other ways, than as he has re- vealed himfelf in his Son : In whom (though in all other creatures his vefligia and footfteps are to be feen) as he is God, the face of God is to be feen ; which no creature is able to behold,
Of going to GOD immediately. ubt there, being the brightneJs ofhis glory, and the exprefs 1,.,-iage of bis Perfon, Fhb. t. 3. And as he is ma7, the very heart of God, both in refpe6? of Affeaion, and Will is to be feen ; So that in and through Jefus Chrift, efpecially his hu- man nature, the glory of the great God breaks out like the Sun through the clouds mofat bright- ly, in refpe& of us ; and therefore in and through his human nature we are only to behold God, in whom all that a Chriftian defires to know, is to be feen, which is the Face and Heart of fo dear a Friend, 2. Cor. 4. 6. Yoh.. 14. 9, io. For we know by too lamentable experience, how the whole world vanifhing in their fmoaky thoughts of the glory of God, as he is confidered in him - feLl, and not able to conceive or retain the know- ledge of him ; did hence invent and let up Ima- ges as fit ohjeds for their drunken ftaggering underffanding to faffen upon, and to be limited with ; and hence adored God before thefe, (as our Popifh Hypocrites do before the Altar) and in thefe and at thefe, as Papifts do in refpec`l of their Images. Hence the Lord to cure this inveterate natural malady, bath in the fecondPer - fan, united himleif to man Chrift Jefus ; through whom we are both able to our everlafting won- derment to fee him, and alto here bound only to behold him ; who as he is a fit handle for our faith, fo he is a fit object for our weak minds to behold the glory of the molt high God in. Wherefore then do you offer to go unto God Without Chrift, whenas you are not fo much as to look upon Gods but as he appears in Chrift
Of going to Got) immediately.. Tr not the human nature of the Lord jefus more e2.fie to be feen and conceived of, than the in- vifible unlimited eternal God-head ? 2. See evidently that there is not any drain or drop of God you have, efpecially in God's ordinances,, but it iffues from the blood, and la purchafed by the interceffion, and delivered unto you by the hand of jefus Chrift. Ephef r. 7. liebr. 7. 25. yhn 5. 22. You fhould never have heard the found of the gofpel, nor ever have had a day of Patience, nor ever have heard of God's ordinances to find him in ; nor ever have been comforted, quicle.ned, enlarged, afFe6ted by God's Ordinances, were it not for jefus Chritl ; the efficacy of whole blood, and power of whole glorious interceffion, doth at the very infant you feel any good in God's Ordinances, prevail with God the Father for what you feel For the Father loveth the Son,and has putall thinks into his hands, 7th. 3. 35; that all men might honour the Son; joh.5. 22,23. all the three Perfons plot- ting chidly for the honour of the fecond fa that you may fee, nay you are bound to believe, at the time you feel your heart favingly affeaed in any ordiFance now ; Lord jefus, who is at the right hand of od in heaven, who is now in his glory, now he remembring me a 'poor worm on earth, now I feel the fruit of his death. O what a miferable forlorn wretch had I been, were it not for jefus Chrift ? Mercy could never have helped, enlightned, comforted, (planed, affured, enlarged me ; and juftice could never have relieved my dead, bloody, pe- E tithing
6 Ofgoing to GOD immediately... tithing ' loft Soul, . had it not been for Jefus Chrift ; whole Spirit, power, grace, comfort, pretence, fweetnefs, I tale, drink, and am fa- tisfied abundantly with, and now do enjoy. Oh Sir, methinks the fad meditation of this, Ihould make you, in all Goo's ordinances, Were you are apt to fay you . go immediately to God, to flatten fuddenly in your thoughts, affe&ions, praifes, to jefus Chrift. Nas, methinks you fhould fpeedily have your heart elevated and lifted up to Jefus Chrift, and fay, .1 rece;ve this, and tafte this from Jefus Chriff Oh, but this is bat a tafte of the honey-comb with the end of my rod ; and if this pretence of Chrift's Spirit I feel now be fb tweet, what is Ilimfelf then ? 3. Labour for increafe of love and familiarity. with jefus Chrift, by taking notice of him, by coming often to him, by muffing daily on his love, as on a frefh thing, banifhing flavifh falle fears of his forgetfulnefs of you, and want of everlaffing love towards you : and then you know love will carry you fpeedily to him : amor mesa pondus aneum. Nay, grant that you have been a ftran- mer to Chrift, yet reftore the love of Chrift to life again in your foul ; and when you came to his ordinances, where he dwells, your Soul will snake its firft enquiry for him ; neither will it be fatisfred till it has feen him, as we do themwe love, iowarda whom we have been greateft frangers. CASE, V.
Of applying Me Abfolute Promifes. 2," CASE V. Of applying the abfolute Prot/lifts. Your fifth trouble is, you know not hew to apply abfolute Promifes to your felt, as in Heb. 8, becaufe they are, made indefinitely without condition. Conditional Promifes you fay you can, if you can find the qualification that gives you right to the good of the pi-mire within you. _linty.). This ufeful fruitful que1lion, how to ap- ply abfolute promifes to ones particular, deferves a larger time and anfwer, than now in the midst of perplexities, I am able, yet willing, to give. For when the Lord faith abfolutely without con- dition, that he will rake away the flony heart, and he will put his fear into his pe p!;'? hearts, &'y and these kind of promifes are made to fome, not cu all, to .thole only whom the Lord will, and in general to his people ; Hereupon the Souls of many Chriffians, efpecially fuch as quefticn God's love towards them, are molt in fufpence and therefore when they. complain of the vile- neff of their hearts and flrength of their lufis, let any man tell them that the Lord has under- taken in the Second covenant, to heal their back- - flidings, and to fubdue their iniquities ; they will hereupon reply, it is true, he has promifed indeed to do thus for Tome abfolutely, though they have no good" in them, but I that feel fo vile a heart, fo rebellious a nature, will he do this for me, or no ? And thus the Soul floats above water, vet fears it fhall fink at laff, notwithfîanding all that God has
$. Of applying the "'Volute ,Primzfes, has Paid. I will anfwer therefore briefly there two things in general. i, I (hall Phew you to what end, and for what ufe and purpofe God has made abfolute promifes, mot only to them that be for the prefent his peo- ple, but to them that in refpea of their eftates and condition are not. 2. I (hall Phew you how every Gbr /i'ian it ti make ufe of them, and how and when he ought to apply them. For the írrfl of there, I. Firf}, I conceive, that as in refpe& cf Gad himfelf, there are many ends which I !hall not mention, as being needlefs ; fo in refpe6t of man there are principally there ts,o ends for which the Lord has made abfolute promifes. z, To raife up the Soul of a helplefs, finful, turfed, loft (inner in his own eyes, to tome hope, at leaft, of mercy and help from the Lord. Fcr thus ufually every man's Soul is wrought, to whom the Lord doth intend grace and mercy ; he & It turns his eyes inward, and makes him to fee he is flark naught, and that he has not one dram of grace ii, him, who thought himfelf rich, and wanting nothing before ; and conic- quently, that he is under the curfe and wrath of God for the prefent, and that if the Lord Mould but flop his breath, and cover his face, and take him away, which he may eafily do, and this to be feared he will, that he is undone forever. Hereupon the Soul is awakened and falls to his kitchen phyfick, as I fpake before, prays, and hears, and amends, and Drives togrow better, and to (top up every hole, and to amend it felt of every
Q,f apply ng the flbralute Peostrifes.' 29' every fin ; but finding it felf to grow worfe and worfe, and perceiving thereby that he doth but flir, and not cleanfe the puddle, and that it is not amending of nature that he muff attain to, but he muff believe, and make a long arm to Hea- ven, and apprehend the Lord Jefus, (which fo few know, or ever (hall enjoy) and hereby quench the wrath of God ; I fay, finding he cannot do thùs, no, nor no means of thernfelves can help him to this, hereupon he is forfaken of all his felf-wifdom and of all his vain hopes, and now fits down like a defolate widow, comfortlefs, and forrowful, and thinks there is no way but death and hell, and the wrath of a difpleafed God to be expeled. And if any come and tell this Soul, orGod's mercy and pity to finners ; Ay, faith he, it's true, he is even infinitely merciful unto them who are rent from their fins, and that can believe ; but that I cannot do, and am Cure (hall never be able for to do ; and therefore what caufe have I but to lie down in my forrow, and to expec`'c my fatal firoke every moment ? Reply' again upon this Soul, and tell him, that though he cannot believe, or loofen his heart from firD yet that the Lord has promifed to do it, that he will fubdue all his iniquity, and he will pardon all his fin, and that he will caufe men to walk in his ways, &c ; True, faith the Soul again, he will do thus for his own people, and for them, he has ch&fen, but I never had dram of grace in my heart, and there is no evidence that the Lord is mine own, or that I am his : Here again the Soul lies down, until the Lord difcovers to the Sous
36 Of applying the llbfàlute Pramifes, Soul that he will do there things for fome that have no grace, or never had grace ; for thefe pro- miles were made to fuch. Hereupon the Soul thinks thus ; Thefe promi- fes are made for fome that are filthy ; for why fhould God ' pour dean water upon them ? for fome that be hard hearted ; for why fhould he promife to take away the ilony heart from them ? &c : and if unto fome fuch, and I being fuch a one, why may not the Lord poffibly intend and include me, feeing he has not by his promife ex- cluded nor Phut me out ? Indeed I dare not fay he will, but yet how do I, or men, or Angels know, but yet I may be one ? Hereupon Hope is railed . to life. again : feeing God has undertaken the work for the vilefl, it is poffible he may do it for me, now when I am vile and can do nothing for my Pelf. And thus you may fee the firfi end and ufe of abfolutl promifes, to be as it were, twigs to uphold the finking Spirits of hòpeh-fs, helplcfs, difireEd Souls. 2. Tne Second end and ufe of them is this ; To create and draw out faith in jells Chrrft in the promifes. For as the Law begets Terror, fo the promifes beget Faith. Now no conditional promife firffly begets Faith ; becaufe Le that is under any condition of the Gofpel, in.thatman there is a prefuppofed faith. It's God's abfolute promife that firftly begets faith ; for Faith is not durance, but the coming of the whole Soul to Chr/ in a Promife, john 6. 35 : And then the Soul believes in Chrif},when it comes to Chrift Now this God works in the Gofpel. (r) The Soul is railed
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